To get over my fear of soldering I decided to order the unassembled kit for this open-source trackball mouse instead of the assembled version. I attempted to solder the sensor last weekend and it went really poorly. I thought I had burned the board and I accidentally soldered two pins together that shouldn’t have been.

A few YouTube tutorials later and I’m ready to try again. This time with some solder wick, one of these cleaner things, and solder that’s actually small enough for a circuit board (I had my dad’s plumbing solder 🤦). Wish me luck.

The second attempt was a huge success! I was only planning to get through the soldering but I had so much fun that I finished the full assembly in one night. @epk I didn't realize desoldering was even an option on my first attempt, but it made the whole thing much less stressful.

More open-source hardware kits, please. I originally found the Ploopy mouse when looking for trackball mice with high-res sensors and a thumb scroll wheel. My right hand often hurts from scrolling with my pointer or middle finger so I've been searching for a solution to that for a long time and I think I've found it. I love that, like my keyboard, it's something I can repair or modify myself.

If you are in the market for a mouse (or headphones!) check out their site. I'm now a fan.

Here's a photo of the finished product:

An open source soldering tool also I see? I love those and just got myself one last year - I had an older soldering iron that had no good temp control and tips were to too thick. The right tools really do make a difference!