Make your own Steampunk mouse

Posted at: Wednesday 2nd April 2008

Sheffield-based modder Unklian shows how to bring the age of steam, furnaces and brass to the optical mouse, with stunning results.

I used a paint can as a template to create the top of the mouse case (picture 5) . The awkward part of this job was measuring the case several times to work out exactly where the scroll wheel would need to fit through it. I started by making a hole with a small drill, and then spent ages with a square file enlarging it, trying it in position over the box until it fitted perfectly.

I used small off-cuts of wood (picture 6) to locate the correct position for the micro-switches, before glueing them in place (picture 7) .

After cutting the rear of the mouse to the desired shape using the fretsaw (picture 8) , I added a couple of wedges to improve its profile and sanded everything to shape. I screwed the front deck into position (picture 9) , and then tapped it with my fingertips to determine where they made contact with the surface; this allowed me establish the correct positions for the buttons.

I decided to make the buttons from brass. While appreciating that they'll become tarnished over time (picture 10), I felt that brass buttons would improve the aesthetics of the mouse. I cut a couple more lengths from the copper pipe and flattened the metal with a small hammer. After that, I cut these two pieces with a saw, filed the corners and placed them in position. I had several ideas on the best way to secure them, bearing in mind that they would need to 'return' under very little pressure from the tiny micro-switches. Initially, I drilled two holes in each metal plate and used two short screws that didn't fit too tightly to hold them in place. However, this wasn't very subtle, so I decided to use the screws just to locate the buttons. I fitted the screws in a drill and spun them against a file to slim them down.

To prevent the buttons from falling off the mouse, I planned to hold them in place using a length of bent copper wire. The material that I used comprised single strands of wire that came from some cable measuring around 1in in width, which I bought from a local scrap merchant. As a result, it was soft, tightly twisted and flat, rather than circular. This suited my purpose, as it looked fairly old and worn, and I was able to bend and straighten it several times to test it first.

Working from underneath the mouse, I marked where the micro-switches' buttons would be situated (picture 11) . I then drilled through the top deck, so that a couple of pushrods would depress them, using a drill slightly larger than my chosen pushrods, which are actually a couple of shortened nails. I cut these with the Dremel, pushed them through the deck from the inside and then shortened them by small increments until they stood just proud enough for the buttons to press down on them.

On the back of the mouse (picture 12), I drilled a series of holes around the edge of the wood frame at 1cm intervals. After that, I made a cage by bending the copper wire and copying the contours of my Microsoft mouse (picture 13).