r/Trackballs • • Jan 27 '21

An update on my DIY trackball project. All the electronics are inside the ball. The ball is the trackball.

596 Upvotes

r/Trackballs • • Aug 20 '26

Current Finger & Ambidextrous Trackballs

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468 Upvotes

Here you are, the finger trackballs currently (or soon to be) available.

Intentionally left out are industrial, arcade and assistive models.

Cheers!


r/Trackballs • • May 12 '25

greetings ballers! my 3rd ball came in today, just wanted to share 💅💅

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467 Upvotes

r/Trackballs • • Aug 16 '26

Current Thumb Trackballs

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466 Upvotes

I think we're due for an update, a bit tidier now.

Cheers!


r/Trackballs • • Dec 13 '25

The feel of the scroll ring on the TB800 is great

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452 Upvotes

Lots to unpack and configure still, but out the gate, coming from the Expert Mouse, the ring has a dramatically different feel. Good weight and dampening - a pleasure to use for scrolling. The Expert Mouse is definitely plasticky and cheap feeling in comparison.

I do miss the Expert Mouse padded wrist rest a lot. We’ll see if I adapt or end up getting a different wrist pad.


r/Trackballs • • Apr 03 '26

i bought this thing at goodwill for 3 dollars and it is singlehandedly the best mouse thing i've ever used

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439 Upvotes

i picked it up solely because it looked neat but when it's turned out to be the most comfortable and easy to use computer mouse i have ever had and i cannot find anything like it for sale aside from other ones on ebay.

I swear if logitech just made more of them i think people would start using them solely because it's genuinely an amazing product and i'm mad that the last ones were made in 1996.

So i come here to ask the experts on rolling doohickys. Where can i buy something similar to this, preferably one where the fingers are the main contact and the thumb is a secondary one


r/Trackballs • • Mar 20 '26

Here is a wet dream I had today

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426 Upvotes

I love the Dell low profile keyboard, I also love the Kensington trackball. I would buy it in a heartbeat if there is a product that is a combination of these 2. It's would be perfect for my HTPC.


r/Trackballs • • Sep 24 '24

While in Japan 🤩

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408 Upvotes

r/Trackballs • • Feb 15 '26

I made a trackball with a deodorant roller and an old mouse. It Works!

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383 Upvotes

l never tried a trackball mouse before. l was thinking of adding a trackball module to my ergo split keyboard. But I wanted to see if I was going to like it or not first before committing to a proper build. This led to me a deep rabbit hole about trackball diy kits, breakout pcb sensor modules, etc. What I learned is that unlike the keyboards space, The mouse sensor industry is very closed source almost like a secret society or something. But that's besides the point, I wondered if I could make one without any of that by just using the sensor of an old mouse l had laying around.

Short answer: It works!

Long answer: It works, but it needed a lot of fiddling:

 First l needed the trackball itself. I was going to order one from Ali X but l didn't want to wait to try my idea. I thought hard about alternatives, and it finally clicked! The head of a roller style deodorant. lt was perfect for my proof of concept, l didn't need to worry about the housing. I cleaned it really well with water and soap then I moved to the next step. I made a base out of box and cutout a hole for the sensor, then l taped everything together with tape.

It worked fine, but there was an issue: The Y axix was inverted and I couldn't navigate it well because it was disorienting. It was a quick fix, l found a program called SakasaMouse that lets you invert the Y and X axis, l Inverted the Y axis and it was working as intended!

It's obviously not very smooth and it drifts away sometimes, but besides that I can use it normally.

I came to the conclusion that I like trackballs! I'm going to include one in my next ergo split build.


r/Trackballs • • Sep 08 '20

Remember Logitech's April Fools' video from 2017, the Human Trackball? I made it for real.

352 Upvotes

r/Trackballs • • Oct 17 '24

My Daily Driver Pointing Device

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349 Upvotes

RP2040+PMW3360 to a USB C breakout board in a housing I designed and printed. The ball is a 57mm billiard ball rolling on BTU bearings. Sitting on a bracket I designed and printed to hold the wrist rest and trackball housing in place.

I'm currently designing a 15 degree tenting base for the bracket.

Wanted to share with the community for inspiration.


r/Trackballs • • Feb 19 '21

Ploopy Nano project (ball-only trackball) is completed! Everything is working! Kits coming soon! Here's a sneak peak.

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334 Upvotes

r/Trackballs • • Jul 12 '26

Trackball changed my life

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332 Upvotes

I used to be a person who never spends money unless it's absolutely necessary...

