Hello fellow Timelords, this is my first thread, I think I'm doing it right, warning, this is likely to be a bit wordy at first. a bit.

I made my first Tardis model in high school, out of cardboard, duct tape and cobalt blue acrylic paint, the door opened, just the right one as I recall, and I gave it away to my friend Kanani, who was a big fan of the show, she was quite thrilled even though it was rather primitive. later, not sure exactly when, I bought a balsa wood Call box kit, and built that, but modified it, never glued the roof on, so I could open it from the top like a cookie jar, and I modified the door so I could open one, hinged with 2 pins as I recall. looked good with a little electric light inside. actually I think that was my 3rd build probably, in woodshop in highschool I built a roughly 13" tall one out of real wood, built to scale around a pull to open sign, which I cut out of a Tom Baker birthday card. I drew my own blueprint, probably, from photos, the siren on top was the bottom of a plastic tube container of some sort, so light in side would get up into that, and the doors opened, I even made a phone box in the sign, hinged with duct tape. I never properly finished the signs at the top though (which can't and will never light up), but I am going to. when I built that, computer printers were dot matrix, suitable only for printing black text (no fonts to choose from! -just one!) on white, or more often green and white striped computer printer paper. now I can print some up easily and might as well.

I built a bass guitar in high school woodshop, which I still use to this day, really had no idea what I was doing, but it came out great. I have a degree in music so I fix houses for a living, fortunately, this means I have a workshop, tools, and over a decade of experience as a carpenter, which puts me in pretty much the best possible position to build at last, a full sized Tardis. I'm not sure what made me decide the time to do so was finally approaching, but seeing all the other people who've built some, which should not have surprised me, but somehow did, particularly Scarfwearer's astounding Tardis and Console room (er, I'd like to do that, perhaps if I ever buy a house), (or win the lottery, then I'll hire him to make me one! d: ), that man's my hero. anyway the more I saw, the more inspired I got. I don't think I will spend too much time reading or looking at other people's plans as I like to figure things out on my own, tho I love the idea of having holes behind the top signs so light can get to them, rather than electric fixtures mounted on the outside, I hadn't thought of that and I'm definitely going to do it that way. the real question is where to put this thing, and how much of it to make...

my first thought, oh yes, was to do a bedroom door Tardis, but I wasn't just going to paint my bedroom door blue, or even just put some wood on it to make it look right, I was going to make two small French doors like that, with windows, for my bedroom, and paint the door frame blue. I still like this idea, it's the simplest thing I could do, and would look quite nice I'm sure, that was my plan for probably the last month or so, oh I should mention I have a tin "pull to open" door sign I got at a convention years ago, which I'm hoping is the right size, as the plan all along has been to do what I did with the first home made wooden one, build to scale around that sign, however if it isn't then I won't use it. But I have been inspired by all the Tardis builders to do more than just a door Tardis, nice tho those are, and I haven't seen one like the one I envisioned so far, with 2 half doors, no I want a real full call box, with a roof.

the question became, where to put it? at first I thought "I have no place to put it!" which is ridiculous, as I realised when I started looking around my house. it'd be fun to have in my office, but this room is so small it'd eat up a 6th of it probably, and as the doors really ought to open inwards, it's frankly not that useful a thing to have around, as a closet for storage, you can't get that much in it. when I was a kid I dreamed of making one, and figured I'd have a half desk and chair in it, probably there's be just enough room inside to walk in, close the door pull out the chair and sit down before my Franklin Ace 1000 computer, with separate shoe-box sized floppy disc drive, flip on the green monitor and play some home made text adventure games. (I still have that computer incidentally, Apple compatible, except it had a numeric keypad and upper and lower case!)

anyway, not really practical. I could put it in the backyard, but it would get beaten up by New England weather, I'd have to really make it weather resistant, which I certainly know all too well how to do, pressure treated lumber for the base, and I seal up houses against snow and squirrels far more often than I like to think about, prefer indoor handyman work thank you. also I live surrounded by college kids, they've already tagged my garage and bulkhead cellar doors, they'd tag the Tardis, if not do worse to it. shudder to think. so then I thought, I could have it on my enclosed porch, keep shovels, rakes, brooms, and snow-melt stuff in there, practical, there's plenty of room. it'd be a fun thing to pass by every time I came home, and my house mates I'm sure would find it fun enough. I also really really want to wire a working modern phone into it so you can call 911 (police/fire/ambulance service) on it, I mean people would expect that if it says so right on it. my landline is now coming in through a coax line, but the twisted pair (copper phone wire) is still in the house, and if you connect a phone to it, it will still let you call 911 for free I'm pretty sure. so I wouldn't have people making long distance calls on my phone! of course everyone I know has a cell phone now, so there's really no need, but it's a nice idea. people would probably find out about it and come 'round to have a photo taken with it, but vandalism is still a risk.


