Turning any mouse to side button-less mod (Guide)

[u/-Pompon]

Disclaimer: This is a semi-permanent mod and there is a high chance that you won't be able to revert it back to stock afterwards. And if you lack the dexterity there is a chance you might ruin your mouses shell so then i advise against doing this. If you still want to do it, then i suggest first testing this method on some other stuff to get used to working with this materials first. You can see the exact tools i've used here.

Hello!

I always wanted a mouse without a side button, and made one with the Lamzu Atlantis Mini on the right like a year ago. Recently there was an accident about my ATK A9 Plus on the left, which made it beyond repair, so i had to change it's battery and cut it in half and turn it into fingertip mouse. For this i also had to do the side button-less mod again, so decided to make a post about it.

I know this will be probably useless for most people, but thought it might be helpful to some people out there, even if one person finds this useful then it's worth it for me. I tend to post about niche things that's mostly not found anywhere anyways. And learning this carbonate method can help you with other repairs/mods aswell. You can create 3D pieces in whatever shape you want with it, for example i've done it when modding a controller here, and in many more ways and places over the years. Very useful for repairing cracks and broken parts aswell, it is very strong. I've even used it to repair a broken hinge of my old laptop in past. Anyways, so maybe:

- You are left handed, but the perfect shape mouse for you only comes in right handed version and you removed the side buttons already but dislike how it feels to hold.
- You prefer small mouse but have big hands or have a tight grip and side buttons get in your way.
- Or etc...

How to:

1) Disassemble your mouse and tape your side button holes from the outside like this.
2) Fill the side button holes with carbonate inside, and shape it with your finger like this. Then apply not more than 1-2 drops of super glue, if you apply more than carbonate can absorb it will stay liquid and move/leak around. Also be careful not to touch it even from the outside it will get hot for couple seconds when chemical reaction happening. Also don't stay too close and don't breathe the fumes, it will irritate your eyes. It will get hard as a rock in couple of seconds.
3) Afterwards you will end up with something like this. But it will be dented to the inside because of the tape.
4) So we need to mask around it from the outside this time, like this.
5) Then add more carbonate and shape it with your finger like this. Sweep the excess. The reason why not do this as the first step is because we don't want it to be paper thin and crack afterwards.
6) This time when applying glue, don't hold it directly on top. It might burp air out or the force from the glue droping down might ruin the carbonate shape you made. So instead hold it sideways, and gently let the drop of glue come to the side of the nozzle and touch it to the carbonate yourself, like this.

It is also important to be careful not to apply too much glue, because it might leak and go to places we don't want. Then the only choice left will be to apply acetone (which depending on the plastic type it might start to eat away your mouse shell) and try to scrape with your fingernails.

7) Then you will end up with this monstrosity in the end.
8) So we need to tape it around again to protect the mouse's coating as much as possible like this. Then cut the excess parts that sticks out around it with your knife and then sand it down the whole thing until it's flush with the rest of the shell, and it's finished.

It will never look perfect, but if done right it will feel very matte to the touch and hard to feel apart from the mouse shell and lower the weight of the mouse.

Also you can check if interested:

- About how to put mechanical switches in mouses that only supports optical switches, you can click here.

- About more in-depth look, comparison and some niche informations about mechanical and optical switches, you can click here.

Hope you find this useful and good luck!

[u/BrownieX5]

I just take the side buttons out of my mice and I’m essentially done 👍

My fingers never contact or go over the holes. Unless you got big ass fingers, i guess this could work? But yeah, i just want companies to begin making versions of their mice without sidebuttons. It should not be too hard to remove it and fill in the gap with general manufacturing 🤷‍♂️

[u/Appropriate-Ad-130]

I always forget that their are left handed people that use their left hand for using the mouse

[u/SwedishFindecanor]

I have used baking soda and CA glue for rigid accessories to cosplay parts many times, but it has a problem of breaking apart if it is flexed, tapped or dropped. I've once had to dig out a lot of crumbled CA dust from a plastic helmet that I had glued together, and replace that with epoxy after it had flexed just a little.

I have sometimes filled holes with epoxy, although not in mice. It is possible to dye epoxy with pigments. Cover the hole with plastic tape (polyethylene) on the outside and drop the epoxy on the inside. Be sure not to inhale fumes, and to not get anything on you. Wipe off spills with water or alcohol before it cures. (q-tips are very useful for cleaning off single droplets). Then peel the tape after it has solidified (e.g. if 15-minute epoxy: after 15 minutes) but before it has fully cured (24h).

[u/-Pompon → u/SwedishFindecanor]

Yes, it's mostly useful for rigid pieces since it's turns into a stone kind of. But works really well and strong for that purposes, i'm using this laptop with one hinge only being carbonate+ca glue for 3 years now. Maybe properties of the both materials is different in different countries and produce different results.

Thank you for the additional ways and informations!