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[Boddaker]

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!

[Boddaker]

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

[Boddaker]

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...

[Boddaker]

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!

[Boddaker]

The last little bits are falling into place. 

Had to supplement the A700's exhaust venting, since my new base pretty much enclosed the factory outlet.  Here's how it originally exited the unit.  The back cover had a matching opening over the black grill area.  But now the hot air would just be blowing into the base.


So an air duct would have to be made to direct the hot air towards the fins and out.  So I mocked it up with some construction paper and transferred its shape to some roof flashing and cut it out.


Then I marked the folds and bent them down using spare box tubing and my vise.  A block of wood was used to put even pressure over the bending area.


The box tubing provided a nice sharp, straight edge over which to bend.


Top half is done.


Added a bottom to it and riveted them together.


Finished piece.


Finished piece fastened to the A700.


This, in addition to a separate heat shield I'm making to go over the projector, should help keep the temps at an acceptable level inside the base.

[Boddaker]

So how does one paint something in 40º wet rainy weather and no paint booth?  Answer:  hang some plastic sheeting around a space heater and a heat lamp!


Here's the base taped off and hanging, ready to prime.


After a couple coats of black primer.


Shooting the gloss coat after wet-sanding with 400 grit.


While that was drying, I turned my attention towards the heat shield.  Got it cut, bent, and edges filed so I could test it for fit once the base was dry.


Got the base mounted to the A700 this morning and did a smoke test.


An iris-downed shot of the projected image.  It's a bit blurry because the Sensei is sitting too close to the wall and it won't focus that close.  Also, the date's wrong (should be today).


I'll post up final pics later today.  'til then! 

[Boddaker]

Brought Sensei in to the conference room at my work place to take final shots.  Enjoy!























I'd like to thank everyone who helped me throughout this project: Moddersmart, Crucial, Pacific Waterjet, and especially to Lenovo for having the contest and providing me with one of their cool products to mod!

[wonko]

Damn, that turned out great.  Once again, nice work.

Brian