so the next spot I thought of, when you enter my house, after the porch is a door to a vestibule, there'd be room for it there, just, you'd only see the front and not be able to walk around it, but it'd be slightly more protected, and have the same functional use, but there's then 2 more doors, one to the first floor apartment, and one to the 2nd and 3rd floors, and at the base of the stairs, there's room to the left of the staircase, I think it'd just fit in there, safe behind a locked door, but not eating up space in the flat itself. I could keep winter coats in it! but again, I'd pass it on my way in and out of the house, not really use it much, and few people would see it. thought about taking out the tub, and putting in a Tardis shower stall, but that's way too much work, not really enough space for it in the loo, and I don't want to give up the tub. I could put it in the hall outside the loo, so it becomes the doorway to the kitchen, I could have a roof on it then, but I don't really want a door on my kitchen. the hall is super dark as it is, since I painted it dark red, with gold and black trim. (very "Talons of Weng Chiang", it looks like a Victorian Chinese Brothel, sort of. very classy.)

this train of thought got me thinking more about how to have it in my living space, or workspace possibly, in the woodworking shop (secret laboratory) in the basement, is an obvious place, and right in keeping with where I first saw it, in Pertwee's UNIT workshop. nice idea, or, I could make it be the entrance to the workshop, stick it in front of the door, and not have a back for it, so you enter it, and then you step into my workshop. that'd be cool too. but my basement is musty, a little damp, sometimes slightly moldy, and no one but me and my pal Dave who uses my workshop would really ever see it. the living room, too small. bedroom, I could put it in there if I took out a book case or 2, and I could do that, tho it'd be tight. but again the space it takes up, versus its usefullness, is rather imbalanced. I sighed sitting at my kitchen table, looking at my bedroom door, again thinking, maybe I'd just make the Tardis doors, when suddenly an idea struck.

my bedroom door is in the corner of the kitchen. I could put it right there. the whole big blue box, right in the corner of the kitchen, next to the stove, well next to a cabinet which I'd salvaged, next to the stove. the problem is, it'd block off access to the pantry, which is through a doorway on the other corner wall in that corner of the kitchen. (I'll post a photo with a mock-up) then it occurred to me, so what? just build the front, with the doors, and the left side, and the roof. you enter the call box, and to your right is the pantry, in front of you, my bedroom door, still where it was, with a French Dr Who poster on it. I would have to take out a couple of cabinets, and lose some counter space. and my housemates might think it was excessive, but the more I thought about the idea, the more I liked it. this way, I'd come home, and there in my kitchen, is my Tardis, if I enter it, I'm magically in my bedroom, where my art desk that I built, is, under my loft bed that I built. it's not really taking up any space, as such, there's nothing in that space now (ok some junk I have to step over every day to get into my bedroom), I really really like the notion that it'll be visible every day, in my actual living space, I will enter it and not be standing inside a tiny broom cupboard with no real option of doing anything in there, other than standing inside a closet. that's not going to be fun for too long. I can't really build a console room currently, but passing through it into my bedroom, is immensely appealing.

there are 2 wall cabinets on the kitchen wall to the right of the pantry door, if I took one down, and halved it, I could put it back up, (we have waay too many mugs anyway after all) I could make a new counter on a new base cabinet below it, half it's width so we wouldn't lose all of that storage and work surface in the kitchen, but still have a reasonable amount of space to stand in front of the Tardis door so you wouldn't have to fight your way into it. (have to consider building codes as well) I will have to take the pantry door off the hinge as it's hinged on the right as you face it, and swings outwards, but that's the least of my worries that door is rarely closed anyway, sometimes in the winter I close it, but we can live without it in exchange for having the coolest kitchen in Boston. I'll come home, sit at the table and gaze lovingly, yes lovingly, at my Tardis, my room mates, 3 gals, will wander into it freely to get things from the pantry, but a Doctor is used to pretty girls waltzing into his Tardis after all. at night we can put the lights on, have tea, and have a Dr Who watching party (probably mostly just Baker thanks haha, I have TONS on VHS, yes I said VHS), (they probably still work) tho the telly is in the living room. I'll definitely have a Tardis warming party when it's done.

