I like my keyboard and mouse to match. While it does not improve my productivity in any way, it does provide my desktop with a sense of unity. Like many Geekhack forum members, I ordered a WhiteFox keyboard scheduled for delivery in March with Cherry blues that I plan to assemble myself (thank Matt3o for putting the keyboard together with Massdrop). The WhiteFox is a beautiful keyboard and deserves to be paired with an equally attractive mouse. I decided to document my attempt to create a WhiteFox inspired Logitech G402. I’m posting this early because I don’t think the project was a complete success: there are some serious drawbacks to modifying the G402 in the manner described here and I cannot recommend it without reservation. It should also be noted that Matt3o did not authorize me to use the WhiteFox name and this project has no official WhiteFox association.
Logitech G402 Mini ReviewThe Logitech G402 has onboard memory so I don’t need to constantly run some terrible piece of software in the background to customize mouse buttons. It also has the right number of buttons, the standard 5 for left, right, and middle click, and forwards and backwards, plus 3 additional buttons that I bind to CTRL, ALT, and WIN/META, for a total of 8 buttons overall. Binding modifier keys to the mouse means I can execute multi-key commands with one hand on the mouse and another on the keyboard but still press one key with each hand, which greatly reduces hand strain.
General Mouse Modification TipsDocument Disassembly Mouses tend to be assembled in similar ways. Remove the skid pads, remove the screws hiding under the skid pads, and proceed from there. Take pictures of the disassembly process so you can put your mouse together again.
Test Colourants prior to use The same factors that cause keycaps to shine also wears down paint surfaces. I have extensively tested Krylon Colormaster brand spray paints with other mouse modifications and can state that they hold up to wear very well. Tamiya spray paints also seem to do well. Never use acrylic or bottled paints that you apply with a brush, they will not hold up to hours of contact with human tissue. Spray paints are much more durable, with gloss finishes being the most durable. You could also use dyes if you have access to white mouse components.
EDIT: I have experienced some problems with Tamiya TS lacquers with this project and cannot recommend them without reservation. I have looked into this a bit an learnt that enamels dry once solvents evaporate and polymers in the paint bond together. Enamels will not soften once hardened. Lacquers do not polymerize like enamels and may soften over time, this may have something to do with what happened here. Try to use enamel paints, it will make your life easier.Avoid Overspray Mouses are manufactured with very tight tolerances. Use masking tape to protect the internal parts of the mouse and switches, even a few layers of paint will drastically change mouse click feel. I have never modified a mouse without at least one switch requiring some tuning afterwards, but you can minimize the amount of work required by avoiding overspray.
Strip Rubber Paint and rubber tend not to get along. Many mouses have rubberized surfaces, strip the rubber from those surfaces or avoid painting them altogether. I ran into serious problems with this in this project.
Logitech G402 DisassemblyStart with the mouse.
Use a small screwdriver to peel off the mouse’s skid pads. The adhesive on the G402’s pads was particularly strong, some of the pads started to split in the middle with the skid surface coming off and the adhesive remaining on the mouse. Do not let that happen, make sure you’re pulling off the adhesive. Once the pads are off, stick them onto a piece of parchment paper or something similar so you can re-use them. Replacement pads can be purchased of you destroy them in the removal process, but this should not be necessary if you are careful.
Break the mouse in half. There are vertical and horizontal PCBs attached to the bottom of the mouse. Remove the 2 screws securing the vertical PCB, then the 3 screws and retention clip securing the horizontal PCB (one of the horizontal PCBs screws is hidden under the vertical PCB). Both PCBs should separate from the mouse, along with the USB cable.
The top half of the mouse houses all of the buttons, which are held in place by an army of screws. Take out all of the screws you can see and start wiggling components apart. I did not remove the mouse wheel.
Logitech G402 ModificationsThe plan was to coat the base of the mouse in aluminum leaf so it would match the WhiteFox’s aluminum base, do all of the buttons in white with a blue scroll wheel. This plan did not work at all and was heavily modified because of difficulties encountered during the project.
MaterialsKrylon Colormaster gloss white (51501), Krylon Colormaster clear gloss (451301), Tamiya TS10 French blue lacquer spray paint (85010), 3M Super 77 spray adhesive, Deserres or equivalent imitation silver leaf (which is actually aluminum leaf), masking tape, paint brush.
Surface Preparation Sand down any rubberized surface, then wash everything with soapy water and rinse well. I was surprised to learn that the rubber on the G402’s side surfaces is not a light coating, but several millimeters thick (see photo below, there is a clear line of rubber). This could not be sanded down without destroying the appearance of the mouse, so I decided to proceed with the rubber in place and hoped paint and adhesives would stick to it. Remember to use masking tape to protect any surfaces that will not be exposed so that they are not painted, even a thin layer of paint affects mouse feel when that layer is on internal components.
Applying Aluminum LeafSpray the surface with 3M Super 77 adhesive and wait 5 minutes for the adhesive to develop tack. There is also a produce called “size” that is a brush on adhesive for gold and silver leaf. I did not have any size, so I just used general purpose adhesive spray. Once the surface is tacky, apply aluminum leaf. Pat the leaf onto the surface with a paint brush. Do not use a cheap brush to do this! Cheap brushes tend to lose bristles, and loose bristles become embedded in the adhesive and will ruin the appearance of the leaf-coated surface.
You can change the appearance of the leaf by crinkling it during application or applying it as a smooth sheet. Using a stiff brush or a soft brush to flatten the leaf also affects appearance. The two components here had their leaf applied in different ways to generate smoother and rougher surfaces. (I started applying leaf with a cheap dollar-store brush and it lost some bristles on my mouse. You can see one at the lowest curve in the below image. I had to pick all of the bristles out and re-apply leaf to those regions. Avoid this problem altogether with a quality brush.)
Once the leaf is applied and the adhesive has cured, apply a whole lot of coats of clear gloss to protect it. Leaf is very fragile; I did about 10 coats of clear on top of the leafed components of this mouse.
