11th Doctor Sonic Screwdriver (Mostly) scratch build.

[TheNickFox]

Like Phez said. 4 little springs, each connected to the bottom of to a claw and all connected to the central claw holder. The way the co does it, with a central sprung collar doesn't work for a prop replica. That's why the co toy's claws are so hit.

I know, it's awesome :lol



I think that is actually Dan's (Anakin Starkiller) design (that is where I got that part from) and he may be able to explain how it works a bit better. There is a bunch of little springs. I can tell you it is not a good idea to take a Dremel cutting wheel to it to try to make the claws open farther. I can confirm that aspect of the design :facepalm.

Thanks for the clarification, guys. Awesome work, again!

Here, have a few extra exclamation points for good measure: !!!!!!!!!!!! :lol

-Nick

PS: Any in progress pics of the marbled shafts? I'd love to see them since so few people have shown off that particular aspect in previous builds.

 

[phez]

PS: Any in progress pics of the marbled shafts? I'd love to see them since so few people have shown off that particular aspect in previous builds.

I will take some more pic's and document the process and bit better when I cut those parts for my Sonic. This is all I took of that part this time around.

 

[Duncanator]

Wonderful to see an actual build thread that SHOWS the building process! Please keep it up.
I just bought the copper to machine my own last month. I've been trying to figure out the way all the parts work together and
you've answered some of those already.
Is the green material used for the shafts something you made or is it an available product? It looks a bit like the material for
turning fancy ink pens.

 

[Anakin Starkiller]

That's exactly what it is. The red button on the bottom is also made from a pen blank

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Mike,
I think you have come up with a better internal structure than Robato did. Certanly better than what I had in mind. I may be stealing some ideas from you. (By I may be, I mean I absolutely will be......)

 

[NakedMoleRat]

This, this right here.....that is the piece of the puzzle that I did not have! THANK YOU!

I am envious of your center colomn...and your skills.

An actual ceramic handle would be cool. Where did you find that option on the site?

I had a few people PM and ask how the slider part worked on this and figured I would just post it here. Here is what I did, I do not know if it is exactly how the real ones work or not but I think they have to work something like this.

View attachment 258498
View attachment 258499

 

[phez]

I think you have come up with a better internal structure than Robato did.

:lol I seriously doubt it. I did my best to try to figure out how he might have of done the original. Then I tried to make what would make sense inside with the parts I could see on the outside. Nicks have worked very well for four years of heavy use and abuse on set. If mine works 1/2 as well as the ones he made did, I will be very happy.

 

[CaptChunkyChew]

:lol I seriously doubt it. I did my best to try to figure out how he might have of done the original. Then I tried to make what would make sense inside with the parts I could see on the outside. Nicks have worked very well for four years of heavy use and abuse on set. If mine works 1/2 as well as the ones he made did, I will be very happy.

actually (you may or may not know this, you probably do but i am relatively new here) Robattos sonics are notoriously fragile and break very easily. they can be repaired, but require a balding, middle aged man to follow you, armed with a REAL screwdriver. Matt admitted in an interview at sdcc in 2011, that he breaks it at least 4 times a day while filming... but anyway, Lovely work!

 

[phez]

Handle:

Cut the angle.


Mill the grips.


Drill out the hole for the tube.


Polish it out with some Novus plastic polish.

 

[Risu]

I envy your CNC lathe. I can't do stuff like that on my regular one.

 

[phez]

I envy your CNC lathe. I can't do stuff like that on my regular one.

I don't have any CNC capable machines. They are just hand dial machines. The little box in the back ground is just a digital readout so you don't have to count the number of turns of the knob (I was always getting confused on how many times I had turned the knob :lol

Robattos sonics are notoriously fragile and break very easily. Matt admitted in an interview at sdcc in 2011, that he breaks it at least 4 times a day while filming

I have heard that rumor but it does not seem overly fragile (although I think the plastic parts could likely crack if you dropped it or hit it on something).

My guess from listening to that interview is that Matt Smiths comments were that he throws a good thrashing on the thing during every episode :lol.

To be honest I only had one problem, the little cap that stopped the slide from moving popping off if you flicked it to fast. A set screw through the side of that top collar totally fixed that though.

 

[NakedMoleRat]

At this point in my build I am not 100% certain that mine will flick open...there is really no way to test it at this point! I'll find out soon enough though. The tolerances between the copper and aluminum are tight, I have hand files millimeter by millimeter until I have a smooth slide, without too much friction, but not so loose that there is a big gap and having it too loose. Time will tell if I succeed or not.

And thanks again for posting your build photos. While mine will not be as nice as yours (by that I mean all the hand lathed parts custom fit together from source metals, etc. I do love my Shapeways parts, without which I would never have been able to get a metal sonic), your internal slide guide mechanism totally lit a light bulb above my head on what to do with mine!

 

[phez]

I have hand files millimeter by millimeter until I have a smooth slide, without too much friction, but not so loose that there is a big gap and having it too loose.

Before I got my lathe I would put my hand drill in the bench vise and use sand paper to fine tune the size of tubing like that. You can get a really even round finish pretty fast that way.

 

[AlexBC]

At this point in my build I am not 100% certain that mine will flick open...there is really no way to test it at this point! I'll find out soon enough though. The tolerances between the copper and aluminum are tight, I have hand files millimeter by millimeter until I have a smooth slide, without too much friction, but not so loose that there is a big gap and having it too loose. Time will tell if I succeed or not.

And thanks again for posting your build photos. While mine will not be as nice as yours (by that I mean all the hand lathed parts custom fit together from source metals, etc. I do love my Shapeways parts, without which I would never have been able to get a metal sonic), your internal slide guide mechanism totally lit a light bulb above my head on what to do with mine!

The best way to have it flick open and NOT have to worry about the tolerances/friction etc is to implant magnets in the sonic. I'm working on my own scratch built sonic right now and that's the method i'm using.

Basically, i'm going to place a magnet in the handle where the very central rod will connect to said magnet and hold it firmly in place.

 

[parfaitelumiere]

ok,what is price for one of them,if you make a run,please me in the list!!!!!

 

[phez]

I got some time to work on this today. I wanted to cut the prong holder out to make it a little thicker. I think this is about the correct size.

 

[AJK001]

Looking great so far, I'm really looking forward to seeing this finished.

 

[NakedMoleRat]

You have constructed your own sonic screwdriver, but you are not a Timelord yet.....

Sorry, was mixing my franchises there!

More awesome! Thanks for sharing!

 

[CaptChunkyChew]

don't make me destroy you, NMR!!! :lol anyway, lovely work phez!

 

[phez]

I had family in town for the holidays so I did not get much shop time in for that last 2 weeks. A little more work done today though.

I finished up the new prong holder and got the prongs mounted (what an absolute pain in the ass making this part is!!!). It is nice and solid and the spring action is perfect. The angle that the claws deploy to looks to be good.

Now the down side. The prongs already had the mounting holes in them from the original part. I drilled the prong holes in the holder and then mounted the prongs with the holes that were already there. The alignment with the front lense part is off by a bit (using the new holder) so I decided that I am going to recut the parts. This time around I am going to assemble everything and tape the prongs in place while the slide is in the closed position. Then drill the mounting screw holes. I think I should be able to get them dead on doing it that way.



THis prop is just a bear to get everything to line up and work smoothly.