Have you ever needed a storage space for your ball bearings! Or your Arduino RTC! Here is just the thing. Today we will make a hidden storage compartment in a mouse. The best part is if we do it right the mouse should still work

Step 1: PRY IT OPEN!

This is the step where the most things can go wrong. Be very careful finding the seam in your mouse and slowly start prying it open. If it has a lot of resistance check for hidden screws. I had one in mine that was hidden by a rubber cap.

Step 2: Cut!

Once you have the mouse completely open you can start cutting off all of the tabs that hold the mouse together. This will make the mouse slide together but it will also cause the mouse to fall apart very easily. We will fix that in a later step!

Step 3: Make Sure Your Mouse Is Protected!

In this step we will make sure that when we put our ball bearings in it doesn't short out the circuit board or slam into the wheel. There are many ways you could do this but the easiest is just using foam board and paper.

Step 4: Done! Sort Of.

You can be done right now and you will have a great mouse that works and can store a lot more than expected. The only problem is those clips we cut of earlier. After we cut those off the mouse is only held together by the weight of your hand. Not a problem if your always using the mouse but it mean that the lightest bump uncover your hiding spot. If you want to fix this you can go to the next step but if you want to be done you can end right here.

Step 5: Magnets!

This step will reduce your storage space but it will make the illusion much more convincing. I used what I had laying around which was magnetic tape but stronger magnets would work even better. The key in this step is to find a good spot for the magnets. I had to do a couple iterations before I found the perfect spot.

Step 6: Admire Your Work!

Put your mouse carefully back together and then plug it in to a computer. If it doesn't go up in smoke you've done a great job! Now you have a mouse that works and doubles as a storage compartment

Thank you for reading!

If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them