BioDoctor900's TARDIS Bedroom Doors

[BioDoctor900]

Hi guys,

I've not been very active recently, but I have been busy, and still been making props. Some Doctor Who, a lot of them not, (Supernatural, Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts), but anyway, back to the build....

So for a while I've had an idea in my head about turning my Bedroom door into a set of TARDIS doors. The thought came to me shortly after my TARDIS had to come down. I had salvaged parts from it, and wanted to save them just in case I ever did build another full size box. I have had my console up in my flat for quite a while and every time I walk into bedroom, it feels like walking into the TARDIS.  So I thought, why not.



My main concern was how big the doors would actually be, and how compressed they would look. So I did some measuring and then did a drawing of it to work out measurements



I had a play with some measurements I thought would work and then used some cardboard and cut out a side piece and the dividing pieces and put them on the floor to see what they'd look like and shimmed them around till I was happy

It turns out the doors will be a bit shorter than the actual hole in the frame, but I'm going to fix this by adding a stepped piece above them to fill the 5" void. The panels themselves are 10" X 13.5" (the size of a piece of A4 with an inch border. So I then worked out what the windows would be, and worked out that with 1 1/2cm thick border for the window frames, each pane would be 6cm X 14.5cm. So with that in mind, I found my old TARDIS windows, and used those to create the new ones. This is how one of them looks, I've used the electrical tape as a guide and just used double sided tape to hold the hens tooth panes on



I've got the lock in a bag somewhere. I'm going to go and check out the price of wood to work out how much it's going to cost in total. Bearing in mind, these are going to be double sided doors, like the ones on all the new series boxes. Hopefully more soon

BioDoctor900

[russellsuthern]

Great idea.
This is going to look really cool when it's done

Russell

[BioDoctor900]

So I went around both B&Q and Homebase to check out the price of wood, hardware and paint, this is what I've found...

































The last picture is of the colours I could get mixed at B&Q, £3 for a 250ml pot, I'm leaning towards the first colour for the Tennant TARDIS colour

So hopefully next pay day I can get started on buying the wood and hardware.

Also on another note, how do you get a lock tumbler sorted. My key no longer slides all the way into the barrel, so I'm wondering if the pins have moved out of place inside?

BioDoctor900

[davidnagel]

Damn, I think what your images say is simply that wood can be way too expensive sometimes...

[Mark]

I'd squirt some WD40 in the lock, sometimes they get stuck. I've never seen any pins get dislodged, unless you take it to bits

[Davros Skaro]

To free up sticky locks, use graphite powder in your lock to free up the tumbler. Tip a bit in the slot then push the key in & out to distribute it & turn the key in the lock to get it moving. If possible, do this with the lock tumblers facing downward (the key will have the bumps down not up).  Liquids of any sort, gather dust & make them sticky. The same goes for padlocks too. My dad told me this many years ago, he use to work on locks, cutting keys, pulling them apart & fixing them. I used RP7/WD40 in a lock & now it doesn't work, it jammed.  

Hope this helps.
Chris.

[russellsuthern]

WD/40 is great, I always use that, but then I put a bit of vaseline over the top as this is a bit thicker & more water resistant.


I'm always shocked at how expensive wood is in the regular outlets like B&Q & Homebase.

I'm always looking out in skips & suchlike for scrap wood- it takes a bit of time, but can save you a fortune!

Regards,

Russell

[Senseidale]

I have found a company near me who build stage scenery for the play house and Theatre Royal and Royal concert hall after there has been a big production I have a nose in there skips, ( with permission) if you have a company near you that do similar  might be worth having a look will save you some cash, it has for me
Skip rat Dale

[BioDoctor900]

So progress has been made, we have a pair of doors....well half a pair of doors, the other side hasn't been clad yet...I ran out of wood....it cost me £60...not to mention the hinges, paint, handles and screws, which cost another £20....this really isn't an economical project as I thought it was going to be  but that is because I made some decisions. I decided on Plywood rather than MDF as it would last longer and be stronger. Also these have been made using two sheets of the 6ft X 3ft sheets that B&Q sell, at 12mm thick. I was able to get the main door out of it, as well as the two side strips and the cross brace battons, so in that sense it was economical, but I'd forgotten that I was going both sides  oh well









This picture shows the paint colour, which is Dulux Royal Regatta 1, top is it on its own, and the bottom is with a texture wash

Hopefully I'll get the backs of the doors clad tomorrow, and I'll go and buy a piece for the central divider. Then I can sort the windows, sand the Perspex, and put the beading on them, drill the hole for the lock, paint and then it should be done

Thoughts?

BioDoctor900

[Volpone]

....this really isn't an economical project as I thought it was going to be    ...

If this isn't in the Murphy's Laws of TARDIS Building, it should be. 

As for "thoughts?" I think you're on the right track.  There are people who have made MDF TARDISes and are perfectly happy with them.  Good for them.  All the best.  Truth be told, I've used MDF millwork outside on my old house.  And in the bathroom--2 places they absolutely say you shouldn't use MDF in these situations, but largely, they've held up.  BUT!  My new house has a workbench in the garage that they decided to top with MDF.  They also decided to stack 5 packages of asphalt shingles on it.  So one side of the thing is hopelessly bowed.  And flakes of MDF fly off the bugger every time I run a broom over it.  It is eternally dirty, because each pass of the broom rips loose as much material as it sweeps away. 

I dunno if that answers anything.  You probably could have got away with MDF for an interior application, but I approve of your choice of plywood.

[galacticprobe]

....this really isn't an economical project as I thought it was going to be    ...

If this isn't in the Murphy's Laws of TARDIS Building, it should be.  

"Your TARDIS will always cost you more than you think it will, even if you take into consideration the fact that it will cost more than you think it will. (See Law #1 if you want to try and factor in what the cost of labour would add.)"

As the count goes, at the moment this one is Law #52. And just for the curious out there wondering what Law #1 says: "Your TARDIS will always take longer to build than you think, even if you take into account the fact that it will take longer to build than you think...". (That was the first one posted, ergo it became Law #1.)

As for the doors, I think they're coming along beautifully, BioDoc! (29 inches wide by 75 inches tall? I think I have a doorway to one of my rooms to measure! It needs a door, and the opening might just be the same measurements as yours! At least eyeballing it. Time to pull out that tape measure again!)

Dino.

[jontennant]

Why not go "Cardboard King" style and use cardboard for some construction and panelling, most of the time its cheap and if you use 3- ply, can be very durable. I built a dalek out of it once. But I kept it at a friends house and their house flooded with sewage so all that was left was the eye stalk.  but I digress

[BioDoctor900]

"River, make her blue!"

So today I managed to use some pallets that I'd picked up, and even managed to snap my claw hammer in the process of taking them apart. I clad the backs of the doors, and it was a tad tricky due to the fact that the wood was thicker and some of it wasn't the same thickness....I think I may go back and do that at some point, but it will do for the time being.

I added the beading around the windows and the hens tooth Perspex in the corners, drilled a hole for the lock, added that into the doors and hung them...This also took a bit off trial and error as the pallet wood had made the doors thicker than I'd intended, and so I've had to shim the hinges on the door frame to allow for the extra. I then painted the door frame itself, and added my old phone from my full size box and painted the inside with white gloss, this will need another few coats....I hate glossing....apart from the Police Public Call Box sign and a better PTO sign, I'm done....





Once it's all done I'll post a proper pic of it all complete

Thoughts?

BioDoctor900

[Volpone]

She's materialized inside a wall!  I'd forgotten how nice your console looks. 

[troughtonstrousers]

Love it reminds me of mine years ago