My work occasionally has a surplus computer sale, where they get rid of old or non functioning computers. So I picked up a nonfunctioning one complete with keyboard and mouse for free. This is also probably a good time to show you my basement workshop.The whole setup takes up a corner in the base
Now think of what you can
Now think of what you can pull out of one of those rack mount multi tape backup systems 
Why not salvage the cmos
Why not salvage the cmos camera on the mouse, and encoder?
I doubt the cmos camera has
I doubt the cmos camera has any documentation on it (in house part) and would yield more trouble than good.
Actually you may be
Actually you may be surprised - 3 out of the last 4 optical mice I’ve pulled apart (quite old ones too) have had 3rd party optical ICs. They were common parts and I was able to find a very comprehensive datasheet.
The 4th one had the IC label sanded off, and I couldn’t be bothered going to the effort of tracking the part down.
true, though when i was
true, though when i was searching info on my mouse, i found an 8 pin cmos camera, that is the most common, you could be lucky that was the one you have 
Encoder
The encoder was mechanical not optical which was interesting. I still have the board. I just have to find out how to use it.
A few suggestions
If it’s a CD/DVD burner you can take out the laser module and light matches/pop balloons with it. Also, try taking one of those keyboard keys and modding them for a flash drive, ie http://www.instructables.com/id/Custom-USB-Drive---Project%3A-Enter-the-USB/
Just a few ideas.
BTW: cool workshop!
Heh heh enter key
Thats awesome. I would probably use the shift key. The CD drive was a cheapo read only one.
Rotary encoder
I’m thinking the scrollwheel sensor is rotary encoder. I remember seeing one at Sparkfun- http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=9117
Seems like a potentiometer without stops or something…
