Mouse gets a new pad (and not of the absorbent kind)

ImRaptor

New Member
Not sure what this qualifies as in terms of area it should be in, but its going here for now.

I don't have any pics as of yet because I killed my batteries taking the pictures. So they are trapped on the camera for the time until I get the things recharged.

Figured I'd start to explain my home made mouse.
A couple of weeks ago I read a thing online about a guy making a mouse pad out of the bottom of a teflon frying pan. Good idea, very slick surface, but kind of impracticle since a slick frying pan is easily going to cost as much if not more than a good mouse pad thats jsut as slick and already made. So I got to tinking about alternatives. Then it came to me walking through Canadian Tire. A cookie sheet. Those suckers are slick.
So I made my way to the kitchen area and loe and behold, they had some cheap cookie sheets for like $5CDN. And they were pretty smooth feeling. I figured this would make for a really good test as to wether or not my idea would be worht it or not.
I also needed a way to keep the sheet from sliding around on the desk. Rubber feet were out since they would cause the metal to sag and warp after time. So I needed a sheet.
There at the end of the isle was the answer: a cooking mat. 5 feet of the stuff for $2.30CDN.
Purchased my new found experiment and took it home for assembly. I cut the sides off the cookie sheet and hot glued the grip mat (after cutting it to a better size) to the sheet.

And I must say that it by far kicks the a** of any other mouse pad I've ever used. Makes my wireless mouse feel literally 10 times lighter than it was just on the smooth desk surface.

And the cookie sheet is no where close to being reflective enough to mess with the tracking of the mouse.

Next I plan on getting a little bigger sheet and making a bigger pad to use at home. Pictures up soon. I promise.
 

leslie

New Member
hey that's cool...nice idea.

I can't help wondering how did you make the edges of the sheet not sharp...I'm envisioning an accidental wrist slitting. :confuse3:
 

ImRaptor

New Member
It was pretty simple dulling the edges down with my dremel and a sanding drum.
I also wrapped the grip mat so that a little bit came around to the top, because I absolutely hate having my mouse fall off the pad.
 

ImRaptor

New Member
OKay, I threw together a page so the pics I took can be viewed.
Some of the pictures are pretty poor quality since I haven't gone through and removed ones that didn't come out properly.

And of course I have a super model displaying my wonderful work ;)

http://raptor.dynu.com/mousePad.php
 

Luhny

New Member
i think it was a great idea to put the border around the outside. How big is the entire area you have for your mouse?
 

Inkara1

New Member
I've never had random woodgrain jumps with my mouse... of course, I have it on a regular mouse pad even though it's a cordless optical.
 

ImRaptor

New Member
Nope, none of the crazy jumps so far. Been using it for a little over a week now.
This mouse pad is about 8"x12".
I like the length, but would prefer a bit more width. Which is why I'm gonna make another one, but this time use a bigger cookie sheet.

For the amazingly little amount of money this cost, I'd say for any of you willing to give it a shot, its worth it.
Just make sure you don't get a reflective cookie sheet.
 
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