people will drop by just to have their photo taken with their heads sticking out of the Tardis. it'll be a hoot. I ran this idea past my widow (ex girlfriend, still best friend) who said just do the bedroom door thing, or at least discuss it with my flatmates instead of just doing it, after all they live there and pay rent too. yes, but they come and go, stay a year or 2, or 3, I've been here something like 13 years and will probably die here, or regenerate anyway. I think I'll build and paint it in the workshop, then surprise them with it. I'll have to make room by cutting down the cabinetry first, can't hide that, but I'll just tell them, doing some remodeling, making room for a new "cabinet..." heh. I really don't think they'll mind, or complain. I think I'll keep the blue, relatively light, like a cobalt blue, rather than super dark as I don't want it to make the kitchen seem too dark. not going to make it "distressed" or textured, I'm sure being near the stove it will get enough distress and come by it naturally, develop it's own -cor I can never remember this word, it's on the tip of my mind, er, patina! yes. and provenance. and if I ever move out, if I need to, I can build the right wall for it, and possibly the back. and a floor. this thing is probably only going to have a threshold to step over it, bevelled oak, stained blue.

toying with modifying the design so instead of flat-faced corner posts, I'll have some detailed moulding (might be able to reuse some I have in the cellar) with rosettes at the top corners, almost steampunk I suppose, a little more Victorian and regal certainly. maybe plinth blocks at the bottom so it matches the rest of the apartment.

also I might add, it occurs to me, I can STILL build another complete one and leave it on the porch to store the shovels and rakes in. I like that idea rather a lot. best of both worlds.

so my current plan, phase 1, first complete the unfinished scale model from high school, then build the kitchen call box, which will have a working telephone in the door box, modern slim line wall mounted one to keep the chamber as thin as possible. I don't want it mounted on the sign door, but inside the box, as in Logopolis I think it was, was that Tegan's first episode? I recall someone opening the phone box in that episode, I thought it was her, been a while since I watched it. but why not have a working phone in it? at some point I suppose I'll rig up a small sound playing device of some sort with some speakers for the dematerialisation sound. maybe a cheap mp3 player mounted in the roof, I've plenty of extra speakers lying around. (electronic school graduate, as well as degree in music, also ex TV repairman).

photos in a moment.

(*edit, changed the title to reflect increasing madness of my cunning plans)

some photos, first the miniature mock-up, in my kitchen, future home of my Type-40. each image followed by a link to where it's posted in a private tumblr posting so you can see it bigger over there if you wish. click them and it opens in a new tab, some of them won't get bigger tho. d:  -EDIT note, just found out I can't have watermarks on pics here, sorry, don't have time to edit the pics at the moment, so I'm deleting them for now, but leaving links to where you can see them on my tumblr account. so just click the links to see the photos, thanks.


http://george-orr.tumblr.com/private/38095137204/tumblr_mf59cfc9Wj1qdohul

I never finished the signs, and the back windows still need muntons. (the bits of wood dividing the frames of glass.) the horizontal stiles (slats) on the sides are made from popsicle sticks as I recall.

http://george-orr.tumblr.com/private/38095445103/tumblr_mf59isZft91qdohul

http://george-orr.tumblr.com/private/38095606551/tumblr_mf59m0axlH1qdohul

http://george-orr.tumblr.com/private/38095689431/tumblr_mf59nqZ3pG1qdohul
the door handles are staples. the lock, something from an old toy or model.

http://george-orr.tumblr.com/private/38095747088/tumblr_mf59oxQ9DR1qdohul

on this one you can see the bottom outer edge is one solid piece of wood (which split a little at the back during construction) seemed like a good idea at the time.

http://george-orr.tumblr.com/private/38096290275/tumblr_mf5a069oh61qdohul
this one shows -sort of, what it will look like when this project is done. the perspective is wrong obviously. but it gives a sense.

-So, I have a lot of scrap lumber in my workshop, hoping to buy as little as possible for this project, seeing people say they spent a thousand dollars, in general on their builds seems like a bit much, but I understand some people might have included the cost of tools in that, I have all the tools I need. the first time I thought about building one of these, some years ago I recall estimating $500 in material costs, I have no idea why I think that, perhaps I've lost my mind. that's about what I spent on materials to build my loft bed, which has 4 4'x4' posts, floor to ceiling, those were pricey as I recall. again I won't be building the back or right side really, for the time being, so that should help. no real floor either. anyway it should be quite an adventure.

before I can really start I have quite a bit of prep work to do, remodeling the cabinetry to make room for it, procuring whatever materials I don't already have, cleaning the kitchen, hah, and probably the living room, so my housemates don't have anything else to complain about.

here's a link to a part of my website about other things I've made of wood, musical instruments specifically. http://mobiusbandwidth.com/luthiery.html there's a link on that page to another page going into extensive detail about the construction of the Bat bass. this page http://mobiusbandwidth.com/HH_index.html shows some of my remodeling work, just to give you an idea of my skill-set. I've also knitted an 18' scarf, but I'll find the appropriate place to post that later. you can see it in my profile pic.

wish me luck!

