Timerotor

[lswl]

The topic description describes it. I'm planning on building a McGann console, and I need a little help on the Time Rotor thing in the center. I was hoping for a little help.  ( Oh, and I'm kinda on a budget, there's a recession going on.)  I would really appreciate some help.
LSWL

[kiwidoc]

Hi Lwsl, what do you want help with, where are planning to start?

[galacticprobe]

I really do hate quoting myself (the Search field at the top of the page is your friend, as is the Console Reference section), However since I've already excavated the info...

According to "THE TARDIS HANDBOOK" by Steve Tribe, on the bottom left corner of page 56 there is a sketch of that console's column. The notes on the sketch pointing to the rods say 'FIBER 1" dia', so they are one inch in diameter. Another note points to the column and says 1'-0", the line pointing to the column indicating that to be the column's diameter.

It's also got large arrows with writing in them noting that "LOWER RODS RAISE TO <line drawn>" and "UPPER RODS LOWER TO <line drawn>", with the lines denoting the limit to the "outward" range of movement of the rods within the column.

Important stuff in bold to show the known answers to Teletran's questions. Now for a little bit extra... When I put a ruler to the sketch and compared the distance between those "raise/lower to" lines to the diameter of the column, it appears that the rods' overlap is only about six inches when at the outward limit of their travel.

Also, looking at the distance between the disc around the rods and the base of the column, and comparing that to the column's diameter, it looks like their range of motion is about nine inches (from max up to max down). Mind you, this is a small sketch and I'm extrapolating this info based on what is actually written on that sketch and how those known measurements compare to distances without given measurements. So unless someone wants to sit down and do some serious measuring and calculations, or someone just happens to have other diagrams or notes on their movement, this is all I can come up with for now (which I think is far more than Teletran was looking for!).

Dino.

A few other little tidbit I have to offer:
After watching the DVD I noticed that those discs which hold the inner rods in place are either painted silver, or are made from silver plastic/acrylic/plexi, etc.), but they're not chrome. Also the angled ends of those rods are "frosted"; it looks purposefully done to catch and diffuse the light coming from within the column (sort of like the ends of fibre optic cable used in SFX lighting - it's how they lit the windows on the classic 1978 Galactica and the Star Destroyer models in "Star Wars").

Hope this helps. The rest of this thread (minus the tidbits) can be found here: http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=647.15

If you're looking for an inexpensive source for the different bits, check out Tap Plastics (just Google them). They sell plastic and acrylic rods and discs in various sizes and they really are inexpensive.

Dino.

[Teletran]

If you're on a budget you could probably use 1" translucent pipes cut to shape in place of the crystals.

[lswl]

Hi Lwsl, what do you want help with, where are planning to start?

I want help with the crystal things inside the glass column. Also, how do I get a glass column that big around? ( The thingy the crystals are in)  It looks like it's a foot or so in diameter. I have switches and some stuff that, with a little butchering, look identical to the ones used in the movie. I'm planning on starting this in a couple of weeks, because it's a friends birthday, and they want a K9 (Why can't people be happy with a paper cutout k9? They always want a full size one! They think, oh a bought you a Tardis mug now you have to make me a K9.Agh!!!!!!!!! Really gets in a builders way.)

[galacticprobe]

lwsl, have you read my post above? It has measurements. And yes, that includes the column itself and the rods inside it. I also mentioned where to find such bits, but to make it easier for you...

Internal rods for the column:
http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=147&PHPSESSID=201103062021211566452170
They come in 1-inch diameter which is correct according to my post above. The price for one rod is just over 20 USD; it appears they consider "one" rod to be a six-foot length, which is cut in 3-foot segments - you have to pay more for an "oversized 6-foot length". (Eight rods would give you nineteen 3-foot segments - 8 upper, 8 lower - which is what's inside the column.) All you would have to do is cut their ends at about a 45-degree angle and "frost" them (rough the ends with some sand paper or such) to make them complete.

The discs that hold the rods in place within the column:
http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=140&PHPSESSID=201103062021211566452170
Their thickest size is a hair less than one-fourth of an inch, and the 10-inch diameter discs - which would give you a 1-inch clearance all around inside a 1-foot diameter column - go for 9.50 USD. You'd need two of them: one for the upper rods, one for the lower. (I know the discs look thicker in the movie, but this is the thickest offered by this company so you'd have to, 1) order several and glue them together to make the discs thicker; 2) e-mail them about special orders, which I believe they do, or; 3) look for an alternate source for those.) Also, since these discs are painted silver, you could always cut the them from a piece of clean 1 x 12 wood; once painted no one would know they were wood. You should be able to find scraps small enough to cut out two discs at any home improvement place, and they will usually just give them to you as the scraps are so small they throw them away anyhow.

The main page for the acrylic/plastic bits is http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/category.php?bid=14.

As for the 1-foot diameter tube for the column casing, you're on your own there. The largest size the above company offers in their "Clear cast acrylic tubes" is 10 inches in diameter, in 3-foot lengths, and they go for 234.00 USD. (Can you say, "Ouch"?) The column looks to be six feet or more tall so good luck finding that one!

Dino.

[lswl]

lwsl, have you read my post above? It has measurements. And yes, that includes the column itself and the rods inside it. I also mentioned where to find such bits, but to make it easier for you...


As for the 1-foot diameter tube for the column casing, you're on your own there. The largest size the above company offers in their "Clear cast acrylic tubes" is 10 inches in diameter, in 3-foot lengths, and they go for 234.00 USD. (Can you say, "Ouch"?) The column looks to be six feet or more tall so good luck finding that one!

Dino.

Ah, no,  I'm reading it now.

234?!?!?! Okay, that is definitaly out of my price range! I'm gonna google  What am I gonna google? I don't know. Well I'll just google something.

[the_temporal_mechanic]

One of my favorite materials is PEX, or cross linked polyethylene.  It's a white plumbing supply pipe available in home improvement centers.  I use it for lightsaber blades, and it does really well when lit with an LED, or Christmas lights or such. You could buy a couple of 20 foot sections and have it cut down for the rods in the assembly. 

[lswl]

Thanks jarenelo, I'm googleing it right now
LSWL

[lswl]

Ok Everyone, an update! I have decided to make a Tom Baker style console, or a Peter Davidson, can't decide because it will be cheaper, and easier to make the time column thingy. So next update should be in a couple of weeks once I finish a K9.
All for now, update soon
LSWL

[galacticprobe]

If you're going for the Tom Baker/Davison console, you can still get the tubes you need for the column innards from the site I posted above. They sell colored tubes so you can get the red ones for the column:
http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=143&;
http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=490&;

If by a Davison console you mean the one from "The Five Doctors", you can find covers for the narrow lights inside that fancy column there as well:
http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=275&;

Dino.

[lswl]

Thanks, I'm on it, oh and one thing I thought of the other day, has anyone ever tried to make a time colum (The thing the pipe things go in) thingy out of wax? All you need are two coffee cans of slighty different diameters and you can buy wax at hobby stores, so if I got it and melted it down I could make one layer for the bottom of the column and put the can in for the walls, leave the top open, and flip it upside down so it becomes the bottom. Brillant right?

[Teletran]

I'm not sure I fully understood that but do you know about lost wax casting?

[lswl]

Ah, I've got no clue what a lost wax casting is.

[DoctorWho8]

:::whispers::: Psst...you're on the internet.  It can be looked up.
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff