magnesium first
Lower density than aluminium with usable stiffness — the reason a 40-gram shell is a geometry problem instead of a wish.
x40g FLARE · PAW 3950 · 8 khz
x40g overview
product / 001
A performance mouse built around one number: forty grams. Magnesium-alloy shell, FLARE magnetic switches, a PAW 3950 sensor at 8 kHz polling. Board designed in house and every revision weighed on the bench before it is called finished.
specification
what is
known today
Published numbers only. The full specification lands when the design is frozen — until then every claim here is one we can back with a part.
- target weight
- 40 g
- shell
- magnesium alloy
- switches
- FLARE magnetic sensors
- sensor
- PAW 3950
- polling
- 8 kHz
- architecture
- in-house pcb
- disciplines
- cad / pcb / materials / proto
- stage
- prototyping
- funding
- non-seeded
constraints we design against
- Weight budget is fixed first — grams are allocated before geometry exists.
- Stiffness comes from section shape and alloy, not from adding material.
- The board outline is drawn with the shell, not dropped in afterwards.
- Switches are FLARE — actuation measured magnetically, never worn by contact.
- The sensor front-end is a PAW 3950 running at 8 kHz polling.
- Every revision is weighed and handled; numbers on screen do not count.
- Parts must be manufacturable at volume, not just machinable once.
PAW 3950 is a PixArt Imaging product. AfterCore is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to PixArt Imaging Inc.; all trademarks belong to their owners.
switches
FLARE //
no contacts
FLARE — Force Linear Adaptive Regulable Engine. Actuation is measured, not sprung: a magnet moves past a sensor on the board and the switch position is read electrically — nothing rubs, nothing browns out, and the actuation point stays a setting instead of a tolerance that drifts.
engineering notes
where the
grams go
Four decisions carry most of the mass story. Each one is owned by the same team from sketch to measured part.
ribs, not wall
Wall thickness stays thin and uniform; stiffness is bought with ribs, radii and where the section changes.
routed to fit
Outline, mounting and connector placement follow the shell model, so no bracket exists to carry the board — the FLARE sense circuits and the PAW 3950 sit where the fingers expect them.
measure weekly
Printed and machined parts alternate with real boards. Mass and stiffness are recorded on every build.
method
one model,
four disciplines
Most of the weight saved in a peripheral is lost in the hand-offs: mechanical assuming the board will fit, the board assuming the shell has room. AfterCore keeps CAD, PCB, materials and prototyping in the same room so those decisions happen once.
talk to engineering// workstreams
A
mechanical
Shell, structure, tolerance stack, fastening strategy.
B
electronics
Board outline, routing, the FLARE sensing logic and the PAW 3950 front-end.
C
materials
Alloy grade, finish, joining, supplier capability.
D
validation
Mass, stiffness, drop and feel — recorded each build.
// x40g
want to test the next build?
We put early units with people who will actually weigh them, flex them and tell us the truth.