Case Mod - In Progress Lenovo Sensei - Final Pics (finally!)

Looking good Bod! What color acrylic will the body be? I'm guessing black. Can't be too bright for the classroom or it would distract from teh lurn'in.

 

Yep, you guessed it, black. The fins will be polished.

 

I wanted to add some extra functionality to the case (you can never have too much functionality), so I decided that a built-in removable drive bay would suit this mod nicely. If this was employed in a multi-user setting, each person could have their own drive to keep their files, rather than on the system itself.

I really like these Seagate Free Agent "Go-Flex" drives. This one is a 1.5Tb drive, and is USB 3.0 (unfortunately, the A700 doesn't have USB 3.0 yet, but I can still use the backward compatible cable in a 2.0 port).


Out of the box, it is sleek and sexy!


Comes with the usb 3.0 cable and a detachable rear connector.


The detachable part is standard sata data and power. This will be built into the pocket the drive will slide into.


Building the pocket: Measured and cut all the pieces.


Gluing the pieces together to make a box.


End piece on.


Drive fits snug inside.


Looking at the back end, I'll mark the area to be cut away.


Removing material to make way for the connector.


Fits ok. Now to glue the connector in permanently to the pocket.


It's not glued yet, but this is how it will look once finished.


And once I get the main base put together, I'll cut an opening in the side where this pocket will go, and glue it in place.

If you like this project, head over to my contest page and VOTE! Only takes two clicks!

 

Got the acrylic parts in today, so I wasted no time and started piecing it together.

A shot of all the base pieces. I made my life a bit easier by just getting a 4" dia acrylic tube and cutting out a 1/4 section, rather than trying to bend a 21" long sheet to perfectly match the curve on the side pieces. I don't think it would have been possible with just a heat gun lol.


Taped the pieces together for fit before gluing.




And gluing.


Another shot of my clamp sculpture, just for Jeffrey. ;-)


I decided to add some extra support to the mating edges of the curved piece, as it didn't match the thickness of the bottom piece. So I mixed up a quick batch of bondo and troweled it in.


That's it for tonight. Tomorrow I'll start sanding and smoothing the corners down, then work on the center support where the lens will go.


If you like this project, head over to my contest page and VOTE! Only takes two clicks!

 

Voted for you

Excellent idea, concept and implementation.

 

Thank you zukomonitor!

Work continues on the base.

Transferring the contours from the A700 to the new base using tape. I put a piece of tape over the raised edge and carefully cut around it, then stuck the negative part of the tape to the new base.


Then removed material following the tape line. Cutting then filing.


cut and filed.


Now let's bring it in for a test fit. Not bad!


Next was to get the lens glued in. I cut a hole for the projector to shine through, and glued in a block for it to sit on, so the lower part sits flush with the bottom front piece.


I also added reinforcements to the corners.


An overall shot of the base so far.


Back shot of the lens. You can see the extra block I put under the lens.


It's coming along, but I still have a lot to do! Still gotta glue in the removable drive pocket and cut the hole for it, make a stand for the projector and figure out how to secure it to the base, round the edges, and cut holes for the power and ethernet extensions. Then paint it! Gonna be a long weekend lol.

 

Well, my luck just goes from bad to worse. Came down with the flu thursday night and couldn't do a damn thing but lie comatose in bed 'til this morning. Finally forced myself into the garage (pounding head and all) to try and get some work done on this thing. So please forgive me if this update seems a bit terse. I just want to post and get back in bed lol.

Made this to mount the projector in to the base.


Materials used: 1mm alu sheet, 1" square tubing, pop rivets.


Underside of projector. Utilized feet screw holes and one screw hole in the middle.


Fastened to projector.


Marked and drilled holes in base.


Then marked holes in mounting assembly.


Chamfered the holes.


Mounted.


Front shot.


Side shot.


Placement of removable drive pocket.


Modifying projector power cable.


Fits. Marked side panel to cut opening.


Cut.


Gluing.


Routing.


Routed.


Will clean up edges more when I sand/prime for paint. Ok off to bed. G'nite!

 

I like your concept. I will following your porject. You did a very good job.

 

Managed to get some more work done yesterday (feeling better now btw). One thing I hadn't thought of until now was case feet. Not time to get anything cool, so I went to Lowes and found these.


Measured, drilled and tapped the holes.


Sensei has shoes!


Another big hurdle with this project was getting the new base mounted to the A700. I'm happy to say that I finally got that ironed out. I first thought a piano hinge would be perfect for this, and would ease assembly, but there were no simple means of attaching it to the A700. So an alternate hinge system was developed. While I was at Lowes getting case feet, I happened across these 4" gate hinges that possess the reach I need.


...at least on one end. The other end that attaches to the base was easily cut off to match the height of the acrylic.


New holes were drilled in the hinges, and 6-32 case screws were used to secure them to the lcd framework.


Now we can finally get a glimpse of Sensei in it's correct orientation!






If all goes well, I can paint the base tonight. Should be getting the fins today as well. Could there actually be a light at the end of the tunnel? Or is that just a freight train headin' my way? lol

 

IMHO re-purposing stuff from Lowes is the best kind of modding. Looking good Brian!

 

Hey guys, I haven't abandoned this project. In fact, I will be finishing it up this week. Yes, the contest deadline was the 15th, and needless to say I lost lol. However, Lenovo still wants to showcase my Sensei mod at CES along with the others. So I've been diligently working to get it finalized and ready to ship to Las Vegas in time for the show.

Ok so how bout an update?

Well, it's not so much an update as it is a teaser. Full update will follow in the next day or so...

 

I picked up my fins from Pacific Waterjet & Laser last week, and spent the entire weekend on them. They needed a lot of cleanup work around the edges.


But before cleaning them up, I tested out the spacing.


A shot from the back.


Close up of the rear mounting. You can see how rough the edges are.


Time to work on lettering. The words "Lenovo" and "Sensei" will be mounted in the middle of the fins, one on each side.


Taking the two middle fins, I cut them straight across, and made a sandwich with a piece of acrylic in the middle, leaving just a tiny bit of overhang.


After spacing the letters out, I glued them on, one at a time.


Done.


Fast forward past all the sanding and edge cleanup of the fins, and we have a mockup of the lettering in place. Because of the "L" I had to notch the next fin up as well.


The teaser shot I used earlier.


Skip past more sanding and polishing, and here's a shot of the first set of fins mounted in the base.






Repeat as necessary for the other side, and we have both sets in place.


The lettering could be lit up with a few led's, but I'm afraid I won't have time to do it before the show.

Getting really close to painting the base now! Gotta do some minor adjustments and body filling first.
Cheers!

 

those letters looks BANGING!!! placement in the fins are sweet.

excited to see the end result!!

 

They look awesome, especially with the text.

 

^ What they said.

It looks terrific Bod.

 

This contest produced some amazing results!

 

I'm storing the fin setup in my memory for future theft.

 

Fins look amazing with the lettering !!!!

 

A win? Sure!!

 

Thanks Baekkel, me too!

Thanks Blooddrunken!

Thank you Attila

It really did. I am glad to have been a part of it!

Store away! They remind me of a front grill off a classic 30's era car.

Thanks jj!

Thanks AnG3L. I may not be going to Vegas myself, but just having one of my builds there is good enough for me.