Play Conveyor never meant to win beauty contests, as he stared at the lump on his desk—an ordinary wired mouse—and decided the whole industry had been lying to him. Every curve, every rubber grip, every “vertical” or “ambidextrous” label still left his wrist aching after three hours of editing. So he cracked the thing open, kept the guts, and threw the shell away.
Just about any modern computer mouse contains simple hardware: a red LED that reflects light off your desk, a tiny camera that takes 8,000 pictures per second, and a cheap chip that converts those images into cursor arrows. Two tiny switches click, while the rubber wheel turns. Play Conveyor purchased a $15 kit from Bambu Lab that includes all of those elements on a single tidy board, ready for any maniac to wrap in plastic.
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Mass-produced mice estimate your grip, but Play Conveyor refused to guess. He slid the naked board onto a 3D-printed sled, rested his palm across it in the most relaxed position he could maintain for 10 minutes, and began stuffing the gaps with purple play dough. Fingers sank, thumb nested, and his hand heel found a home. When he peeled away the dough, it revealed a perfect fossil of his skin.
Professional scanners cost thousands, yet an iPhone 15 Pro costs one kidney and features a LiDAR dot on the back. He stuck the dough fossil on a lazy Susan spun by a cordless drill, circled it with his phone, then used Apple’s free PolyCam program to stitch 120 images into a watertight 3D mesh. Ten minutes later, the computer contained a precise digital replica of his resting hand.
His initial print resembled a lava rock. The jagged ridges on the dough seams threatened to file his skin. He imported the scan into Fusion 360, brushed each edge with a digital file, and returned the smoothed file to the printer. Four hours later, version two poured into his hand like warm clay.
Any changes to the exterior shape would damage the fit, therefore buttons had to be kept inside the blueprint. He created two hinged flaps in the front, printed them separately in glossy galaxy-black filament so fingers glided rather than stuck, and snapped them onto tiny pivots. The scroll wheel sank into a canyon between the index and middle fingers; he just extended the slot, allowing a leisurely sweep to spin pages for days.The board snaps into a hole. The USB is held in place with a dab of hot glue. Four TPU feet keep it from walking on the moon. The total amount of filament is 82 grams. The whole cost is $18.
The shape basically resembles a melted Stormtrooper helmet dipped in dryer lint. Anyone can steal the recipe: take apart a $9 mouse or buy the Bambu kit, squish play dough, air-dry clay or even wet sand around the board, [hotograph the lump with any recent iPhone or Android that has depth sensors, and free software (PolyCam, Meshroom, even Microsoft 3D Builder) that turns pictures into printable shells.
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