Hand Crank reference

[too_many_cars]

TARDIS experts-

I'm going to be fabricating a new hand crank on the McGann console to replace the original one that was lost.  Since nothing is commercially available that quite matches the shapes I can see in what blurry reference pictures are available I'll be turning a new base and knob out of some sort of interesting looking exotic hardwood on my father's lathe a week from Saturday (he builds custom fly fishing rods as a hobby and cranks out interesting looking pieces like this all the time).

Does anyone have any good reference pictures or views of the crank other than these?  The irritating bit is I can't seem to find an in-focus picture of the knob for the life of me to see if there is any texture or details on it.  From these pictures, all I can see is a black blob (which I can make out of a chunk of ebony).

Sources for these pictures are the Regenerations book, the BBC website, and DVD screencaps.  The monochrome versions are my quick Solidworks mock-up of the shapes without the final curves or finesse which will be added by hand on the lathe.

[too_many_cars]

This is getting a bit rediculous - any time I try to upload more than 1 200KB image, the site crashes in Mozilla.  Is there another recommended browser for this site?

[too_many_cars]

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[galacticprobe]

I don't have any photos of the console with a clear image of the crank and knob, but I do have a suggestion for posting more than one photo at a time. Instead of selecting multiple photos at once, select one photo, then use the "Save Draft and Continue >>" button (bottom right of the page). Once you've done that, select the next photo and repeat the above. Once you've got all of the photos you want saved as the draft, then use the "Post" button.

That should allow you to post more than one photo at a time (up to 500k max per photo).

I hope that helps you a little, and saves you some trouble.

I do have one question about the console, though, that maybe you can answer. That brass "vent"-looking thing on the flat shelf in this photo (just to the left of the blue bottle):

That part wasn't there in the movie. Now it appears there in some photos on the shelf below that panel (as above), and it's not there in other photos. (See below: same panel, yet it's not under the 900 Year Diary; the shelf is solid wood.)


So what is that vent-like thing, and is it even part of the console?

Dino.

[too_many_cars]

It's a floor heater vent commonly available at hardware stores (i.e. Home Depot).  Three of them are set into the underside of the console.  Grace re-wires the TARDIS at the end of the flick through one of them with the grate removed.

--Brian

[galacticprobe]

Ah. I knew it was a vent grate, and I do remember the under console bit. I've also seen some drawings (fan-made) of the console where they try to match the colors to the lights and other controls, and some of the drawings show an extra "control" right where that grate was resting. I just thought since it was confusing me a little (which it doesn't take much to confuse me these days) I would ask, and who better to ask than the person restoring the original filming console?

Thanks!
Dino.

[greatwazoo42]

Hi Brian!

I have the DVD and I'm guessing you do too but if you don't I can search the film and screen cap any shots I can find that show the hand crank.

(...and yeah, I'm who you think I am  )