Building the mouse Logitech won't make • Hacker News Board

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#41

Post by monster_truck » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 4:55 PM UTC

I've been using a mouse from https://pmm.gg, it weighs about half as much as the mouse I swapped the guts out of (28 grams vs 60 grams). Basically a couple sheets of printer paper.

I don't really care about the weight, what caught my attention was they offer ceramic? coated magnesium scrollwheels. My otherwise mild skin condition completely destroys the shitty grippy/gummy rubber they put on scrollwheels and sometimes the sides of the mice. They offer the same coating on the shells, which I really enjoy.

Yes, it's expensive but it still costs less than replacing mice over and over. I spend too much time holding this damn thing to settle for anything less. The quality is exceptional, assembly was easy, and the carbon fiber rod that snaps into place horizontally across the shape makes it more rigid than the stock mouse.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#42

Post by vel0city » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 4:55 PM UTC

redog wrote: post #29

I miss the old microsoft track ball. The ball wasn't a thumb exercise as it was under your index-middle-ring fingers and you clicked with the thumb.

I've been using a Kensington Expert Mouse Trackball for several years now. You might like it for a center trackball position. It also has a ring around the ball as a scroll wheel and four buttons which are easily programmable. A couple of AA batteries last me about a year on the 2.4GHz wireless, many months on Bluetooth. The ball comes out really easy so it's easy to take apart and clean. It has handled almost a decade of near daily use without any parts breaking.

https://www.kensington.com/p/products/electronic-control-sol...

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#43

Post by redog » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 4:57 PM UTC

loloquwowndueo wrote: post #32

redog wrote: post #29

I miss the old microsoft track ball. The ball wasn't a thumb exercise as it was under your index-middle-ring fingers and you clicked with the thumb.

Don’t current Kensington trackballs have this layout as well?

Not quite, with the thumb buttons like the Trackball Explorer had. Closest I can find is the DEFT Pro https://elecomusa.com/products/deft-pro-trackball

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#44

Post by Liftyee » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 4:58 PM UTC

I use this exact MX Ergo mouse daily and already have some experience in electronics. This ingenious mod is now at the top of my project list!

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#45

Post by ibaikov » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 4:59 PM UTC

monster_truck wrote: post #41

I've been using a mouse from https://pmm.gg , it weighs about half as much as the mouse I swapped the guts out of (28 grams vs 60 grams). Basically a couple sheets of printer paper. I don't really care about the weight, what caught my attention was they offer ceramic? coated magnesium scrollwheels. My otherwise mild skin condition completely destroys the shitty grippy/gummy rubber they put on scrollwheels and sometim…

I successfully removed this coating from my razer mouse using alcohol, it was pretty easy to do. The coating felt good when I unboxed the mouse, but yeah it turned into this chewed gum mess, now it's just plastic which is ok.

Also turned out that disassembling the mouse was easy, so you probably might just swap the wheel entirely.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#46

Post by mahmoudimus » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 5:02 PM UTC

privatelypublic wrote: post #19

Does this fix (or does anybosy know of a fix) where a m705 mouse stops responding to clicks on left and right? I'm about to test the "wetting current" theory by using a bench supply to actuate the switch near max specs.

Are the switches bad? I recently replaced the switches on my mouse as I had the dreaded double click problem and it was unusable. Then they stopped responding. So I just did something similar to the OP, desoldered and soldered new switches and the mouse was as good as new.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#47

Post by zhivota » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 5:02 PM UTC

I got tired of paying the Logitech premium for the MX Ergo after I broke my second one (both out of warranty, both had the main button switch fail). Ended up with a copycat that works just as well and is 1/3rd the price.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#48

Post by bityard » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 5:02 PM UTC

thimabi wrote: post #5

I wish I had the money and the know-how to do things like that. In a world where many companies are downright hostile to user needs and preferences, we need more DIY electronics — not less.

It's never been a better time to get into DIY electronics projects. Literally every part of the process is well within a curious hacker's abilities. Microcontrollers and cheap sensors/displays started becoming commonplace around 15 years ago, and the most recent innovations are good and cheap PCB production and 3D printing your own parts/enclosures.

You might check out https://hackaday.com/blog/. They quite often feature projects from people who built the thing they wanted, instead of buying it. (Often because the thing they wanted couldn't be bought in the first place.)

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#49

Post by throw-qqqqq » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 5:03 PM UTC

Aurornis wrote: post #35

frankus wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For just straight up assembly of one-sided SMT boards (i.e. not reclaiming components from a donor board), a $30 plug-in electric skillet and a solder paste stencil from the PCB manufacturer (or patience and a solder paste syringe) works far better than it has any right to. https://www.instructables.com/Simple-Skillet-Surface-mount-S...

The hot air station is called a "rework station" because it's very helpful for rework, too. Using a hot plate to reflow boards is fine if you already know everything is correct. Having a real hot air station is very important if you need to change any parts or even fix reflow problems.

I prefer a regular soldering iron for SMD. Below 0603 I tend to blow off unrelated components if I’m not very very careful!

So for me, a loupe/microscope and a fine SMD iron is the best option. I have some China-model that uses Hakko tips.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#50

Post by fredfoobar » Mon, Aug 25, 2025, 5:03 PM UTC

flanbiscuit wrote: post #26

> My absolute favorite mouse is the MX Ergo from Logitech. I switched to using Logitech's MX Vertical mouse and I love it. There was a learning curve period, especially when it came to finer grained movements, but I'm totally used to it now and it feels much more comfortable and natural to me that any other mouse I've used. It has a USB-C port and I can switch between 3 different Bluetooth connections (press a button…

+1

The mouse has disappeared into my hand and I've forgotten its existence. When I read your post I remembered how pain free my mousing experience has been lately.