700C Rebuild Ideas

[solidpro]

Hi All

Everyone who owns a 700C will be acutely aware of the issues with the hinges. I'm trying to come up with a way to resolve these issues and make the 700C stable and usable again.

As far as I understand it, there are two issues:

1) The hinges themselves become too stiff
2) The plastic base which the hinges are screwed to, using only 2 screws each side becomes brittle and cracks.

My initial focus is on replacing this piece of plastic which sits across the top of the keyboard section and across the back of the unit.

I acquired this faulty 700C as a machine which I could disassemble to inspect the plastic, which I can show here:















As you can see, it's a reasonably complex piece of plastic and as far as I can tell with various people who have tried to remedy issues with laptop hinges, but I'm wondering if a solid metal piece would be within the realms of possibility? The plastic sections for the hinges to bolt to are very thin, small and I don't think it'll be possible to 'fix' the original piece.

Also this one in the photo is already missing the right side. However I have a second machine which is so far undamaged which I can take apart.

So does anyone have any ideas? A type of 3D printing which would have the strength? Maybe with two metal inserts either side?

Any ideas or thoughts gratefully recieved?

All the best

[panips]

I tried, in short, for the right side (next to the ps/2 mouse port), there is no room for enhancement. For the left side (next to the fax/modem port), you may do something but it still does not help a lot.
My 2c is to sand it and then apply 3-4 layers of fiberglass mesh with glue. Plus, the hinge stiffness is more important, you should loosen it to a reasonable spot

[solidpro]

Hi

The first thing I've figured out is my back section is actually part of the front section, but snapped on the thin sections right and left. However I've now ordered a Bambu H2D with a bunch of accessories and I'm doing a course in Tinkercad. This should optimise protyping with a fast turnaround. I'm going to rebuild the original back section first terminating where mine has snapped as a way to prototype, in PETG and ABS and then incorporate some slide-in spaces for solid metal brackets for both side of the hinges to bolt into. I think with some reinforcing and the plastic base being tensioned by all the parts connected to it, it might work.

The issue with your idea is that a lot of bases have already smashed to pieces and have gone extremely sticky. I think we need to re-think that base, in black.

Obviously the time this takes will be extended by me learning the hard way how this 3D printer will cope with the intricate details of the original plastic base.

I'll come back with progress in the next week or two.

All the best

[panips]

You have the best 3d printer which supports cf-nylon/cf-petg, so I assume the ultimate solution is to rebuild the whole case. However, that's definitely pricey.
I have a non-working 700 (no c) in bad shape, maybe I can start with that after I wrap up current working of grid 2270.

BTW, we need a dedicated repository for IBM Thinkpad replacement parts, focused strictly on OEM-spec accuracy. Most current models are too "free-style" and only work as a set. We should have them verified to be 100% interchangeable with the original hardware.