• Attn: If you were on the old forum, you may have to reset your password!

Dematerialisation Lever - Clues to identification

Thanks for that magnificent photo and the info on the housing's markings, BioDoc (but, about the "Haul" marking... you didn't need to SHOUT IT! ;)).

If you have any other great high-res photos of this console and that Demat Lever, I among many would greatly appreciate it. Since the DWE is packed up for the time being, there's no telling when anyone will get a look at this console in such detail again, so any photos of this calibre you have that you'd be willing to post would be a treasure for those of us who are in love with this console.

Thanks again for clearing up what was marked on that housing. (It's still odd that no markings are in the Lever's center position between "VEER" and "HAUL". Or am I the only one that thinks that?)

Dino.
 
I've always thought it looked like a control from a crane cabin. A google search reveals some similar mechanisms. I'll look into it.

EDIT - Or a winch control.
 
If I remember correctly, the word from Bob's Bits - who supplied many of the parts for the 2005 TARDIS console - was that he had only two of these controls and the BBC bought them both.

We know one was on the 2005 TARDIS console, and one was on the "2005 Touring (promo)" console. (The Touring console would eventually get redressed as the War Doctor's console in "The Day Of The Doctor" 50th Anniversary Special.)

And we saw one of these controls in the zeppelin in "The Age Of Steel" (Part 2 of "Rise Of The Cybermen"). So knowing that only two of these existed and gotten from Bob's Bits, I think it would be a safe bet that the one used on the (in-storage) Touring console was reused for the one on the Cybus zeppelin, and again later in 'The Sarah Jane Adventures' in the "Revenge Of The Slitheen" episodes (this time with its knobbie painted red).

So we're probably looking at the same control that was used in three places: Touring/War Doctor console, Cybus zeppelin, and whatever this Slitheen machinery was (I can't remember; it's been too long since I've seen those episodes).

Dino.
 
Thanks for the reminder, CH!

Okay. So now we know it's a Mat/Demat Lever on two TARDIS consoles (War, and 9th/10th Doctors'), part of a Cybus Industries zeppelin control system, and a power lever(?) for a Slitheen transformer that could absorb all energy from the Sun (this one with the black knobbie on it painted red... with a note that by the time this was put back on the Touring-promo console for the console's redressing as the War Doctor's console, that knobbie had been painted black again; well, that, or the red paint had been removed from the knobbie).

Which still leaves one question...

What, in the real world, was this lever actually used for? (If we could finally put an ID on it, then we'd at least have some terminology to search with since Bob's Bits didn't know what it - and its twin - had come from.)

Dino.
 
It was also featured in Tennant's last story as a (used) control on the cactus-heads' ship.  Wish I knew what it was, I still think it's lab equipment rather than a speedboat control but we've never come very close to finding it.  One day, yes, one day...
 
We know this thing (presumably the one from the Touring-promo/War Doctor console) made the rounds, landing on various pieces of machinery during Tennant's run (including that appearance in 'The Sarah Jane Adventures'), but as Glen says:
kiwidoc said:
...we've never come very close to finding it.
Click to expand...

That's the sticking point: what was this thing actually used for? If we knew that, it would make searching for it light-years easier. Like the "Helmic Regulator" wheely thing. Someone managed to ID it as a throttle/trim control for a Piston Provost airplane. Granted while that terminology made the gizmo easier to find when searching for it, it did not negate the high price tag attached to it. (Ugh.)

So if anyone stumbles across what this lever actually is (or was) used for, please post the name of it so we can have a positive ID on the control. (And considering this has "VEER" and "HAUL" on the housing's side rim by the lever to designate the lever positions, "POWER ON" and "STANDBY POWER" on the housing top by the buttons and indicator lights, and "bar" on the bottom of the meter face, like Glen said, I don't think this is from a boat throttle.)

I've been looking for this longer than this topic has been running - at least since around 2007 or 2008 when the wife said I could put a scaled-down version of this console in the TV room (another project on indefinite hold :P)... but I've still been looking for this lever to know what it was used for and what its proper name is, all to no avail. So if anyone recognizes it or finds out what it is, please let us know.

Dino.
 
You could very well be correct, CH. The question is... which winch? (Yeah... try saying that 10 times fast!) It's the model we need to find so we can get the positive ID on this lever.

The "HAUL" and "VEER" make perfect sense for a winch control: haul something up (or in) and then veer to one side or the other, especially if this winch is part of a crane. What's puzzling about this particular lever is that once you've hauled, how to you lower (or pay out) what you've hauled? Also, which direction to you veer in?

