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Roof angles for irregular sides

Started by dustyfro, Apr 25, 2009, 05:24 am

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dustyfro

Apr 25, 2009, 05:24 am Last Edit: Apr 22, 2010, 03:38 pm by Scarfwearer
Hello all, just joined.  After a week of drawing up plans, redrawing, REdrawing, running all around town for the proper hinges, and running back and forth to the hardware store, I'm finally at the BUILD stage.  All the plans for the sides and doors seem to hold up, and I'm good on the roof until I get to those funny trapezoidal pieces.  

My TARDIS is going to house my stereo and television, and in the interest in not having a 4 foot by 4 foot THING sticking out into my living room, I made the sides slightly less wide than the front and back.  This gives me an irregular pyramid for the roof.  I was never all that committed to math, so I don't know the formulas that I will have to know to give me the angles for the trapezoids so that they will meet and also have a couple inches of lift.  The dimensions of the top level of the roof are 37.5 inches by 33.5 inches, and I'd like a 2 inch climb from that level to where the lamp connects.
x Hannah

DoctorWho8

May 17, 2009, 01:47 am #1 Last Edit: Jan 21, 2010, 10:54 am by scarfwearer
Scarfwearer set this up over at TARDIS Builders Forum.  It is a form to calculate roof angles.
http://www.tardisbuildersforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=roofcalc
Bill Rudloff

chriskingbees

Apr 25, 2009, 06:59 am #2 Last Edit: Apr 22, 2010, 03:36 pm by scarfwearer
Hi Dusty
There is a thread with all sorts of formulea for ths around somwhere, posted by Scarfwearer, I believe, however this is for a symetrical build. What I did on my Met box, was to build the roof stacks with cross members in the centre to support the little turret for the lamp housing. Then, I cut out cardboard templates, (Several times) laid them in position, and trimmed them until I was 100% happy, before cutting the wood.
Good luck with your build, and remember we like pictures, lots of pictures :)
KB

Doctor Iz

Apr 25, 2009, 12:32 pm #3 Last Edit: Apr 22, 2010, 03:36 pm by scarfwearer
Dusty,

Hi mate!  The roof, oh boy, that is a bugger of all buggers, at least it was for me.  KB is right, there was a 'roof math's' thread that has been deleted for unknown reasons.  I really struggled with it myself.  the trapezoids are just goofy.  Check out my thread to see how I approached it.  The answers are there.  The best approach is to make templates and form fit each panel, they will all be different, unless your build is perfectly 'square' and as I have learned, nothing is perfect, nor square in the carpentry world.  Post photos of your build so we can help and admire your work and as always, if you need any help, post your questions.

cheers,
Jon~
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h310/jonizdo/Logos/DRIZ_rev20080226copy-2.jpg)

foxmeister

Apr 25, 2009, 12:57 pm #4 Last Edit: Apr 22, 2010, 03:36 pm by scarfwearer
I agree with Jon - you can do all the maths you want, but unless your build is perfect in every dimension, it won't fit properly.

For my first attempt at the roof panels, I tried the mathematical approach but it failed trying to put it together because my roof "box" was not perfectly square. The second attempt was just a case of drawing rough templates for each "side", and cutting and fitting them individually which worked pretty well.

Further details on my blog (http://type40project.blogspot.com/) for Friday 17th October!

Regards,

Dave

Scarfwearer

Apr 25, 2009, 01:52 pm #5 Last Edit: Apr 22, 2010, 03:36 pm by scarfwearer
Quote from: dustyfro board=manual thread=1125 post=20309 time=1240637052I was never all that committed to math, so I don't know the formulas that I will have to know to give me the angles for the trapezoids so that they will meet and also have a couple inches of lift.  The dimensions of the top level of the roof are 37.5 inches by 33.5 inches, and I'd like a 2 inch climb from that level to where the lamp connects.

Hi and Welcome!

The best way to do the roof is to do the trapezoids last and just cut them to fit the frame and lamp support you've built.
In more detail:
  • measure the base of the trapezoid (37.5" in your case?)
  • measure the distance from the middle of the bottom edge of the trapezoid to the middle of the top edge.
  • cut a rectangle of plywood to those two measurements
  • lay the rectangle in place
  • mark where the lamp housing meets the top edge on either side
  • draw lines from the marks to the bottom corners
  • cut along those lines
This is how I did my second TARDIS roof, and also all the skirt panels for my daleks.

Rather than beveling the edges, it's usually easier to just use wood filler, and sand them smooth. If you bevel the edges and use filler afterwards, the edges will be parallel and the filler will tend to drop through.

Crispin

Scarfwearer

Apr 25, 2009, 01:54 pm #6 Last Edit: Apr 22, 2010, 03:37 pm by scarfwearer
Crumbs, I've been distracted several times whilst writing this and several other people have replied in the meantime. Oh well! Such is life!

Crispin

chriskingbees

Apr 25, 2009, 06:26 pm #7 Last Edit: Apr 22, 2010, 03:37 pm by scarfwearer
The method ol' Crispin describes for making the panels, is EXACTLY the method I used to make the templates.
Great minds and all that ;)
KB

dustyfro

May 11, 2009, 04:17 pm #8 Last Edit: Apr 22, 2010, 03:37 pm by scarfwearer
With some graph paper, a calculator, the Pythagorean Theorem and a couple of hours on Mother's Day, I worked out the math(s) for the roof by making them triangles and planning to lop off the top later.  AND IT WORKS!  I'm very pleased with myself.  I think I'm going to make templates with cardboard like chriskingbees and lay them across the supports.  Good news is that I think I can make the outer steps plus the support pieces with standard lumber.  I don't like ripping.
x Hannah

Rassilons Rod

May 11, 2009, 05:38 pm #9 Last Edit: Apr 22, 2010, 03:37 pm by scarfwearer
The other way would be to calculate it with a rectangle with 2 triangles on the side, but whatever works works :D

-Marc
In the cities in the streets there's a tension you can feel,
The breaking strain is fast approaching, guns and riots.
Politicians gamble and lie to save their skins,
And the press get fed the scapegoats,
Public Enema Number One.

dustyfro

May 17, 2009, 12:58 am #10 Last Edit: Apr 22, 2010, 03:38 pm by scarfwearer
My uncle seems to think if I make a 4 inch square around the edge of the hole for the light and cut the tops to the same angle as the pitch of the roof, and the same angle on the taller step of the roof than it would be like an arch and wouldn't collapse.  It sure would reduce the weight it was going to be with 1x6 supports!
x Hannah