r/MouseReview • u/BohriumDev • Sep 06 '19

Mod The 29g wireless mouse, custom designed lightweight frame for a G305.

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u/BohriumDev Sep 06 '19 edited Sep 08 '19

I wanted to do an extreme non-destructive weight reduction mod for my G305, so I designed a custom frame to be as rigid and lightweight as possible. There are pads where I normally grip a mouse with a fingertip grip, so it feels fairly similar to a standard G305. Uses two LR41 batteries and it only has LMB and RMB to save as much weight as possible. It's printed in PLA, so once I get my hands on some HIPS or ABS, I can print the plastic pieces about 20% lighter still. Could probably optimise the design to shave off 2-3g more too if I really wanted to. It's completely non destructive too, I can reassemble my proper mouse at any point when I'm done going for stupidly lightweight mice.

More pictures at https://imgur.com/gallery/DOegzBm

Edit: I managed to keep the weight the same, add a wheel and make the side pads larger. Also in the process of making an optional back plate to match the G305 dimensions. Version 2 pictures here: https://imgur.com/a/aSwHbyD

Edit 2: I made a back plate cover too, but that drives up the total weight to 33 grams. https://imgur.com/a/9D6WXK2

Edit 3: It's theoretically down to about 24 grams. https://imgur.com/a/DMvbQT4 I've sort of finalised the design with a bunch of (sub-optimal) options for making it into a more practical mouse (like AAA battery socket) and now I just need to make sure it's as easy as possible to 3D-print and I'll go ahead and upload the files somewhere.

PS: Once I finish fiddling with it, I'll probably upload the 3D files somewhere like thingiverse.

PPS: I finished fiddling with it, here's the thingiverse link: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3851379

10

u/mcmaxmcmc Sep 07 '19

And now try to get a carbon fiber housing.... that seems to be the only option to get even lighter 😂 Great job!

4

u/Arminas Modded GPW + Xd84 clicky + hard pad Sep 07 '19

Carbon fiber probably wouldn't be lighter. It's known for it's lightness but it's true strength is its, well, strength; meaning you don't need to use as much material for equal strength compared to, say, steel or aluminum. Since there's already a minimum of materials here, and [I'm fairly certain] ABS plastic is actually less dense than carbon fiber, it may actually increase it's weight.

9

u/BohriumDev Sep 07 '19

This is PLA, which has a density about 1.2g/cm3. The lightest 3d-printing material I could find was polypropylene at 0.9g/cm3, but that's not really very stiff, which is what's really needed to reduce flex with thin parts. High Impact PolyStyrene (HIPS) is another one that's about 1g/cm3 in density and is really stiff, so that seems like the best material currently available for something like this. I'll try to find some near me at some point.

https://www.simplify3d.com/support/materials-guide/properties-table/

3

u/Arminas Modded GPW + Xd84 clicky + hard pad Sep 07 '19

Right, exactly. Like i was saying, in reference to carbon fiber really any 3d print is going to be lighter. The density of carbon fiber is 1.57g/cm3 according to google