$500 is not at all unrealistic for a build--especially if you're only building two sides and recycling some stuff.  The only challenge in using scrap is that I don't see a lot of lengths where scrap is going to be useful. I was able to do my floor and roof with material from a shed I tore down.  And I used 2x6's from the same place as my lintel signs.  But for the walls you need pretty much full size sheets of plywood (at least the way I did my build).  For the corners you need full length boards.  Even the material for the base and the roof is 4' (+ or - an inch or two) pieces.  I guess the cross bars of the door panels could be scrap.  When I get around to putting the "steps" above the door, that will likely be scrap mouldings that I have lying around.

That said, I built an outdoor TARDIS that has four sides and everything and my initial trip to Home Depot was around $560.  Of course there were follow-up trips where I didn't estimate my cut list correctly (the windows in particular, there's a lot more moulding there than you'd think.  And continued spending on trying to get the roof lamp right.  And reworks to the signage, tweaks to the paintjob, continued weatherproofing, etc.  After the initial spend, I probably put another $200 or so into it in nickel and dime trips for "one more thing." 

well when I say "scrap" I don't think you realise how much leftover lumber I have haha. when I do a job I try to get 10% more material than I think I'll need, because you always need more than you think you will, especially with my "measure once, cut twice" policy. d: I also salvage stuff sometimes. I may not need to buy any plywood for this build. after the indoor half box, (which won't really even have  a floor) I will do a full call box, to be housed on my enclosed porch, fairly safe from the elements. that's a ways off tho. then again, I won't  really start on this one before the new year. I am starting to think about making this a bit fancy, some decorative trim around the panels to make it match the other doors in the house, its definitely not going to be canon. it will have a working phone in it tho!

some will notice I changed the title of this thread from Mobius's kitchen Tardis build, to the slightly wordier one you see now. glad to know I could do that.

Just popped over to Home Despot to price out materials for a job, while there made some mental notes and took a few pictures. found an interesting solar lantern which wouldn't look terrible at the top except it won't get much sun being a foot or less from the ceiling, could take the solar cell off, put it in the window and run the wires back to it I suppose, but I'll keep looking. drooled all over ornate moulding and blackened bronze pull handles. did not see the 2 way hinges I need, have to go to Rayberns (http://www.raybernhardware.com/)where they have drawer pulls shaped like mermaids and lions and specialty hinges and anything you need.

in my cellar I did see the door casing moulding I thought was down there, may not be as much as I would have hoped, but enough for the front certainly, I can have something different on the left side. planning on trim moulding inside the panels, as in a colonial door. found some nice ones at HD. this is getting a little out of hand, but what the heck. I never do anything the normal way. this is definitely going to be a one of a kind alternate universe call box. reading about them I forgot they're properly called Metropolitan Police public call boxes, and the word Metropolitan triggered the image in my head of the nice art neuveau Metropolitain subway entrance signs of Paris, thought about not only using that font for the top signs, but having the word Metropolitain on the left side, Police public call Box on the front. this is going to be one confused call box.

the doors will have to swing inwards because of course the doors have to swing inwards, however, these doors will also have to easily be able to swing outwards for utility, because if you're going into the pantry and open the right door in, you have to close it behind you to get around it into the pantry, which my housemates may find to be a bit of a palaver. also for moving large things, not that I often do, in and out of the boudoir, I mean console room, it'd be convenient if both doors could open as much as possible, with the phone box chamber set into the left door, if that can swing out, it'll give more clearance than when it opens inwards. I'll use a spring loaded ball stop at the top to hold them in place when closed.

I also found tons of plexiglass in my cellar, forgot my brother gave me that. it's clear though. forgot to see what they had in stock at HD for that, I know they have different types, tho not too many. we'll see what I do with that.

