My Old Series TARDIS Console (Pic Intense)

[greatwazoo42]

Karst - I looked through my notes but a lot of the stuff I had when I was working on my own console (never finished it so don't expect pictures, gang) has gone the way of all organic matter. I do recall a lot of what I had planned to make the time rotor go and spcglider has it right. Think of the way the old steam engine wheels work on trains...but apply it in reverse. Instead of the piston driving the wheel have the wheel drive the piston.

Do a little shopping here: http://www.emotorstore.com/

You'll want a variable speed AC motor and a gear to attach to it with about a one foot diameter. I think it's one foot, it's been years since I've thought about this. Mount the motor beneath the timer rotor but high enough off the floor to allow the gear to turn unhindered. Attach a rod to the gear on a bearing joint and the other end to a joint at the center bottom of the time rotor assembly. The motor turns the gear, the gear spends half it's swing driving the rod (and therefore the time rotor) up and the other half bringing it down.

If the motor has trouble pushing the time rotor up you can set up eye hooks high near the apeture the time rotor comes through and a second set of eyes at the base of the rotor and then tie weights onto strings so that they help pull the thing upward as the motor pushes it.

If any of this fails to make perfect sense let me know and I'll see about hunting up drawings on it.

 

[karstva]

Karst - I looked through my notes but a lot of the stuff I had when I was working on my own console (never finished it so don't expect pictures, gang) has gone the way of all organic matter. I do recall a lot of what I had planned to make the time rotor go and spcglider has it right. Think of the way the old steam engine wheels work on trains...but apply it in reverse. Instead of the piston driving the wheel have the wheel drive the piston.

Do a little shopping here: http://www.emotorstore.com/

You'll want a variable speed AC motor and a gear to attach to it with about a one foot diameter. I think it's one foot, it's been years since I've thought about this. Mount the motor beneath the timer rotor but high enough off the floor to allow the gear to turn unhindered. Attach a rod to the gear on a bearing joint and the other end to a joint at the center bottom of the time rotor assembly. The motor turns the gear, the gear spends half it's swing driving the rod (and therefore the time rotor) up and the other half bringing it down.

If the motor has trouble pushing the time rotor up you can set up eye hooks high near the apeture the time rotor comes through and a second set of eyes at the base of the rotor and then tie weights onto strings so that they help pull the thing upward as the motor pushes it.

If any of this fails to make perfect sense let me know and I'll see about hunting up drawings on it.

I can see where you are going with it ron, is there anyway you can dig up some photos? I guess its easier for me to wrap my mind around the idea with visual stimulation. I would appreciate anything you have.

Karsten

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Don't rule out the dwarf idea!

 

[greatwazoo42]

I can see where you are going with it ron, is there anyway you can dig up some photos? I guess its easier for me to wrap my mind around the idea with visual stimulation. I would appreciate anything you have.

Karsten

Anything for a friend. It's a variation on this:

Do you see how the motor is raised in the cavity to alow for movement of the gear, or in this case the...erm...what ever it's called between the rotating bit and the shaft attached to the piston? In this image the piston head is the time rotor. Does this help?

 

[karstva]

Ron, thanks for posting that graphic that helps a bit with the visualization, in the meantime here is another small update. I started the bottoms of the console panels. Unfortunately I only had enough plywood for 3, but 3 is better then none, I'll be getting more plywood this week to continue with the build by next weekend. So here is one small picture for you to enjoy. Once again, thanks for following my thread.

Karsten

 

[trooper_jim]

That looks damn cool. I think I need one. But only if it works..:lol

 

[karstva]

Hey guys,

Well this weekend was a pretty productive one I am quite pleased with the progress. Not only did I finish the remaining 3 panel bottoms but I got all 6 of the panel tops cut and in place. A few of them are a bit warped so I will be stacking them and weighting them down to flatten them a bit, plus to help them stay put I am going to get cabinet door magnets to keep them firmly in place on the console itself. Next phase is the cladding of the panels with hardboard which I will probably start next weekend. Here are a couple pictures of the weekends work.

Enjoy and thanks for following my build
Karsten

 

[greatwazoo42]

Brings a tear to my eye. Karst. I'm feeling the hints of motivation to restart my project.