Now I even started building PC and also started buying keyboards, all because of my 1st trackball, ultimately (indirectly) this hobby lead me to new job and new city etc... My life has changed.


r/Trackballs • • May 08 '26

I tried making one. Now there are five

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329 Upvotes

My first attempt at building a handwired trackball. Yes, it's far from ergonomic, but I decided to start with something simple.

RP2040 Zero, PMW3389 module from AliExpress, 38mm billiard ball


r/Trackballs • • Mar 25 '22

Mecca

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320 Upvotes

r/Trackballs • • Jul 14 '26

ProtoArc EM06 seems to be real! :-)

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318 Upvotes

r/Trackballs • • Sep 27 '20

Introducing ABall... a DIY buttonless trackball!

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317 Upvotes

r/Trackballs • • Jun 29 '26

Keychron Nape Pro has arrived from Japan.

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312 Upvotes

I ordered this on Mercari Japan through zenmarket.

I'm going to be using this for digital art and as an occasional companion when I'm doing some design work on my computer.

Highlight for me is the fact that it's programmable like a keyboard and has onboard memory. It's mainly going to be used on my iPad Pro as a companion to procreate and clip studio paint. Also the ball (or is it bearings??) feels really smooooooth.

I plan to mod it; spray paint, add a mini pool ball (it's the perfect size 25mm) as the trackball and finally change those silent switches to something more clicky ( although this may take longer, I'll have to solder 🤢).


r/Trackballs • • Nov 24 '24

Trackonion

312 Upvotes

I think it has potential


r/Trackballs • • Jan 30 '22

DIY trackball with scroll ring

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306 Upvotes

r/Trackballs • • Jan 21 '21

Keyboard with PMW3360 thumb trackball

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301 Upvotes

r/Trackballs • • Jun 19 '26 Heartwarming

Nape pro ama

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288 Upvotes

dude, I’m so excited about this

I use a Keychton Q 11 ultra split and a Apple Magic Trackpad. I use the Magic Trackpad to move the mouse for more precise things, like in Excel when I’m typing on the number pad, which is on the right-hand side of the keyboard, with the J as my five and the number pad at zero. I pretty much don’t have to move my hands very much because I even have my function keys—the left for Shortcuts. I use it a lot to reduce the need to stretch my left hand. I use the 1234 row of the keyboard for ERP function keys I need for work, and I also use the macro cluster on the left for Shortcuts. I use these a lot to reduce the need to stretch my left hand.


r/Trackballs • • Jul 31 '25

Endgame Trackball: looking for feedback

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272 Upvotes

Some of you might've seen me and this device in the Ploopy discord — I've been working on this thing for several months. I know that it's a bold name, but it's been chosen because I really tried to combine "bests" of all worlds.

It's fully open source by the way, but not finished yet — there are no 3D models and almost no docs so far. Also there's a video on rotary encoders in the GALLERY.md in case you're curious.

The feature list is available in the README but I think it's worth copying it here:

  • Wireless (BLE) or wired (Type-C)

  • Twist-to-scroll as well as drag scroll (both high resolution)

  • Low profile and compact travel-friendly design

  • Guaranteed 250 Hz polling rate, up to 450 Hz when the sensors feel like it

  • 8 buttons with magnetically attachable keycaps, 2 rotary encoders

  • Supported ball size: from 50.8 mm (2 inches) to 55 mm

  • Ball Transfer Units (BTU) or static bearings (hot swap with an adapter)

  • Up to 1500 mAh (102550 size) battery with 3 pin 1.0 mm connector

  • Fast charging (up to 15W) with QC and PD support

  • Backlight (white), underglow (RGB)

Also, I've achieved >300 Hz over BLE with it. Although YMMV in this regard — I have AX210 host bluetooth.

So, I'm looking for any feedback, if you have something to say then please do!

P.S. Several guys here and in discord showed interest in buying a complete DIY kit — would you be interested? The BOM is not small and sourcing everything by yourself might be exhausting. I would really really appreciate a comment in case you're interested too.

P.P.S. Mods, should I tag this as "brand affiliate"? I'm not representing any company


r/Trackballs • • Apr 28 '21

Finished another custom Nano to match a keyboard

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268 Upvotes

r/Trackballs • • Jul 24 '26

The nape is finally available in the US...on Amazon

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254 Upvotes

If anyone has been wanting this, it's now on Amazon. Just search it. I also went ahead and spray painted mine (I imported it from Japan). Went for a Gundam theme.