DIY Wrist Rest made out of Office Depot mousepad

[lowkey]

I recently picked up a Quickfire Rapid, and before I had purchased the board, I also picked up one of the Grifiti wrist pads that was talked about here on geekhack some time ago - http://www.amazon.com/Grifiti-Keyboard-Wrist-Pad-Black/dp/B004D8PYE2/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329002049&sr=8-1-spell

Unfortunately I wasn't quite satisfied with this.  The main issue I had was the sharp edge, which was extremely uncomfortable on my wrists as it basically dug into them as I was typing or gaming on my new keyboard.  It also seemed a bit too high for my liking and cutting it to size wasn't really much of an option.

I came up with my own solution which I thought I'd share below:

The first thing I did was purchase a large office depot branded extra large mousepad - http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/310446/Office-Depot-Brand-Extra-Large-Mouse/ - available at my local office depot.

Second, I cut either edge out, both 3.5" deep, the length of the mousepad.  After that I stacked the two pieces on top of each other, and despite the lower height, I still had issues with the edge digging into my wrists, so it was still quite uncomfortable.  I sat around for awhile trying to figure out what I could do to "remedy" this situation, and I realized that the only way it wouldn't dig into my wrists is if it were somehow staggered/sloped downwards.  I decided to take another strip and place it in between each larger strip cut off the ends as seen in the picture below:



I cut the middle piece to a depth of 2.75", allowing it to slope down when my wrist is on it:



And the final result is actually rather pleasing to look at:



I found this infinitely more comfortable than any of the other wrists rests I've tried, so I thought I'd share.  After I decided on this "final" design, I simply used a gluestick to glue the pieces together.  With an extra mousepad, one could easily make it high enough to their liking, or simply use only two pieces (one large on top, one small on bottom) to make it lower, but still retain the comfort you gain by allowing the top of the pad to slope downwards as your wrist rests on it.

Pretty good deal for $9.99 + tax IMO.

Size of the wrist rest when finished: 13.25" x 3.5" x 0.5" - but ideally you could make it any size you wanted.

I hope at least one person gets a good wrist rest out of this

[GuardianDuo]

Made an account just to thank you for this guide - I've got a Quickfire Rapid, too.
I assume the smell of the Office Depot mousepad will go away soon?

And it turns out I'm not a fan of the sloping wristrest - good thing following your measurements leaves me with a 3.5" rectangular piece that can be swapped so there is a hard edge to the wristrest!

Thanks again!

[lagosta]

What keyboard is that?

[demik]

Really? He says what it is in the first line of his post.

[pitashen]

Really? He says what it is in the first line of his post.

Think OP's forearm hair kinda distracted his view from seeing what keyboard it is.

[pitashen]

CM Storm QuickFire Rapid SGK-4000.

See, I'm polite to noobs unlike many Senior Geekhackers.

and CM stands for Cooler Master. BAM!

[fohat.digs]

Gel wrist pads rule.

If you value your wrists more than the price of the pad, that is.

[limmy]

I also made a pretty similar wrist pad before and I migrated to wooden wrist rest about a month ago.

The wooden wrist rest cost me less than 2 bucks to make. Wood feels pretty good and my palm doesn't get as sweaty as the wrist rest made from a mouse pad.
http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:25962

[kwang2009]

I was going for the Grifiti until I found this. Fellowes® Notebook Computer Palm Support With Microban®, Fabric, Graphite, also at Office Depot.

[lowkey]

I also made a pretty similar wrist pad before and I migrated to wooden wrist rest about a month ago.

The wooden wrist rest cost me less than 2 bucks to make. Wood feels pretty good and my palm doesn't get as sweaty as the wrist rest made from a mouse pad.
http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:25962

I actually thought about this too!  I didn't try it out yet, but I had some extra ideas about how to improve it.  I think gluing a thin piece of memory foam or foam rubber to the top of the piece of wood, and then wrapping it in something like alcantara would work out very nicely.

[Von Steve]

Great idea for someone on a budget/wants a quick fix . Btw I bet you have a carpet on your back judging by the amount of yeti fur on your arms. Don't worry though, I think it's sexy.

[limmy]

I actually thought about this too!  I didn't try it out yet, but I had some extra ideas about how to improve it.  I think gluing a thin piece of memory foam or foam rubber to the top of the piece of wood, and then wrapping it in something like alcantara would work out very nicely.

It would be nice. I guess the end result would be somewhat similar to Microsoft keyboard elite for bluetooth. I find the wrist pad on MS keyboard very comforting. I don't know what Alcantara is but if it used on luxury cars, it must have pretty good characteristics! The material used on the MS keyboard is man-made leather with come kind of cushioning material beneath. Thanks for the idea!