Transplant Your Clasic Single Button Mac Mouse Inards

sick of stupid looking new mouses? tired of your classic single button mac mouses lack of ... anything but one button? ill show you how to transplant the innards of a cheapo goodwill mouse into your mac mouse to make the perfect balance of style and functionality!
its a good couple hours of work, but its a dirt cheap project, good for practicing those case mod skillz.

Step 1: Gather Materials.

first you obviously need to get a classic mac single button mouse. check goodwill or maybe eBay, or potentially under a pile of junk in your closet. next you need an optical mouse with a small enough board to fit in the mac mouse (fortunately most optical mouses have clear or translucent bases witch makes this a much easier process).
As far as tools, you'll need a hot glue gun, a screwdriver, and various cutting and prying tools. i found a dremil tool very helpful for some parts but I'm sure if your creative enough you can figure out something else that would work. speaking of witch creativity is basically a requirement with this one =)

Step 2: Getting the Parts Out of the Mice

pop open both mouses. you basically can just remove all the works from the mac mouse as you see fit. the other mouse however you will need to be careful not to break any wires and especially not the scroll wheel.
if the post that attaches the scroll wheel is kind of flimsy (as in the case of the hp mouse i used) you may want to grab a scroll wheel from another mouse, but its not necessary.
I took the picture after i finished the project so just assume the board is not in either mouse.

Step 3: Prepping the Parts (1)

if, in the unfortunate event the board doesn't quite fit. you may need to take a dremil tool (or the creativity i previously mentioned) to the inside walls of the bottom half of the mac mouse to make a little more room. you can also carefully trim the edges of the board, make sure not to cut any of the connections.
once you have the board placed where the scroll wheel can fit directly beneath the button on the top half of the mouse, mark out the position where the clear plastic piece that directs the light from the led will need to fit. cut out this aria from the base of the bottom of the mac mouse. try to make the hole big enough that you can hot glue around the plastic piece (note: in a while you will be gluing it directly to the board). after that you'll need to hot glue the board in place, and the plastic piece needs to be glued in place, either before or after (note: the plastic piece has to be perfectly clear to transmit the light from the led. so make sure to glue around it so as not to interfere with the light. The plastic piece cant come out below the bottom of the mouse or it will catch on stuff so place the board accordingly (see pictures)

Step 4: Prepping the Parts (2)

now for the top half of the mac mouse. make a oval shaped hole directly over where the scroll wheel will be, using a dremil tool/ drill/ handsaw/ whatever seems to work best for you (i used a dremil), it may take some fitting and adjusting to get it right. next make a cut directly through the middle of the button (see the picture and the attached note).
you may need to cut out a concave section into the bottom of the button to fit over the scroll wheel assembly (see picture) because the assembly can get in the way of the buttons. I had to cut off one of the arms of the scroll wheel, sacrificing the click function, to make it fit. I also had to put small dabs of hot glue on the ends of the freshly cut buttons so they could reach the buttons on the board. (you can't see it in the pictures unfortunately),
now make any final adjustments to make the mouse all fit together properly and the buttons function

Step 5: Finishing Touches

hot glue the cord where it comes out of the mouse so it doesn't get pulled out or moved around, take the pad from the bottom of the old track ball cover and put it somewhere towards the back. try to cover any exposed solder points with hot glue so you don't shock yourself or anything.
now just put everything together.
(Disclaimer: this worked for me but i cant guarantee it will for you, ive messed up case mods before. so just be carefull and you should be fine)

GOOD LUCK =)

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11 Comments

the_burrito_master

12 years ago on Introduction

why would you want to use an apple mouse? they're uncomfortable as heck.

Alex Moon

14 years ago on Introduction

Logitech mice tend to be best for that version of ADB mouse because they are square small profile, not to wide and relatively low density but the Microsoft optical looks good too.

ThinkBeforeYouSpeak

13 years ago on Introduction

GROW A MULLET!

f86sabre

14 years ago on Step 1

an easier way to do this is just to use a windows mouse that connects to usb. if you are going for looks then i see why you would do it.

ironsmiter

2 suggestions. 1st. Get thee to a store and purchase thine DREMEL(or dremel like tool) on second thought... put it on your MadModders wish list! 2nd, Strip both mice to bare plastic, put them bottom to bottom, and use a marker, to mark off the openings. then, using your newly purchased dremel, cut out the marked plastic. 3rd, try not to use a WORKING mouse, if at all possible. Working classic hardware should be revered and saved. Find a local computergeek(or machead) and see if they'll exchange a non-functional unit for your working model. 4th(I know i know, I said 2 suggestions) remove one of the usb ports from your case. Rewire the header cable using an ADB port. Then, rewire the Mouse, using the origional ADB cable. They are both conveniently 4-wire solutions!