Another WednesDAY, another dollar. Only this time it’s slightly less dough for you to spend OR eat. A fresh can of mold release should be able to help. Shake off the mid-week doldrums by taking a peek inside your favorite and perhaps not-so-favorite gadgets. Grab your toolbox and get inspired!

This week’s entry: Logitech Trackman Wheel

Top Level Components & Sub-Assemblies: 18

  • Most unexpected surprise: Just how intricate the top injection-molded shell was. I’d always hear people complain that Logitech didn’t make a LH version. I figured it’d be a simple matter of mirroring the models and off you go. Looks like a pretty labor-intensive model & mold.
  • Most difficult item to access/dissassemble: The mouse buttons. It was difficult to remove them without deforming any of the plastic snaps/tabs.
  • Unsolved mystery: How many cans of mold release does Logitech go through on a part like this? That, and why do so many people freak out when using this mouse? My 3-year old was able to figure it out in seconds. 🙂

Time-lapse video

What is Gut Check? Gut Check is a tribute to all the design, engineering, and manufacturing peeps out there using 3D/2D/Whatever-D day in and day out, to create and bring to life the products that we all use and enjoy every day. You’re the ones who are down in the trenches, making it happen. It’s also a look at the complexity and beauty of seemingly simple products. One look under the hood will reveal that almost anything is a “large assembly” and requires an enormous amount of time and effort to make everything come together in something that embodies the epitome of form, fit, and function.

Gut Check is sponsored by SolidBox. Your source for servers, desktops, and laptops configured specifically for SolidWorks and Mastercam.

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