If you go with 3d printing, pay attention to minimum bounding box requirements for a material you choose. Shapeways doesnt allow printing very tiny things for many materials.

 

Place the lighting PCB at the encoder's side -> longer distance between encoder and the wheel body, plus a thin hex shaft -> gg Cooler Master.

I'm almost certainly sure you can't remove the shaft, as the wheel almost certainly looks like a single piece of plastic.

If you had a high precision printer then printing an entire wheel would be quite doable (remove the rubber collar end measure the wheel). Most likely would require several attempts, as making shaft a bit thinner would lead to rattling, a bit thicker - too much friction. Could also experiment on barrel's width to give yourself more room for errors.

For fitting the broken part back I see 3 options:
1. use a glue and try fitting by hand like you did (this time preferrably use a two-component epoxy glue, as creates a firm joint, be sure to put a small blob on the center so it won't break easily);
2. make a through needle guide (you'll need to drill a small hole right through the centers of both shafts - that'd be hell of a task);
3. the most viable option - 3d-print a guide (a thick ring, outer d equals the wheel's inner d, inner d equals shaft's outer d; leave some space for glue).

 

Instead of 3D-printing, do investment casting instead. Using tin.

 

are you insane.. . the labor and (materials) involved Greatly exceeds the cost of buying a new mouse.

Put up a WTB

 

Hang on, does this wheel need that hollow space.. if not, just dull up the shaft with some sand paper and fill that whole cavity with 2 part epoxy..

you want to superglue the shaft on first for alignment. then pour the epoxy

 

First off, thank you everyone for your ideas, based on your feedback here is what I'm thinking:

M1st:
Indeed, I am aware that there will be 'requirements' from Shapeways (or whichever company) to makes sure the design meets all their requirements and tolerances.

granitov:
"use a glue and try fitting by hand like you did (this time preferrably use a two-component epoxy glue, as creates a firm joint, be sure to put a small blob on the center so it won't break easily);"
-Probably will try this one more time.

"make a through needle guide (you'll need to drill a small hole right through the centers of both shafts - that'd be hell of a task);"
-Yeah I figured, last resort only territory there.

"the most viable option - 3d-print a guide (a thick ring, outer d equals the wheel's inner d, inner d equals shaft's outer d; leave some space for glue)."
-still a bit shaky on that since 'leaving space for glue' could end up making the wheel wobble again no? Perhaps if I have enough clearance between the PCB and the shaft I could just make a thin guide and 'glue both the new guide and old shaft in place? I don't think I'll have more than 1mm or so of clearance though (if that).

daniel0731ex:
-I'll look into it, thanks.

tp4tissue:
"does this wheel need that hollow space"
-It does, the design uses the space to house a circuit board extension.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by boddole

-still a bit shaky on that since 'leaving space for glue' could end up making the wheel wobble again no?

Meant space between the form and the wheel. Like that (or whatever else option):



If you have an access to a 3D printer that seems pretty easy, just make sure it isn't either too stiff or too loose (so the shaft is both well-centered and won't break when you pull the form out).

 

I'm sorry, but the fact there's a chamber specified to "insert shaft" with a reservoir of "glue" at the end of said passage is somewhat unsettling.

 

Well, it could be not entirely clear (shape and dimensions are for reference only), as it's not meant to be a reservoir but rather a buffer to safely put a small amount of glue inside. Put a small blob of glue, install the form, fit the shaft inside the form.

Glue shouldn't touch the yellow form; probably should've drawn a bigger "chamber".

 

Quite interesting, I made a quick 3D mock-up (let me know what you think about it conceptually). I also wasn't quite sure about your "Pull using these after drying" comment, so I just made some 'extensions' which in my mind you can either use to 'twist' or 'pull up' on the guide after drying. Additionally I suppose I could line the inside of the guide with paper (or whatever) for more security in preventing any glue from getting on the form.

Side notes:
-The 'green' part is just the 'nub' left from the break on the inside of the wheel.
-I could even made the guide out of some clear resin material so I could more/less see inside the guide as well to make sure everything looks to be setting correctly.

 

Think that'll do, though I'd shorten the shaft guide hub a bit to avoid all the paper mess, etc. I think a bit of glue should disperse on the wheel surface (where the nub is) to make a stronger joint, I'd not limit the glue flow with paper guides or whatever.

 

" I think a bit of glue should disperse on the wheel surface "
-I actually had a big problem with this the first time around. The clearance is so small that the PCB was actually grinding against the glue on the inside of the wheel. I ended up having the chip the glue off with a screwdriver (probably used too much glue)... But overall your point is well taken, sounds like a plan.

 

Shave off a bit from the PCB. In the end it's just two wires and a LED (though more if its RGB).

 

Tried to take a picture of the PCB, camera can't handle close-ups well enough...But it looks like the RGB LED is about 1-2 mm from the edge, and on the reverse side, the wires for it terminate almost exactly on the edge. Would it still be safe to file (and what tool would you recommend? Metal File, Sandpaper, something else?) ?

 

Check where the traces are located and avoid damaging them. Besides, those decorative LED PCBs are usually one-sided (I assume traces are located on top, where the LED is), so if it is you could also shave the other side safely, reducing the board's thickness. Use a rotary tool of any kind, or a needle file and a 300-500 grit sandpaper if you're extra careful. After all, you could manually rewire the LED (or throw it away, as it's decorative).

 

I took some photos again (apparently using less light works better), and I'll just post them so you can look at them and see if anything jumps out at you as far as how 'safe' it would be to fill it down:

 

So it's double-sided. You have a fraction of a millimeter to cut, try to leave the holes intact (they are metallized and connect the lower part to the upper).