If this is a winch control, then my guess is we're only looking a one half of the control set-up. This lever does the "hauling" and "veering" action, but somewhere out there is its partner(s) that switched the "HAUL" function between "IN" and "OUT", and the "VEER" function between "LEFT" and "RIGHT", and possibly along with that something to set the speed at which the hauling and veering was done (and this could be part of the unit that sets the in/out and left/right directions); or the speed could be a separate control unit altogether.

And what is the "bar" on the meter for? Monitoring the pressure (hydraulic?) on parts of the winch as it takes on the load so you know if what you're trying to haul on is too heavy for the winch? Or does it measure something else, which could help us with making an ID?

Thirteen years in and this little control is still vexing us. We can't let it win! ;D

Dino.
 
galacticprobe said:
You could very well be correct, CH. The question is... which winch? (Yeah... try saying that 10 times fast!) It's the model we need to find so we can get the positive ID on this lever.

The "HAUL" and "VEER" make perfect sense for a winch control: haul something up (or in) and then veer to one side or the other, especially if this winch is part of a crane. What's puzzling about this particular lever is that once you've hauled, how to you lower (or pay out) what you've hauled? Also, which direction to you veer in?

If this is a winch control, then my guess is we're only looking a one half of the control set-up. This lever does the "hauling" and "veering" action, but somewhere out there is its partner(s) that switched the "HAUL" function between "IN" and "OUT", and the "VEER" function between "LEFT" and "RIGHT", and possibly along with that something to set the speed at which the hauling and veering was done (and this could be part of the unit that sets the in/out and left/right directions); or the speed could be a separate control unit altogether.

And what is the "bar" on the meter for? Monitoring the pressure (hydraulic?) on parts of the winch as it takes on the load so you know if what you're trying to haul on is too heavy for the winch? Or does it measure something else, which could help us with making an ID?

Thirteen years in and this little control is still vexing us. We can't let it win! ;D

Dino.
Click to expand...

Surely if you pull the lever to haul it up, you just push the lever the other way to lower your payload again?

Same for the veering, I'd imagine....
 
I've been googling all morning... as it very much were.

I don't even want one of these, I'm less harsh toward this console room than I was but it's still not for me. It's a case of the challenge being set.

In and Out are definitely winch type functions based on what I've found. I've also been looking at anchor and crane controls.

So far I haven't had any luck but other possible search terms I've done that might inspire are -

winch lever + control, panel, mounted.
power transmission control + lever.
winch control + panel, mounted.
crane control + lever, panel.
vintage lever control

 
rassilonsrod said:
Surely if you pull the lever to haul it up, you just push the lever the other way to lower your payload again?

Same for the veering, I'd imagine....
Click to expand...

One would think. The problem with this theory is there are only three lever positions on this control:

forward position - VEER
center position - Unlabeled
rear position - HAUL

So this is extremely limiting in its functions, which leads me to believe there is another part to this controller's setup - one that sets the direction of the "veering" and "hauling", as this control's lever positions can't possibly haul in and out, or veer left and right, with only one position for each of those, and a center "unlabeled" position, which could be either a neutral or locking position for when the veering and hauling is not in use.

Dino.
 
So I was looking on Bob's Bits and managed to find this Cold War Era Military switch:
https://images.ctfassets.net/tml6y7l7549x/bq9677/2ce3aa54f4508c51bdbf743cdd89f47f/https___lh3.googleusercontent.com_pAVSvkvmWDJ2jmVgXUTxU6YLQMqUN8CT_-yCWbxk9MKECZ9BIlEl1hshZgk_xR5Q2S9dKDKPTwuZvW7ESjI_s1600
As you can see the lever is similar to the on on the Dematerialization Lever: https://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4300.0;attach=58854;image I think this must be some semi-submarine lever from the cold war, hope this helps in identification
 
I stand corrected (by myself of course). I found a similar lever to the demat lever HTB1Gv1zwwKTBuNkSne1q6yJoXXaQ.jpg_720x720q50.jpg
according to alibaba this is a "road roller gear shift push pull cable control lever". I will continue to look at push pull levers to see if I find it
 
Nevermind, I'm wrong again but also kind of right. According to some naval and marine sites, the terms of veer and haul are used in a ships winch mechanism. I am trying my hardest to keep up with searching the right keywords and hope this 20 year long journey comes to an end. blehhh
 
So, not a big find, but if you wanted an alternative I did some math and found out the approximate length of the lever is. using David's height of 1.85 m and roughly simulating the length of the lever with my fingers I had it fit in David's line around 6.5 times, which means the demat lever is around 29cm and 11.5in
 

Attachments

  • 4thWallShot.jpg
    4thWallShot.jpg
    146 KB · Views: 20
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top