Tydusis 2012-01-11 01:34:07 (Updated 2012-01-11 08:04:57)

Well, when I started making this, I thought it was going to be a lot simpler; I thought wrong. It took about an hour or two of trial and error before I stumbled upon basically making a platform out of toothpicks and duct tape. It still doesn't quite work the way I want, but I'll try to briefly explain what you see here.

The pencil is taped to the mouse by its grip, meaning I can take it out and put a pen there instead or whatever. That part is taped there as securely as I could make it. Through gaps in the tape job, I rammed a total of 3 toothpicks through the tape to make a frame. A 4th one connects at the tips of the horizontal ones to make sort of a truss and complete the platform. If you want to make something like this, you just have to sort of improvise as you go along. If you do, though, make sure you get the stickiest duct tape you can get your hands on. I used gorilla tape for this with a bit of scotch tape for covering up part of the platform.

The pencil is actually upside down in the case for a reason: the eraser provides just that little bit of friction when your pressing down to give force feedback like an actual pencil. The vertical toothpick sort of has two functions: pressing on the pushpin makes the pick go down ever so slightly and grab the mouse pad, giving even more friction, and acts as sort of a sensitivity dial to how far left on the platform a click will register and helps re-tighten the system. Also it lets you know when you're pressing too hard by catching on the mouse pad. I have no idea on how long this will last, but it is fairly easy to make once you know how to. It looks like it can take a decent amount of abuse, but only time will tell.

Tydusis 2012-01-11 01:34:58

Once I got it to the stage it is now, I first had to get used to the idea of not looking where my hand is drawing/writing. I'm still getting used to it, but as far as drawing in GIMP and Photoshop goes, it has made longer and smoother lines much easier to make and handwriting is actually practical. I would say that it is probably not as good as using a tablet, but the ability to the place the thumb in a more natural drawing position does definitely makes a difference.

The fun part about all this was learning how to use it properly, which mainly involved learning the proper way to hold it. It is similar holding a pencil except with only two fingers. To click, there are generally three ways: pressing the pencil forward (therefore down) and/or in, pressing the pushpin, or pressing the along right corner of the platform (where the toothpick is). Now to be able to actually draw doing one of those things, I found that this is the most consistent way to make it work: press the corner for leftward strokes and the pushpin for rightward. Of course, it all comes down to the user preference and what works for them.

One thing I want to note is that this is a laptop mouse and I am not sure how well this mod would work for a full size. Also, being a gamer myself, I'm not really sure how people would take the fact system the system puts it on a semi-hair trigger. It kind of makes me feel like I'm cheating, but then again, I've totally changed the feel and handling of my mouse which I've used for years. That's going to take some getting used to.