I suppose I'd better explain myself eh?! Well, one day I was looking at Metku Mods, and reading through his review of CampusParty (a big LAN party in Valencia, Spain), as I was/am tempted to go in the near future. Going through the article, I discovered a picture of a modified Logitech MX518 - and it looked rather shiny! In fact, it looked a little something like this! With that image seared into my retina, I had to give it a try. Bearing in mind it took me about 3 months to actually get round to doing it, because this is my very first mod. So, with the hours of indecision over, I finally knuckled down and got to it. I got my victi... I mean willing participant - in this case a Mikomi mouse, and started getting ready to take this betty apart. I flipped the mouse over and was greeted with no screwholes, nothing. I then read one of the other articles on Metku Mods, that said the screws would most likely be under the feet. And wouldn't you know it? There they were. Then it was simply a case of using the scalpel to slice off the pads on the base of the mouse, and unscrew the four screws at each corner of the base. This was the first stage of making this proverbial Frankenstein into a beautiful thing. I'd removed all of the top shell from the base plate and the inner workings. The next trick was to remove to upper plate and the buttons from the lower part of the top of the mouse until I had the whole thing apart on the table. So there we see the base, a little section in the middle, the silver plate and buttons and the main shell. It was then time for the mouse to see the thing it was going to become. Dun dun dunnnnnnn!!!! Blue faux leather - yum! I saw this in the bargain bin at my local Dunelmn Mills (a DIY type shop but with more furnishings than bits of 2x4 and MDF and the like. I cut a piece of the leather out roughly to size. I didn't want to skimp in case I'd have to add a piece, and that would just look odd, so I allowed lots of room for the top plate. Then it was time to bring in the heavy mob... This stuff will stick a chair to a wall and still allow someone to sit on it! I have proof somewhere. Will have to dig it out later. I didn't take a picture of the actual process as I was doing it outside - make sure where you're doing this is very well ventilated, as a) this stuff stinks, and b) the air helps it cure. After applying the glue to both items - the leather and the part I wanted covered, I smoothed it around the surface, and tucked the excess under the bottom of the mouse part. After it had dried for about 30 mins, I then started chopping off the excess with the scalpel blade. This is the top part, still needs a bit of work, but mostly done. This is the bottom of the part, still needs a bit of a trim and a tidy up with the scalpel. I haven't finished as of yet, but with any luck will get the parts all trimmed up and assembled before the night's out. Comments, criticisms, anything, all welcome. I leave you with a bit of a sneaky peek at what the finished article will look like. Enjoy... Joe
Wow I quite like that! The leather will be quite breathable as well so your hands shouldnt be as sweaty as usual!
Well, that didn't take long! A further quick trim of the odd part that was stopping the top part clipping onto the body and we were done. Just click all the parts back into the base shell, push down over the base, and screw down The top of the mouse, finally re-united with the base. All screwed down and the feet re-united with the base. Finally back in its natural environment with its poorer cousin - the Neanderthal and the Homo Sapiens of the mouse world if you will. I hope to modify this mouse further - it will involve changing the colour of the LED from red.... to blue! Also I will be adding a blue LED to the front of the mouse, just by the scroll-wheel, that will be linked to the blue LED at the back, so when the mouse moves, or changes, the LED at the front will as well. Kinda a fly idea I thought - just need to find a way of doing it! I hope you've found this informative and or helpful. If you decide to do this, don't cut the leather short on the base or the tips like I nearly did! Joe
After playing around with the mouse, I have to report that it is a tad difficult to click. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that it's almost impossible to click unless you want Carpal Tunnel or RSI or other similar issues. So I'm going to make a few more changes and try to correct this problem as soon as possible - this is my gaming mouse (until my 518 arrives. With any luck, by the time that arrives, I'll have sorted the issues out. Joe
That crossed my mind as well at first glance because the leather palette looked quite thick. Just no way it'll crease around the edges and underneath. snip snip
@Amon, your post made me imagine someone taking a dremel cutting disk to their mouse, trying to shave off the buttons...
@sheninat0r - not far off - scalpel to trim the leather and a bit of a trim of the plastic. Left button is a lot free-er than last night - right button still needs some work, but that's for tomorrows break time. Otherwise, its looking good. Joe
@Pegasus - Glad you think so - this is just a "trial" piece before I think about coating either a G5 or an MX518. Yet to decide what to cover it in - alcantara is quite nice, but damnably expensive - lol - a two-tone leather job - with stitchmarks joining up the two colours!! @Thacrudd - Indeed it does so far - have yet to use it rigorously - that's the weekends job - see how it handles! I'm aiming to do the cover for a keyboard and mouse and tie it in with a mod. However I am running short on idea's... If anybody has any wild and crazy ideas then please let me know. Joe
you should see that cadillac stacker case someone made. the inside covered in white leather. oooh it looks awesome. putting leather on the mouse seems like a real good idea. i have some leather and i would like to use it somehow but i dont want to experiment on my G9.
lol, neither would I!!! Did vaguely think of a TJ-07 covered, but with gashes in the leather to see thru a window into the inside - watercooled - red theme on the inside... J
