I needed another corded mouse and this time around I thought of @PKL@mastodon.social and @pronk@mastodon.social instead of Logitech’s shareholders. These guys make open source mice among other open source hardware under the brand Ploopy. You can order one from them, assembled or as a kit, or you could print and build it entirely by yourself.
The mouse itself is pretty great. Coming from a long line of Logitech (MX518/G5/G500/G502), it’s a bit larger than what I’m used to but I think I’m getting accustomed to it.
Here’s another shot of it:
3D printed stuff looks so uncomfortable to hold.
I want an open source mouse with electromagnetic resistance wheel like one in Logitech MX Master 3S.
Might not be too difficult to achieve by connecting a small electric motor to the scroll wheel axle. Then you could vary the resistance by changing a pot hooked the motor’s terminals.
This stuff is nice. Are there any plans for a vertical mouse for those of us with cranky old man wrists?
Does anyone remember the Microsoft Sidewinder X8 mouse? It had vertical thumb buttons instead of horizontal, and I loved that layout, but it’s literally the only mouse I’ve ever seen like it. But now that I know there’s open source mice out there, I might have to mess around and learn CAD so I can alter one of these mice to have vertical thumb buttons
I had the sidewinder keyboard with magnetic numpad that worked on either side. Loved that thing. Used the R.A.T. 7 Mouse
though, fucking amazing. Best thing mad catz ever put out.
I’ve got to say “Ploopy” is one of the absolute worst names I’ve ever seen. Before I even saw the picture, I thought “I bet it looks like shit.”
It’s like an alien name out of Rick and Morty. 😂
you mean you dont like my plumbus? what about glorp?
Opensource projects often have terrible names.
Gimp, libreoffice, lemmy, Apache… just the ones that come to mind.
Gimp is a funny acronym that explains exactly what the software does. Libreoffice also tells you exactly what the product is. Lemmy is quick, catchy, easy to remember, and has a story behind it. Apache is… pretty bad.
Ploopy is literally “poopy” with an extra letter.
Gimp refers to sexual exploitation. Often the “exploited” is a willing participant but often not. Regardless it’s “funny” the way a 12 year old finds drawing dicks on things funny.
Libreoffice only tells geeks exactly what the product is. My team, who uses Libreoffice, couldn’t explain what Libre means, and no one can pronounce it.
Being quick and catchy is a pretty low bar. No one knows or cares about the story behind Lemmy. It sounds silly in conversation.
Gimp refers to sexual exploitation.
Like CBT and dozens of other terms, those damn psychologists and their Cock and Ball Torture.
Libreoffice only tells geeks exactly what the product is. My team, who uses Libreoffice, couldn’t explain what Libre means, and no one can pronounce it.
Not sure if this is serious or not ?
If they’re illiterate perhaps wider reading beyond Manga would help?
Gimp refers to sexual exploitation.
No, it doesn’t.
Libreoffice only tells geeks exactly what the product is.
The target market is primarily geeks.
no one can pronounce it.
Sounds like your coworkers should expand their horizons. Libre is a common word in (at least) 2 widely spoken languages.
Being quick and catchy is a pretty low bar.
Not when you’re naming a product. You think its hard to get people to use Lemmy, imagine trying to sell them on “Federated Link Aggregater Website.”
It sounds silly in conversation.
As does Google, Instagram, and Tiktok but they at least managed to pick silly sounding names that don’t sound like a child trying to describe a loose bowel movement.
Yeah, as opposed to weird shit like Apple, Google, Facebook, or earphones like the Sony Model EA-JX1000JT
Ploopy fills my hand really well
“I like resting my hand on my Ploopy”
It almost sounds like a vintage game sound, like “bleep bloop”, but worse, fecally worse.
I’m sorry but that’s such a ploopy take. You can’t just judge something by it’s name 🙄
it gives me a general “its probably entirely shit”. that’s really a bad name.
After reading up it sounds like a decent product but they should definitely consider rebranding.
Those layer lines look like a perfect place for all sorts of shit to gather and stick to.
If one has sweaty hands - stay away from 3D-printed / soft plastic shell mice.
I couldn’t agree more. I also hate when mice or keyboards can not be easily disassembled to be properly cleaned. In this case I guess it’s a matter of printing precision and/or material (don’t have my own printing experience, so maybe somebody else can comment on it)
Maybe you could vapour-smooth it.
Many people will say “just sand it down”. But the extruder-printed plastic is still going to be porous as heck. A perfect place for germs.
Personally, I’d use the 3D model to create a negative mold of sorts, and then cast it out of something more human-friendly. But I haven’t looked at the complexity of this model, this would have to be designed accordingly.
Your mold idea makes me wonder if cast aluminum could be practical for a shell for this.
How do you usually do that?
Do you create a negative of the model digitally or take a mold of the printed parts?
What kinds of human-friendly materials do you use? And do you need any special equipment for it?
The adult toys community would have some guides. You print the object, cast the mold around it and then fill the void with silicone afaik.
Is silicone rigid enough? Adult toys have slightly different requirements from many other 3D printed things.
Is it comfortable in the hand? The surface looks super rough
All Ploopy’s stuff looks rough. I think they’re 3D-printing them. Maybe one day they’ll progress to something that gives a nicer result.