I always mix up Art Deco and Art Neuveau, which I am sure I also am incapable of spelling. lets go research that. right, Art Nouveau is Mucha, ornate stuff, Art Deco is simpler.

ah. why would I imagine no one thought of something like this before. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-akc1oH23mME/TyBVl8zVynI/AAAAAAAAALc/HWgFJ8N1ztA/s1600/tardis-nouveau-moleskin.jpg
(source: http://whattogiveageek.blogspot.com/2012_01_01_archive.html origin: http://www.etsy.com/listing/83177486/doctor-who-tardis-nouveau-moleskine)

some other relevant things I found a-googling

I like this a lot although I don't know what makes it "steampunk" as such, unless there's steam coming out the top. charming nonetheless.
http://vincentmdantes.deviantart.com/art/Steampunk-TARDIS-208273476

this is a photomanipulation Tardis door, but pretty neat:
http://geodex.deviantart.com/art/Chameleon-Circuit-244307273

a call box in Glasgow, still in use?
http://belinda-ann.blogspot.com/2012/07/gothic-grimy-glorious-glasgow.html

I once used some special paint on glass to simulate stained glass, lower left corner of this page http://mobiusbandwidth.com/murals.html
I'd need an idea though. I don't think I'll do that, can always add it later. in my COPIOUS spare time. it's always a matter of time for Time lords though isn't it? d:

as it will be some weeks before I really get rolling on this, I promise a conceptual drawing soon.

Pimp my Tardis!

turns out, making scale drawing blue prints has its benefits.
like, figuring out how to make it bigger on the inside! really? well, I can open the right door inwards, not only more than 90 degrees, but nearly 180 degrees! couldn't do that if it wasn't bigger on the inside could you?

so I did a sketch, which was horrible and useless, and had bad perspective, shame on me, usually better than that at eyeballing things but I'm not a well man at the moment, didn't sleep a wink last night, slept all day, and now I'm up again at almost 4am. @_@ awesome. -_-
 in it you can see I was playing with the bottom of the front, I want to integrate the platform into the doors because I don't actually want to raise the floor inside this, but the notches I dreamed up were not looking good.

then I realised a few things, I really ought to measure the space this is going into, so I did, sketched that up, the blocks in the top half indicate door frame casings. in case it isn't clear, this is going to block 2 doorways in a corner. I mean, enhance.
then I  started drawing based on how big I could make it, (the available space is deeper than wide), and then I realised I actually needed to look at a picture of this thing, so I went to my shelf, pulled down 3 Dr Who books, one was called "the Tardis inside out"! I thought, that's the thing! useless as a reference for Tardis builders though. the other two weren't much more help, Peter Haining books, good, but not for this purpose. so I looked at some blueprints on the Tardis builder's site. I really just needed the average specs on the framing stiles on the doors, my doors have to be narrower, but not shorter, so I had to figure out how to scale it down without losing too much of a sense of the right proportions. I think I did ok. the drawing is pretty close to scale (used graph paper).

the lower right front corner will butt up against some baseboard so it isn't going to look exactly the same as the left but that's what happens when you dematerialise partly in a wall. the plan view (from above) shows the swing of the doors, the right one can swing well into the pantry and therefor I do not actually have to make them able to swing both in and out, which is a relief, I'd rather just have them swinging inwards. the phone chamber, I still need to sort out, first I have to find a thin wall mountable phone, I'll make it work though. considering slightly notching the wall it will bump into when the left door is opened all the way, to allow more clearance. or making it removable.

the front 2 posts will be "4x4" made from 2 2x4's screwed together, the rear left one can be just one 2x4, and I don't need one in the other corner. they will be clad with 3/4" door casing, the front using salvaged casings from the first floor of my house when we remodeled, the side, I might have to buy something for, and it won't match exactly, but that is absolutely fine, just means more character as far as I'm concerned.
blocks resting on the top of the door casings will support the back and right side of the roof, which will be flat (though with 2 tiers to suggest more pointiness.)
the roof will be rectangular, but disguised to appear square. a square section will be blue, the back corner edges will be white, and not really visible anyway unless you're standing on a chair.

atop the door below the sign the stepped detail will consist of 3 different types of crown moulding, not sure what yet, some rampart dental style, an egg and dart, and other crown mouldings. the front doors central stile which attaches to the left door, will be flush with a fake platform, actually part of the doors. the corner post columns will be capped with 2 tiers of some kind of crown moulding, probably upside down, or base cap, and the 2 edges of the roof layers will be wrapped in crown moulding as well.

as you look at it from the front, there will be a gap on the right side, that goes back only about 1.5 inches, and will be filled with a vertical filler block painted black probably, tho not definitely, could be white I suppose. on the left rear corner there will be a filler block 5 inches deep, painted white. no way to avoid that really. I thought about making it rectangular from above, instead of square, but that felt wrong, and would have involved twice as much calculating for all the frame moulding on the left side wall. oh, the panels will be framed with an inset detail moulding instead of mitering them or leaving them flat.

