A tailor made computer mouse

Because one size fits none.

I'm creating a tailor made mouse shell that fits my hand perfectly. In case other people are interested in buying a mouse tailored to their hand, I might turn this into a service.

See how it was made Get in touch

The finished 3D printed mouse on a wooden desk next to the open hand it was shaped for — The mouse and the hand that it's tailored to.

How?

From clay model to functioning tailored mouse prototype. Here are the steps that I went through.

Step 1: create a clay model
Step 2: 3D scanning and modelling
Step 3: mechanical CAD work
Step 4: 3D printing and assembly

Step 1Create a clay model

The idea here is to create a model that feels nice to use. Nicer than your mass produced off the shelf mouse. I'm not exactly a potter so I had to learn this as I went.

I felt drawing this directly in 3D software would not be the most efficient as it would be hard to tell what sculpting actions would result in "the right feel".

Lessons learned:

Clay shrinks and cracks as it dries. What you created is not what you get after the drying process.
Type of clay matters. Heavy "regular" clay is nice as a very rough and strong basis to stick your nicer "paper clay" onto. Paper clay cracks much less as it dries.

The white paper clay model on a desk, seen from the thumb side — The dried paper clay model.

The clay model from the front, with a laptop and an ordinary mouse behind it for scale

The clay model seen from above, showing the thumb rest and the scoop for the palm

From the front, and from above: the thumb rest on the left, the scoop for the palm on the right.

Step 23D scanning and modelling

The shape was digitized and digitally sculpted further. After some experiments with crazy wire frame shapes, I decided I liked the plain and simple closed shell the most.

The raw 3D scan: a rough, lumpy mesh of the clay model — The raw 3D scan after converting the point cloud to mesh.

The same mesh after smoothing, in Blender's sculpt view — The 3D scan after digital smoothing in Blender.

Screenshot of Instant Meshes with the mouse covered in a dense red quad mesh — Converting the Blender mesh to "quads" using the software Instant Meshes.

A clean white render of the smoothed mouse shell on a white background — A render of the mouse after smoothing, made in Blender.

Render of the mouse shell as a dark, fine organic lattice — One of the experiments into 3D printable organic looking shapes.

Render of the mouse shell as a white, coarse exoskeleton — Another one with a more coarse exoskeleton.

Step 3Mechanical CAD work

After the artsy bit comes the practical stuff: where do the screws and circuit boards go?

3D modelling is generally done using two different types of tools, simply put: surface modelling (for sculpting and artists) and solid modelling (for engineers). Here I switched from surface to solid modelling, so that I could use the model in mechanical CAD software. This CAD software makes it easier to work with real world dimensions and to add circuit boards, screw holes, switches and all that stuff in the right places.

For the insides (electronics) I wanted to use an existing Logitech MX Master S3. The design of this mass produced mouse is perfect, except: it's one size fits none. So let's fix that!

Exploded CAD view: the blue shell floating above the grey base plate with the scroll wheel assembly in red — A rendering of the mechanical CAD ready for 3D printing.

Step 43D printing and assembly

It took me two 3D printing iterations to get everything to fit together in an acceptable way. I was able to make everything fit with some longer cables, a bit of duct tape and some soldering.

Here's the end result:

The printed base with the MX Master S3 battery, circuit board and scroll wheel assembly fitted inside — The insides.

The finished dark grey mouse next to an open hand

The same hand gripping the finished mouse

The mouse and the hand that it's tailored to.

The tailored mouse on a desk mat next to three standard Logitech mice, which look small beside it — The big one is the mouse that's tailored to my hand. The others are Logitech designs for the average hand that you and me most likely don't have.

Next up: a tailored keyboard

My next hobby project is an ergonomic keyboard based on the Dactyl Manuform project, which generates 3D printable files from a set of parameters. My own generator lives on GitHub: dactyl_manuform_keyboard_generator_python.

A 3D printed split keyboard half with bright green keycaps on a dark, curved body — A tailored ergonomic keyboard based on Dactyl Manuform. This photo is of a very rough first try.

Get in touch

Do you like what I do? Want a mouse for your own hand, talk to me, or hire me? Use the form below and I'll get back to you.

I don't have a mailing list yet to keep you updated, but if you send me a message I'll add you to it when I create one in the future. You can also email [email protected].

Message sent. I'll get back to you soon.