Your Thoughts on Pine (Matt Smith era)

[isomorphic]

Hello everybody, I'm somewhat new here, a long time lurker though.

A colleague and myself are embarking on a Matt Smith TARDIS - from scratch. We hope to make a VERY faithful replica. We're crazy like that.

Anyway we have absolutley no idea where to start - the path ahead sure does seem daunting! But after gathering up a ton of build diaries, instructions, hints and tips, dimensions e.t.c. We are looking into the materials needed so we can start pricing the project up.

Now I am no woodworker, I.T is my trade; My theory is that pine would make a good wood for the build.

The qualities needed are:

Lightweight
Weatherproof(able)
Sturdy
Gives off the wooden effect of the 2010 TARDIS
works well with paint to get the correct colour.

Now I know it is lightweight. That is all pretty much! I have seen a few guides knocking around on weatherproofing, but wondered how paint affects that. I believe Pine would be sturdy to a degree, but have no evidence to back this up. I think it would work exceptionally well with the paint and the effect.

Failing Pine, possibly Oak? But I don't know how heavy that would be - this TARDIS will be taken up and down a lot.

So. Has anybody used Pine (or indeed Oak) in their builds? Has anybody settled on the perfect wood for an outside, Transportable TARDIS that they would like to share?

Your help is much appreciated.

Regards,

Tom.

[deck5]

Failing Pine, possibly Oak? But I don't know how heavy that would be - this TARDIS will be taken up and down a lot.

Oak is very heavy wood.  Pine's light.  The grain in white pine is quite like that on the Matt Smith box.  Oak has a considerably different sort of grain.

Dismantleability and weatherproofing work against each other; an outdoor box needs to be sealed, and you can't properly seal something that has to be taken apart.

[isomorphic]

Hi there Thanks for your help.

I see what you mean. This could prove tricky. I know I can store it in safe conditions, it's just when it's put up at the many locations it will be used (could be anywhere in the UK really) I didn't want a rainy day to spoil alot of the work.

But thankyou for your input, I've definatley taken this on board, and will be reviewing my options.

[deck5]

Hi there Thanks for your help.

I see what you mean. This could prove tricky. I know I can store it in safe conditions, it's just when it's put up at the many locations it will be used (could be anywhere in the UK really) I didn't want a rainy day to spoil alot of the work.

But thankyou for your input, I've definatley taken this on board, and will be reviewing my options.

The real win for a transportable box is fiberglass.  Fiberglass doesn't mind getting wet, either.

A wooden box, even predominantly made from pine, will be heavy; I speak from experience, I'm building mine out of pine and plywood.

[isomorphic]

Yeah

We have an old Jon Pertwee Style Box made out of fiberglass at the moment. We are looking at using wood this time to shake things up abit, try something new. Plus, I've lost count of how many fiber related injuries I've had all up my arm

[philipw]

I have several thoughts on your problem as I've been researching my planned Matt Smith tardis that will be outdoors all the time.

As for a background, I have a very complete professional woodshop with pretty much every tool imaginable, and can pretty much build anything here. Even so, the tardis is an unusual challenge to build for outdoors because it is not designed to easily allow necessary weatherproofing without some pretty significant compromises in its details.

I do however think if you want to build a knockdown tardis that can withstand getting wet during any weekend it's outdoors by chance, rather than having to knockdown and spending all winter in the elements, you can with some care in how you build and paint it.

The key would be to completely seal against water intrusion at every place water can invade, very specifically the ends of boards and the use of plywood that is made to be outdoors, IE, MDO (signboard).

There is a practice for outdoor wood to prevent wicking of water in the end grain where you soak the end of board ends with epoxy, which will seal against water intruding there. All the pieces need to have no end grain that is exposed to water, and all surfaces of the boards need to be treated with wood preservative prior to caulking with the best acrylic paintable outdoor caulk you can find, and then primed and painted. I'd also screw the entire assembly together with stainless steel drywall screws and use no nails at all.

Build everything as individual assemblies, keeping in mind that all assemblies have to be perfect in their treatment so water cannot intrude.

Base, Columns, Doors, Three Wall Panels, 4 top signs to lock the walls and columns together, and top.

Each one should be able to stand outside in a rainstorm and have no water intrusion.

Again, this isn't how I'd build a full time outdoor tardis, but it would be able to stand up to repeated moving and installation and the occasionally rainy weekend.

[galacticprobe]

One way to store a wooden break-down box out of the weather would be to put the pieces into a small shed, like one of those small Rubbermaid things for garden tools. A smallish one about 8 x 8 feet should fit the walls well enough, and the sheds that size aren't all that expensive. You could store the box inside that when it's broken down and if you missed a spot while sealing/weatherproofing it would be protected.

Just a thought.
Dino.

[isomorphic]

Thanks for these great tips, this really helps.

We already have a shed for protection, it's more for when we take it places for the weekend, or even the week. I figured weatherproofing every piece individually would be the way to go, I just had no idea how to go about it So thankyou for your tips.

[isomorphic]

Hello again all,

I've just stumbled across this:

http://www.timbersource.co.uk/other_scandinavianredwood.asp

Scandinavian Redwood.

It's sturdy, it dries well, paints/stains well, easily weatherproofable - can anybody think of a downside?

Hopefully, nobody can, and I will have found a gift to share with everyone!

I'd like that

[hb88banzai]

Scandinavian Redwood is most likely Pinus sylvestris, aka Scots Pine.

Don't have any experience with it personally, but from what I gather it is moderately good for joinery (ie, is stable and doesn't shrink much, while holding screws and nails well) and moderately rot resistant. Nothing like the true California Redwoods in weather and insect resistance, but then not much is when dealing with softwoods.

[deck5]

Scandinavian Redwood.

The outer layer of the posts in my build are made of this wood.  It's about 50% more dense -- and therefore heavier -- than the ordinary pine I'm using elsewhere.

[philipw]

Scandinavian Redwood.

The outer layer of the posts in my build are made of this wood.  It's about 50% more dense -- and therefore heavier -- than the ordinary pine I'm using elsewhere.

Desk5... what's the wood called in Canada? I've never heard the name Scandinavian Redwood or Scots Pine in the U.S.

[deck5]

Scandinavian Redwood.

The outer layer of the posts in my build are made of this wood.  It's about 50% more dense -- and therefore heavier -- than the ordinary pine I'm using elsewhere.

Desk5... what's the wood called in Canada? I've never heard the name Scandinavian Redwood or Scots Pine in the U.S.

Just "Red Pine".  Definitely a tougher wood than the other pine.

[deck5]

Desk5... what's the wood called in Canada? I've never heard the name Scandinavian Redwood or Scots Pine in the U.S.

Just "Red Pine".  Definitely a tougher wood than the other pine.

Gets called "Norway Pine" in some places, too.

[philipw]

Desk5... what's the wood called in Canada? I've never heard the name Scandinavian Redwood or Scots Pine in the U.S.

Just "Red Pine".  Definitely a tougher wood than the other pine.

Gets called "Norway Pine" in some places, too.

Nothing like that down here in Texas. Though for this break down build I'm planning, strength isn't as important to me as having something I think I can do the pretty dramatic grain raising Matt Smiths tardis has, as well as weight. Otherwise I'd probably use poplar, but there's almost no grain in that to work with. Can also get ash as inexpensive as knot free pine.