deskthority

I consider it a Bad Thing that Razer ditched the mouse wheel when creating the Orbweaver. I found it to be a very useful function of the old Nostromo, so much that I went back to using it exclusively. I'd like to create a mod for the Orbweaver that restores the mouse wheel to it's proper place. Short of cannibalizing some old mice I was wondering if some soul could give me a nudge in the right direction:

1. Are there any scroll-wheel/mouse-wheel housing parts commercially available?
2. If not, how can I go about fashioning one?

Ideally this interface bit can be housed in a plastic sheath of my making, either in a 3-d printed structure or something similar. I'm not sure it needs to use piggy-back the Razer electronics; if it had its own dedicated USB cable that'd be fine.

Any clues on where to start?

The first thing to consider is how the scroll wheel will interface with the computer. If the Orbweaver doesn't have the requisite parts on its PCB it will require a separate USB cable or hack of some sort.

There are probably some that are commercially available, but they might be difficult to source.

3D printing or CNC machining of parts will require knowledge of CAD applications unless you want to pay a designer.

Cannibalizing an old mouse will present its own problems -- I do think that is the most viable option, though.