Franken-Mouse Outrigger Jacks: What the heck is that?

Well, I'm the crippled guy who has to mod a lot of things so I can use them. To use my computer mouse I rest my hand on it and push it around. Since I cannot grip the mouse with my fingers it needs to glide easily on whatever surface it's on. Over the years I have tried a lot of surfaces finally settling on a 1.5mm thick sheet of Teflon. I was gluing tiny glass beads to the bottom of the mouse to make it slide really easily and this was working well till the mouse manufacturer started using weaker lasers and they could not detect the surface when it was too far below the sensor. So the end of gluing beads to the bottom of the mouse.

After some thought I made these jacks. A 4mm ball bearing fits into a small cup which fits onto the end of a M3 screw. This in turn fits into a housing which is glued to the mouse. Turning the screw raises/lowers the mouse allowing the mouse to get as close to the surface as possible while still gliding on the steel balls.

The ball shape means very little area touches the Teflon and I think this means any pressure triggers Teflon's self lubricating properties. Maybe. And the sphere shape means starts in any direction all act the same; no sticking. Starts are the worst for me but no problem with this setup.

Silicone caulk is smeared on top to make it grippy.

Clever solution

Are the bearings glued to the bolt?

The balls are glued to little cups. The cups are friction fit onto the ends of the screws.

This is awesome. This is a perfect application for the inexpensive custom manufacturing that 3D printing can give us. Thanks for sharing!

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