Volpone
Administrator
Hi guys. Just a little spam, killing some time with my support group of fellow madmen.
Having built a TARDIS, I keep mulling better ways to build one--lightweight and portable, solid and stolid, using concretelike Hardiboard products and yes, making one out of concrete. Truth be told, I think it would be fairly easy. And it would be fairly permanent and indestructible. The problem is, from the math worked out in my brain while walking the dog and the pricing on concrete that I've found online, it really wouldn't be any cheaper than a wood TARDIS (and as it stands, I can't justify building another wood TARDIS for what they cost). But I do have to share my construction brainstorming in case someone has the time and money:
The base is fairly easy, of course. People have been pouring square concrete slabs since Roman times. But I'll come back to that.
Corner posts aren't terrible either. Make yourself a big "L" shaped chunk of lumber, close the ends off and stick some inside corner mouldings in it, probably have a smaller "L" to go inside. Or maybe a "V" is more accurate, because your form is going to be braced up like a "V". Fill the bugger up with concrete, push your inside form down into it, and let it set up. Maybe put a hinge on its length to make it easier to get the cast form out of it. Do 4 times. The thing I'm missing is the best way to put reinforcing steel in this, but more on that later.
Actually, the sides are even easier. Sheet of plywood with a 2x4 frame around it. Another sheet of plywood goes inside with the center channel cut out of it. On top of that go 6 beveled panels and 2 2x4 frames for the windows. I haven't decided if I'd do the "steps" between the wall and the roof on this part or cast them with the roof. Fill with concrete and sink a steel wire mesh into it for strength. Repeat 3 times.
Once you've got 3 walls, you essentially cut your mold in half. You also pull the top beveled panel and stick the window "frame" from the other side there. There's your front with the opening for the phone.
The actual door is wood, so I won't spend time on that here, but depending on how your lumber for the molds has held up, you could repurpose that for your door (well, the plywood, you'd need the trim).
The roof I'd probably cast in place, one step at a time--essentially like a Jell-O mold or something. a pair of concentric 2x4 frames with a bottom to keep the concrete from running out. Then a smaller pair of concentric frames. The actual sloped roof part, I might wuss out on and just build it from plywood and then spread concrete on it like frosting a cake. And I still haven't figured out how to do the top signs.
All this has been rolling around in my head for some time, but tonight was the "A-HAH!" moment. See, the problem is tying all the pieces together. I was thinking, sink reinforcing rods into the slab to tie the corner posts into; extend the steel mesh outside the walls so you could fasten the sides together, maybe even pour inner corners to tie everything together.
Then it hit me: Pour the slab last. Stand your corner posts in place and get them shimmed into place. Lean your walls into position too. But make them all 6" taller than they need to be. Then you pour your "base" with everything else in place, freezing it all into one solid piece. (Obviously there would be gaps between the corners and the sides, but with a solid concrete base fixing them in place and the roof cast in place, fixing the top edge, it would be very stable even without mortaring the seams. In fact it might actually be better because the seams would allow for ventilation.
Unfortunately, unless I somehow have a million dollars fall in my lap (or someone hires me to make it), this isn't ever happening.
Having built a TARDIS, I keep mulling better ways to build one--lightweight and portable, solid and stolid, using concretelike Hardiboard products and yes, making one out of concrete. Truth be told, I think it would be fairly easy. And it would be fairly permanent and indestructible. The problem is, from the math worked out in my brain while walking the dog and the pricing on concrete that I've found online, it really wouldn't be any cheaper than a wood TARDIS (and as it stands, I can't justify building another wood TARDIS for what they cost). But I do have to share my construction brainstorming in case someone has the time and money:
The base is fairly easy, of course. People have been pouring square concrete slabs since Roman times. But I'll come back to that.
Corner posts aren't terrible either. Make yourself a big "L" shaped chunk of lumber, close the ends off and stick some inside corner mouldings in it, probably have a smaller "L" to go inside. Or maybe a "V" is more accurate, because your form is going to be braced up like a "V". Fill the bugger up with concrete, push your inside form down into it, and let it set up. Maybe put a hinge on its length to make it easier to get the cast form out of it. Do 4 times. The thing I'm missing is the best way to put reinforcing steel in this, but more on that later.
Actually, the sides are even easier. Sheet of plywood with a 2x4 frame around it. Another sheet of plywood goes inside with the center channel cut out of it. On top of that go 6 beveled panels and 2 2x4 frames for the windows. I haven't decided if I'd do the "steps" between the wall and the roof on this part or cast them with the roof. Fill with concrete and sink a steel wire mesh into it for strength. Repeat 3 times.
Once you've got 3 walls, you essentially cut your mold in half. You also pull the top beveled panel and stick the window "frame" from the other side there. There's your front with the opening for the phone.
The actual door is wood, so I won't spend time on that here, but depending on how your lumber for the molds has held up, you could repurpose that for your door (well, the plywood, you'd need the trim).
The roof I'd probably cast in place, one step at a time--essentially like a Jell-O mold or something. a pair of concentric 2x4 frames with a bottom to keep the concrete from running out. Then a smaller pair of concentric frames. The actual sloped roof part, I might wuss out on and just build it from plywood and then spread concrete on it like frosting a cake. And I still haven't figured out how to do the top signs.
All this has been rolling around in my head for some time, but tonight was the "A-HAH!" moment. See, the problem is tying all the pieces together. I was thinking, sink reinforcing rods into the slab to tie the corner posts into; extend the steel mesh outside the walls so you could fasten the sides together, maybe even pour inner corners to tie everything together.
Then it hit me: Pour the slab last. Stand your corner posts in place and get them shimmed into place. Lean your walls into position too. But make them all 6" taller than they need to be. Then you pour your "base" with everything else in place, freezing it all into one solid piece. (Obviously there would be gaps between the corners and the sides, but with a solid concrete base fixing them in place and the roof cast in place, fixing the top edge, it would be very stable even without mortaring the seams. In fact it might actually be better because the seams would allow for ventilation.
Unfortunately, unless I somehow have a million dollars fall in my lap (or someone hires me to make it), this isn't ever happening.