I still have to plot the structure of the lighted signs, and then figure out a cut-list, see what I have and what I have to buy. I'll probably spend more on fancy crown mouldings than anything else!

one of my room mates is away til the after new years, and I thought another might also travel over the holidays, the 3rd is almost never home anyway, so I thought, maybe I could stealthily build this while they're all away, and assemble it in the kitchen, but I don't think that's going to work. have to check the level of the floor and plumbness of the walls, build it in the cellar in pieces and make them fit, once it's painted.



yes, it's 42 inches wide. just by chance. can't make it any wider due to a gas pipe I'm disinclined to move, (tho I could.)

The blueprint for the Brachaki box that I based my cut list on called for 1x3s for the rails and 1x4s for the stiles. That might work for you. Unfortunately for me, because my corner posts were too narrow it made my panels much squarer than I'd have liked. 

yeah thats why I made a scale drawing on graph paper, each square = 1 inch, so I can really see how it'll look. the verticals are a little narrow, but I'm going to make them a hair wider than shown. other than that I'm happy with the relative dimensions in space! lol. now if only I had time. turns out all room mates are away for at least a week, but I just have too much else to do, not going to rush this, in spite of the profound (hi there ADD-impulsivity!) desire to do so.

this morning I was looking at my plans, and the corner and suddenly realised I wasn't sure the right door would clear the bottom of the pantry door frame when opened all the way, I think it will just barely make it. might have to shorten it a hair. pays to think things through!

Just time for another exciting, wordy, mostly pictureless update I think! hoorah!

oh, and I just realised I've written twice as much as I thought I did. hang on... (copy pasta...)

so I've been cruising through this site, which is like the Tardis, rather enormous and endless inside, which is great, but I think I would feel silly posting "great build" on every old great build, who's makers may not even be active on the site anymore, however I want to say to all the makers on here, great builds guys and gals! very nice to see, and inspiring. a few that seem never to have been finished? or perhaps never updated, sad. anyway, I haven't done anything on this project for a bit, except think a great deal, and I'm glad I didn't rush into it, and I'm reading of other people's building experience, even though I'm an experienced builder of all sorts of things made of wood, chiefly. just seeing all these photos is really making me happy. what do your neighbours think if you have an outdoor callbox? do people ring the bell and ask if they can have a photo taken with it? or see inside? or do they ask, what the heck is that thing? are you a cop?

here's a pro-tip for builders regarding paint from a handyman, you can sometimes find mis-tinted paint very cheaply at hardware stores, finding the colour you want is rare, but it's a good way to get primer cheap. I have psychotic amounts of paint in my cellar, unfortunately of course, none of it Tardis blue, a little bit of blue, which is nice, but too bright still, and not nearly enough. when I'm ready for the final coats, I'll have to buy some. I use Benjamin Moore brand paint, their relatively new low VOC (volatile organic compounds, read: "posion") line, called "Ben" is the best paint I've ever used, low odour, relatively non-toxic, and the exterior paint is so good, I almost needed a cigarette after the first time I used it, and I don't even smoke. one coat was nearly enough to cover what I was painting. (there's always some touch up) but it's very thick stuff. not super cheap, but worth it. Home Depot does not carry it, but I get a 10% discount anyway at the store I get it at.

I would never use Lowe's brand again, one of my clients bought some and had me use it, against my protests, it ran three times! and took twice as long to paint his living room as it should have, as a result, pure crap. Glidden isn't too good either. Sherwin Williams and California also don't impress me, there's a brand called C3 I believe, that museums favour, which is high quality, but very pricey. B Moore also makes a 0 VOC paint, Natura, which I used to paint a nursery for a yet to be born kid, it's thinner than the low VOC stuff, but still good, and of course, it's nice to use something thats 0 VOC.

