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INFO: Greg's Custom Mouse Mod (Fark
wouldn't even touch this one...)
ORIGINAL
PUBLISH
DATE: 01/06/02
COST: Around $35 USD
AUTHOR: Greg Sowell
EDITOR: David Kroll
AVAILABLE AT: eBay
Intro:
Why is it that every time I look at something that is battery powered I try and imagine it hooked up to my computer? My thought process provides for some amusing results, though. You take a mouse, add a hand-held massager, mix well, and you get the Moussager! The implications for just such a device are
obvious… I have no doubt this article will be fairly technical, so if you don’t like that kind of thing, then just look at the pretty pictures.
:) So, if you are still interested, then grab a mouse and a massager and sit back and enjoy yourself.
Required Items:
Hand-held Massager, powered by 2 AA batteries (I got mine at Wal-mart…I would be lost without Wally-World…though I have seen them at Target)
Mouse (Preferably optical, that would provide the most space inside. You must make certain that it is held together by screws on the sides of the mouse. Don’t use a standard Microsoft ball mouse, because it has a single screw coming up the middle. For this mod, we would end up cutting the only screw out)
Small switch (You could use a momentary, but I recommend a standard on off single pole switch. The smaller the better in this
instance.)
Scissors, or razor knife
Piece of cardboard (I used a cereal box)
Pencil and marker
Small gauge wire (I used solid core cat5)
Epoxy, or other good adhesive
Dremel, or other instrument of destruction!
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(1) The package |
(2) Calm before the storm |
Phase One:
We begin by dissecting the massager. First pull off the
battery cover and chunk it. Next remove both visible screws (Picture 3). Now
lets open it up. To do this I stuck a screwdriver in the back of the massager
and pried it apart (Picture 4). While at this point, go ahead and remove the
two screws from the battery housing. Now grab the massager head and give it a
“Technical Yank.” Once you have the head and the battery pack removed, pry up
the wire that connects the two. (Someone thought it would be a good idea if
they glued down the wire, so you are probably going to have to pry it up with a
screwdriver.) Next cut the wires that are coming from the motor, but be sure to
leave ample slack. Finally take all the screws out of the massager head
assembly. Phase one is now complete!
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(3) Lose the screws |
(4) Pry it apart |
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(5) Massager guts! |
(6) Yanked off |
Phase two:
At this stage we should have three main pieces: The gray
massager with the steel balls in it, the middle ring, and the motor in its
plastic housing (Picture 7). We only need two of these pieces, so go ahead and
throw the middle plastic ring out, as well as all of the old switch assembly
that was connected to the bottom of the motor mount. From this point on I am
going to call the gray portion the head and the motor assembly the motor. For
now, set the motor aside. Let's start the process of making our template for the
hole. First take your piece of cardboard and your pencil and trace the outline
of the head onto the cardboard. Second trace the inside of your pencil lines
with the marker. This should approximate the width of the lip on the head.
Next take your scissors or knife and cut along the inside of your marker line.
El templato es completo! <-- Not real Spanish... Hehe. Phase two is complete.
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(7) Keep the stuff on the right |
(8) Making the template |
Phase three:
The third phase is my favorite. Dremel anyone? This is
the part where I tell you that if you “put the stank on yourself”, then
ExtensionTech and I will not be held responsible. With that being said, let's
make some plastic fly! Take your motor assembly and whack off that little
nipple at the bottom, don’t worry about making it look pretty, because no one is
ever going to see it. This will give you a quarter inch of extra clearance.
Now wasn’t that fun?
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(9) With the nipple |
(10) Without the nipple |
Phase four:
Let's start gutting the mouse! We begin by taking everything
out of the mouse, including the buttons. Once we have opened our mouse and
searched for obstructions and determined that we have enough room, we plot where
we are going to put our hole. To accomplish this, we fit the head and the motor
together with one screw and eyeball the best place to put it. Now, using our
template, we mark where we want the hole on the mouse. I decided to put the
head towards the middle, because it will have the most clearance there. Next
take scotch tape and cover the top of the mouse. This will provide us with a
surface to write on without leaving any marks on the mouse. Last we put the
template in the carefully eyeballed location and mark away.
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(11) Gutted mouse |
(12) Test for fit in template |
(13) How did that logo get there? |
Phase five:
Are you ready
for phase five? This is another one of my favorites. This is were we
fire up the Dremel again and cut out our freshly marked hole…you know, the one
we made with the template. Don’t worry about this looking good because the head
will cover it. After we make the cut, we test fit the head and make any
necessary alterations. Since the Dremel is already warm, let's go ahead and cut
our buttons down to size. We need to cut down the button supports that secure
them to the mouse. First we need to hold them in place and mark where we want
to cut them. After we cut them, we need to scuff them up for better adhesion.
I used the file on my Leatherman, but you can just use sand paper if you like.
We then mix up some fast dry epoxy and butter up our glue points. Now position
them and hold them for about a minute. This stuff is rock hard in about ten
minutes so make sure you work fast! Next pile on a healthy glob of epoxy all
over the glue points, just to be safe. OK, let's take a well-needed break to let
the epoxy set. Ten minutes should be sufficient. After our break, we need to
test our buttons. Mine work perfectly! Hopefully yours do too!
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(14) Cut that fool out |
(15) Looks beautiful |
(16) Dry fit... Not bad |
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(17) Edges need trimming |
(18) Now you see it... |
(19) Now you don't |
Phase six:
Now that we have our buttons in, we can start phase six,
mounting the switch. First, we need to decide weather we want a switch or a
potentiometer (pot). I personally think either is a fine choice. The pot will allow
us to contour the strength of the vibrations. If you decide to go with the pot,
just skip this phase. Now, we need to decide where to mount the switch.
To do this, hold the mouse as you normally would and observe where your fingers
never go. I discovered that the space past my thumb on the left side of the
mouse is best for me. Now let's break out our cardboard and cut a small square
that is just big enough for the switch’s contacts to stick through. Next put
the switch in this square hole so that it sits flush with the cardboard. Now we
need to mark around the outside of the switch with a pencil and cut it out. Our
switch pattern is ready for action! Now we need to cover the mounting spot with
scotch tape and mark our pattern. Be sure not to cut the mouse wheel mounting assembly
inside the mouse. After cutting out the hole and dry fitting the switch, we are
ready for our next phase, wiring this baby up!
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(20) Switch template |
(21) Switch hole |
(22) Dry fit da switch |
Next >>>
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