I was looking at their trackballs but the ambidextrous ones look awkwardly tiny and have rattly bearings, in addition to the rough finish. I support what they’re doing but I wish the products were a bit less prototypey.
Yeah, definitely 3D printed.
I think they’re 3D-printing them. Maybe one day they’ll progress to something that gives a nicer result
Yes they are 3D printed
Poorly 3D printed.
The layering issue could be solved by orienting the object at a 45° angle
Or even smaller layer height. That looks like .2 or .24 minimum.
I could reprint the housing one day, when I get a printer myself. 😂
The whole point is that it’s open source and they want people to be able to print them themselves.
Theoretically, you can mold it to fit your hand but the tolerances and mountings make that a hassle.
As for the print itself? Most people just do a quick print and have the telltale ridges from layers. But you can futz with settings to improve the smoothness or just finish the print itself. At which point it is not going to be as smooth as injection molding but it will be more “different” than “bad”.
Stupid question from someone who’s never 3d printed anything - can you just sand these things smoother?
It depends how it was printed.
As a SUPER simplified basic: Any 3d print consists of walls/perimeters and infill. The walls are the exterior surfaces of the print. The infill is what is inside. And the vast majority of prints tend to be sparse infills. So rather than solid plastic beneath those walls, you mostly just have air and a mesh structure of some form.
So if the wall is thick enough (generally referred to as “number of walls”)? Sure. If it isn’t? You’ll just see the void inside the shell itself and make things much worse.
What is generally done to reduce “3d printed texture” is a mixture of smaller print layers (so the ridges are much thinner), printing with more walls, and actually lightly melting the exterior surface (either through chemicals or heat).
VKB are probably the kings of the mid-range sicko HOTAS market and I am like 90% certain they 3d print the shell of their sticks for the Gladiator (?). But they do such a good job that I genuinely can’t be certain. Whereas the vast majority of ploopy builds… aren’t that.
Looks like a bitch to clean. Gonna get all sorts of grease collecting in those grooves…
It feels good. I’m thinking of smoothing it with epoxy but it’s not necessary.
Only as good as your 3d printer and settings I’d say
its 3d printed so it has layer lines. it can be improved or processed to be smoother though.
Super cool and I totally see the appeal, but at nearly 3x the price of my Logitech g502 for a 3d printed mouse with a technically inferior sensor, it’s a big ask.
Now do printers.
pretty stupid that we can print in 3 dimensions well, while 2-dimension remains locked behind capitalism.
I often wonder how difficult it would be to create an aftermarket control board for existing printers.
Yes please!
What is your experience with the scroll wheel? Some time ago I was interessted in a Ploopy but the non clicky scrollwheel put me off.
It’s alright. It’s not as nice as the flywheel/clickwheel on G502 but it’s alright. It doesn’t accidentally spin for me so far. I imagine one of the custom buttons could be used to enable/disable scrolling along with some script, if it becomes a problem.
I have the same mouse, and that scroll wheel is unusable. It requires a ton of effort to just scroll tiny amounts because the sensitivity is waaay too low and it cannot be adjusted. The rest of the mouse is really nice because it runs QMK.
I set up drag scrolling as a workaround for the shitty scroll wheel, which allows you to press a button (or a combination of buttons) and then use the mouse’s optical sensor as an omnidirectional scrolling device until you release the button.
I set that up on my Ploopy Adept hand trackball mouse as well. It’s my favorite mouse I’ve ever used.
Layer lines, too expensive.
Looks less comfortable than one of those 10~15€ brandless mouses at MediaMarkt
layer lines can be sanded down during making and/or improved upon massively if you are fine with it taking much longer to print. or own a better printer.
the price is steep, but its pre-made and post processed. i think the real value of it is in making it yourself for the price of the components and raw plastic if you already own a printer.
deleted by creator
sadly don’t have one near. but its a good idea too.
Layer lines
You say “free hand grip for less strain” weird.
I’ve been using this mouse for almost a year now. No complaints.
Isn’t there severe issues with micro plastics doing this? Serious question. I’ve just heard in general on 3d prints that they’re more prone to shedding.
I would literally eat a spoon of microplastics if it meant I got a mouse that was comparable to my G602. Not saying this mouse does that but there certainly aren’t any commercial options I could find.
If you do the smoothing steps it can be OK, especially if you sand it in a sealed environment or with a HEPA vacuum handy to suck up all of the particulates. Once it is sanded you can do a short acetone treatment and the surface will be melted smooth. It can take some practice, but you can seal it up pretty well without sacrificing quality. Just be mindful of air quality and filtering at each step so you don’t undermine your goal.
Also, no matter what the microplastic impact on the environment is less than a mouse made in a factory thar doesn’t pay attention to any of its air quality standards.
Gotcha. Thanks for the type up!
need to take it real old, print it in abs and do a vapor smoothing in acetone.
You could also print this in a goo printer and not have the issue.
Interesting. I always wondered if the same rule applied to the ‘goo’ type as my friend has one.
They definitely don’t shed much when they’re new. They’re quite playable and don’t sand easily
Now you leave it in the sun for a year, they do get brittle, I suspect at that point you might be able to sand them on a table surface.
I keep thinking I should give a ploopy a shot but I’ve increasingly grown to like/need vertical mice and, like most ploopy related efforts, it is mostly “you CAN do it” with nobody ever having even tried because it requires pretty hefty redesigns of almost every part to mount things correctly.