Looked at some lights on Home Despot's site, there is a good one someone on this board pointed out, but it's 70 bob, a bit steep. suddenly I remembered I have a really interesting fixture somewhere I salvaged from some wealthy person's trash, there were 3 too but for some reason I only grabbed 1. an amber globe, very fancy, probably too big, also I have to find the thing. before I purchase anything tho I have to tidy my workshop and see what's lurking in the corners. I think I'd like something rather Art Deco for the top, might end up building something. we shall see. I'm really only good at cutting glass in straight lines.

wow, I suddenly got a really interesting idea. crazy idea. I make musical instruments, and was just looking at one of my basses, and thought, -well (tangent alert), I thought of making a Tardis shaped guitar or bass (been done, thanks google! -might still do it anyway), when I built my loft bed there's a built in ladder, and the top of it is shaped sort of like a Bass viol scroll head. so, end of tangent, I suddenly thought, what if I make this thing into a musical instrument. what's that you say? madness you say? well, yes, probably. but a big wooden box is a great acoustical resonance chamber, if I put some strings inside I could hammer or pick them like a harp, neat idea, kind of silly though, BUT, if I put say one or 2 or 3 very large, long bass or ...piano, strings in a corner, mounted out of the way, I could rake a guitar pick down them, and make the dematerialisation noise by hand (or an approximation thereof which would probably annoy my housemates), making this the world's first acoustic Tardis! I like it. would definitely work better with a free standing call box, as mine will be attached to walls which will absorb sound waves somewhat instead of reflecting and perpetuating them. when I make my 2nd one I might try that.

like I said, crazy idea, I'm full of ideas...

so how did I end up on this train of thought, I have attention deficit disorder by the way, a wholly misnamed condition, it should be called, attention imbalance disorder or something, I can pay a hell of a lot of attention to things, and then get distracted and be paying very close attention to something else... hyper-focusing til 4am @_@. yes I was looking at Scarfwearer's build summary log on here, and his sign making adventures and having just read about some other people's approaches, I think I'll print out the words (top signs mind you), backwards, tape them to the glass and paint/trace it on the back in black . then glue some white paper on that I suppose so the letters aren't clear. if I didn't mention, I do graphic art as well as fine art, and have done professional sign making, tho only using paper, ink, wood and paint thus far.

look a thing!: (TARDIS guitar, Guitardis!)

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guitardis source: (scroll down a little bit for image)
http://thepeverettphile.blogspot.com/2012/07/pheaturing-alumni-jeff-bell-dave.html


right, back to where I thought I was starting,

every time I go into a hardware store (once today), or Home Depot (twice today), I try not to get too lost looking at things that might find their way into my someday-to-materialise Call-Box. been making some notes about the prices of this and that, looking at lantern fixtures, ($5 Fresnel thingie!) I was in a lighting specialty shop, where I had to pay an absurd $15 US for a tiny little halogen lamp housing for one of my clients, but I imagine the recessed ceiling fixture it came from (and died in) probably cost some utterly stupid amount of money itself, and the client won't care. er, anyway, lots of gorgeous terribly ridiculously expensive lighting fixtures there to drool over.

I'm poking around this site a lot, and saw some references to a building guide pdf or something, can't find it. where is it? some posts spoke of an updated version as well.

Door Warpage, been thinking about this, searched the site but had a hard time navigating successfully to the results, maybe they were in comments, perhaps I've just gone mad.

has anyone had a door warp on them, and if so what did you do about it. specifically on an indoor TARDIS. I have built some cabinet doors, only one near the size and shape of a Call box door, I've seen a few different approaches to their construction on here. I built one for a cupboard in my mum's kitchen which is tall and thin, about a foot wide and 6ish feet tall,  (ah, here it is now http://mobiusbandwidth.com/hh_images/kitchen08.jpg findable on this page of my site: http://mobiusbandwidth.com/HH_index.html ) and it has warped a bit, just a sheet of plywood really, it has a finish sprayed on it, but also some holes drilled in it for ventilation, through which some moisture may have made its way in. (seemed like a good idea at the time, and was requested d: )

how many hinges do people generally use? I would imagine 3. you could get away with 2 for a door that light, but 3 would help with stability.

more prattling on:

Being a professional Handyman, I know a few things about building and fixing things. I don't know everything and don't pretend to. I will make things up tho if I think it sounds good. here's my favourite line "we had to do it that way, for structural reasons", said when a client starts to ask why you're doing something apparently illogical, which may in fact be genuinely illogical, but you didn't think of the best way to do it til it was too late. nearly half the time that I use that phrase tho, it's true. easily, nearly half.

MDF is Medium Density Fibreboard, soaked in the poisonous preservative formaldehyde, so don't inhale the sawdust, tho wood sawdust is now classified as a carcinogen as well anyway, so a dustmask at least, should be worn when cutting wood indoors with a powersaw. (also protect your ears and eyes!)  MDO of course is Medium Density Ogreboard, made from chopped up ogres who are then soaked in unicorn spittle as a binding agent. the sawdust from that will have you hallucinating for weeks, and not in a good way, so take care with that as well. (ok I made that last bit up because I don't know what MDO stands for.)

