I have to admit that my phone panel door has been non-opening and hinge free since 2006 but that's all going to change and I've had to address the issue of secure wind-proof closing mechanisms.

Glen mentions using a magnetic catch in the Legendary TARDIS builders manual  but I also remember Mark posting a picture of the Crich phone door with a lovely sprung ball catch, (And I believe Ironageman had a picture of another door with the same catch) I looked it up and I think it is called a 'Bales catch'

So, I fitted a 'Bales' and I have to say it makes a wonderfully satisfying noise, both on closing and opening. I am now a complete convert, I want them on all cupboard doors.

So I wondered...
Have other builders here used Bales?
Are they a standard Police box phone door catch?
What other catches have members used successfully?
TG

That looks ideal TG, if you've built your door thick enough to house it, that looks like just what would on the real thing (I think)

glen

Brilliant restoration to a brilliant build TG - and love the new phone installation!

Yes, ball catches were standard on all original Metropolitan Police Boxes from what I can find in photos, all the way back to the beginning. However, some had the ball in the opening in the wall (eg, Crich and most, if not all, other concrete boxes, at least after they were equipped with metal phone doors - c1935 and later) and some in the door itself (eg, the original Mark 1 timber boxes in Richmond, Wood Green, and Wimbledon).

Quote from: TG on May 26, 2015, 08:55 am
So I wondered...

What other catches have members used successfully?

Well, when I can finally get my build off the ground, since it's going to be centered around the original Brachacki (which had no door handles until I think "The War Machines" when the doors were reworked), I was toying with using one of those latches like you'd find on some cabinets with the glass doors - the ones that have the "push open-push closed" latch: push the door in slightly and when you release the pressure the latch springs the door open, and then when you close the door you push it in again and this time it latches the door shut.

I don't know how well that will work, but I have hopes. (Has anyone else used that sort of latch for their phone panels? Brachacki or otherwise? If so it would be interesting to hear how it worked out.)

Dino.

Well, the Brachacki Box did sort of have handles in the beginning - still visible in the long shot at the end of Unearthly Child, as I recall.

But regardless, I should think your plan should work quite well. I believe they are just a variation of a magnetic catch in most cases, and the regular magnetic catch we used back in 1986 is still going strong (the stage box at Gallifrey One). Good idea on how to secure it without a handle and still be easily openable.

Quote from: hb88banzai on May 27, 2015, 04:21 am
Well, the Brachacki Box did sort of have handles in the beginning - still visible in the long shot at the end of Unearthly Child, as I recall.

True; the "original" Brachacki had handles in the unaired pilot. (I believe there is a thread on here somewhere that discusses the "now you see them, now you don't" Brachacki handles from those early episodes.) But I'm going more for the production version than the pilot.

Quote from: hb88banzai on May 27, 2015, 04:21 am
But regardless, I should think your plan should work quite well. I believe they are just a variation of a magnetic catch in most cases, and the regular magnetic catch we used back in 1986 is still going strong (the stage box at Gallifrey One). Good idea on how to secure it without a handle and still be easily openable.

And this is really great to know! At the moment I'm not planning on putting in a phone (maybe later on, but not initially). My main purpose for having a hidden latch on that phone panel is so that I could open it and reach inside in the event the main doors were locked, and I couldn't find the key! (And how I wish I could have had that capability in my cars during those odd times I'd locked the keys inside - and I know we've all done that a few times in our lives... especially the elders amongst us. )

Dino.