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Beautiful!
I love the classic control panel! I was told to go in a completely different direction for our console. Our director has a vision...

 

[karstva]

Beautiful!
I love the classic control panel! I was told to go in a completely different direction for our console. Our director has a vision...

Hey nakedmolerat
Do you have plans of what you are going with? I would love to see what you are coming up with to meet your directors "vision".

Ron, thanks for the compliments, you should start it up again, I remember you had started and I thought you were pretty far along. Did the first attmept end up in the bin?

 

[greatwazoo42]

Nope, all the parts are still in the basement lockup of my apartment building.

Truthfully I'd start from scratch if I begin the project again. I had a lot of complaints about what I had when I got employed again those 6 years ago. Some of the smart stuff I came up with I would incorporate though. Maybe someday...

 

[GoldCylon1]

This looks great.

 

[karstva]

Well its been a while since my last post on the project but I have been working diligently away on it. Mainly all my time has been consumed with cladding the plywood panels with hardboard to give me a nice smooth surface to paint. It has been tedious making sure all the panels come together as neatly as I can get them. Sometimes I had to just walk away and say close enough. The routine basically was measure, cut, glue wait..repeat. Here are a few pictures to tide you over. I am working on the panel edge trim pieces and the time rotor collar next. That will finish up the main part of the build. I will then start working on the cutting the base access panel doors, building the time rotor mechanism and planning out the layout of the panel controls, lights, switches, greeblies, etc. So here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.

and lastly

Thanks for looking

Karsten

 

[GoldCylon1]

Looks great, also looks like you used just about everything you could get your hands on, even the kitchen sink. :lol

 

[greatwazoo42]

LOL! Perfect!!!

I see there's an Orb (aka dust particle) in the picture. For those that believe in ghosts it looks like the supernatural is giving you the thumbs up on your project just like we are.

 

[karstva]

No, it is an orb, it was hovering there and wouldn't get out of my shot so I took the picture anyway, :lol. Thanks for the compliments.

Karst

 

[karstva]

Hey there,
Well once again its been slow but steady progress on the console. I finished the basic build of the time rotor collar. I still have some filling and sanding that I need to do to clean up the edges and beef up the collar interior with some bondo but for these picture you get the basic idea. It doesn't look as good close up but, thank goodness for bondo, I can fill the gaps, sand it smooth and paint it and It will end up looking pretty good I think when I'm done. I'll be working on the console panel edge trim next as well as doing the collar clean up. Enjoy these few pics.
Angle 1

Angle 2

And from the stairs

Thanks for looking
Karst

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Put that frowny face icon away, Sir! That thing is GEORGEOUS!

 

[Magnus Darcrider]

Glad you're still working on this, it's looking very good. Keep the updates coming!

Be seeing you,

Magnus Darcrider

 

[karstva]

The sloooooow build continues, its been a while since an update, we are in the process of renovating parts of the house, a lot of painting, and redoing the master bedroom and bathroom, not to mention, putting in the garden, the list goes on and on. Well today I got a little work done. I primed the rotor collar so I could see any imperfections I missed with the bondo so I will be doing some more filling and sanding on that. I decided to go a different route with the panel edges, the engineering of the hartnell through pertwee edges were just to much for me so I opted for some metal threshold molding cut and screwed in place. The affect is just what I was hoping for. A little paint and it will blend in nicely, or I may just leave them silver. Here are a few pictures.

and

I also have started some designs on the first panel. I am hoping someone can give me a hand with some ideas or concept drawings. Here is a picture of some console panel ideas that I and some friends had worked on a while back,

its a start but I want some more detail on some panels. I am starting with the panel on the right. The colored circles will be 6" diameter lumen discs, they are the lightening discs you have seen in a few episodes of Doctor Who such as on the dalek ships. I will probably go with the door handle, maybe a variation of it? The T section needs details though and I need help because the fine points I have trouble with. Take a look, let me know what you think and post any ideas and pictures if you can. I appreciate you looking. Here is the last picture, you can make out the pencil lines I hope.

Cheers
Karsten