P.T. Pressure-treated lumber, which is rather greenish, contains arsenic and should be handled with gloves, never used indoors (in living-space, except in cellars, where it is used on floors since it's resistant to rot and water damage, it's used for decks and porches, but shouldn't be painted until it has spent a season outdoors, out-gassing, otherwise paint won't stick to it properly, kind of, ever. I've seen people paint it prematurely and the paint peels, it never looks good after, so if you can invest in some and let it age in your garage for 4-6 months, that'd be good stuff to use, particularly for the base of an exterior call box. (as opposed to the domesticated indoor type.

Quote from: mobius on Dec 29, 2012, 05:45 am
I'm poking around this site a lot, and saw some references to a building guide pdf or something, can't find it. where is it? some posts spoke of an updated version as well.

You can find the TARDIS Builders Workshop Manual (proper title) by going through the author's web site (he's one of our members):
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/~trekker/policeboxes/home.html
Once there, place your pointer over the "Replicas" link at the top. That will bring up two links just below and to the left; one will say "Fan replicas" and the other will say "Build your own!" Click on the Build your own! link and follow the instructions from there for downloading the PDF of the Manual. (The creation of the Manual itself, and its hosting site, is a collaborative effort by two of our members.)

As the author explains in the Manual, it doesn't have "precise" measurements because each of the different versions of the TARDIS had its own measurements, so the Manual is just a guide on how to create the bits, and then put the bits together. There are some measurements in it, but this Manual is definitely a must for anyone desiring to build a TARDIS!

As for the Updated version, it is still in the works with no release date yet. (The author does have a job that takes up much of his time, so like with anything else, this is a hobby and he works on the Update when time allows. I'm also looking forward to the Update and I'm sure the author will let everyone know when it's ready. And no; it's not me.

Dino.

Quote from: GalacticProbeYou can find the TARDIS Builders Workshop Manual (proper title) by going through the author's web site...
Dino.

Thanks! I look forward to reading that, will probably be more useful for my 2nd full scale build than the odd beastie I'm working on at the moment. cheers!

The nice thing about the Manual is that you can use it for model builds, and any scale, as well. It's a very versatile document.

Dino.

sort of flipping through the builder's manual, to hold the glass in place, I suggest using what are used on windows in houses, old houses anyway, glazier's points. they are a small bit of metal, with a point on one end, and tabs sticking up at 90 degrees in the middle, you can use a slotted (flat-head) screwdriver, or chisel to gently push them into the wood, to hold the glass in place, then they get hidden by window glazing putty, which can be applied with a putty knife, it also comes in caulking gun tubes with a square but angled nozzle, that mostly works, but you still end up having to shape and clean up the bead of putty afterwards with a putty knife, before it dries, especially in the corners. you could use silicone caulk as well, but that stuff dries rubbery and can't be sanded. much less forgiving.

in the old days, glazier's points were just a small metal triangle, I often re-use antique ones when reglazing a window pane, or sash, as they still work, takes a little more care to install the old ones, but no reason to toss them. a quick google image search for glazier's points will pull up images and instructions explaining how to install them.

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https://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&safe=off&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1272&bih=686&q=glazier%27s+points&oq=glazier%27s+points&gs_l=img.3..0.1029.3039.0.3181.16.6.0.10.10.0.97.346.6.6.0...0.0...1ac.1.Ti_q1xEt0oA

and just think, if you have old windows in your home, you'll know how to fix them! I used to go to a glass cutter to get glass cut, but after watching them a few times, it occurred to me I could do that, so I went out and bought a glass cutting device, I had salvaged plenty of glass from people's trash to practice on, (and often can recycle it into people's homes, saving money and resources), it's not that difficult, for straight lines anyway. glass thicker than 1/8th inch or so, or arced, I get cut professionally. and these days I'm more likely to use plexiglass when I can, which I can cut on my table saw much faster.

using this technique on a Tardis may require making the muntons (window bars) a little deeper than you might have planned if you were just going to glue them onto the glass. examine a real window for an idea of the depth of wood.

I've never actually made a munton from scratch, I'll take one apart and see how it went together.

in unrelated news, I made this the other day
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you can see it larger in my dA gallery here:
http://j-mobius.deviantart.com/gallery/

was thinking it'd make a neat tattoo design, or an icon for sites like this. maybe I'll stick it on the inside of my phone box! there we are, now it's related.

I made my windows that way -- glazing and points.  Makes a nice result, particularly if the view from the inside is important to you.