Help identifying Star Trek TNG medkit mystery door hinge

norbauer

Well-Known Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
Hi all. I'm just getting started on a long process to do a scratch build of a TNG medical kit. With the help of @Eric Ardros, I'm working on blueprints and plan to do a styrene build—I hope to share the PDFs here on the RPF when they are complete, given Eric's final permission and approval of my transfer of his hand-drawn guides. I'm currently at the phase of gathering materials and I I think I have everything worked out except the mystery of the door hinge.

The auction catalog for the original described it as having a "ratcheting door", and if you look at the left on the pictures and some screencaps (below) of the YouTube video for the auction, it shows that there was a rounded drop-down door-style hinge on the left of the door. Apologies for the low quality, but this appears to be the best info available at the moment.

medkit-hinge-2.PNGmedkit-hinge-4.PNGmedkit-hinge-3.PNGmedkit-hinge.PNG

It appears to be some sort of small metal hinge part that is puttied into the styrene. Any idea what kind of hinge this is or where I could find such a part? (I'm assuming it's an off-the-shelf part that has been used from another purpose.)
 
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I was wondering when you were going to get around to posting a thread for this, lol. Again, I'm glad I can be of help with your project :)

To answer your question, the round disc (which is actually present on both sides of the door; the one on the right is built into the Hypospray storage compartment) isn't actually the hinge per say. I made the same assumption, and was thinking I'd have to make them from scratch for my own project.

From what Mike of HMS Studios told me when I was originally researching my own build, those notched discs are just there to allow the door to be held open at different angles. They're not absolutely necessary, so I opted to leave them out of my build.

He explained that the Medkits had regular-type hinges that ran along the bottom edge of the door. Some sort of piano hinge or something.

Here are the small, vintage piano hinges I managed to get for attaching the door to my Medkit:



Took a while to find some small enough for my purposes. Lucked out in finding these on eBay, being sold in sets of two for only $5.00 USD plus shipping. They're sold out now, unfortunately. Tried finding something similar, but no luck yet.

These measure 2 3/8" long by 5/8" wide opened, so closed they're not too big.

It takes two side-by-side to cover the width of the door:



Just need to sand them down a bit, put some primer on them and then hit them with some PK7173 equivalent.
 
I'd be interested in the plans when you finish them. I've always wanted to make one of these. As for the hinges, Iwas going to guess that there was a piano hinge on the bottom too, the other looks like a hidden cabinet hinge used mainly for support.

Maybe something like this?
 
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I'd be interested in the plans when you finish them. I've always wanted to make one of these. As for the hinges, Iwas going to guess that there was a piano hinge on the bottom too, the other looks like a hidden cabinet hinge used mainly for support.

Maybe something like this?

@Eric Ardros and I have discussed this and I believe he is amenable to releasing the plans—and since I'll be doing them in Illustrator I can share them as PDFs that can be printed on any oversized printer or plotter.

He and I have both been burned in the past by the historical culture of closed doors and secrecy in the prop world and we're hoping to try to encourage a culture of sharing. :) It's nice that the internet is finally enabling this kind of collaboration among enthusiasts, even if a few years late to the game (relative to the software world, for example).

I was wondering when you were going to get around to posting a thread for this, lol. Again, I'm glad I can be of help with your project :)

To answer your question, the round disc (which is actually present on both sides of the door; the one on the right is built into the Hypospray storage compartment) isn't actually the hinge per say. I made the same assumption, and was thinking I'd have to make them from scratch for my own project.

From what Mike of HMS Studios told me when I was originally researching my own build, those notched discs are just there to allow the door to be held open at different angles. They're not absolutely necessary, so I opted to leave them out of my build.

He explained that the Medkits had regular-type hinges that ran along the bottom edge of the door. Some sort of piano hinge or something.

Here are the small, vintage piano hinges I managed to get for attaching the door to my Medkit:

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/906/e0Ta5r.jpg

Took a while to find some small enough for my purposes. Lucked out in finding these on eBay, being sold in sets of two for only $5.00 USD plus shipping. They're sold out now, unfortunately. Tried finding something similar, but no luck yet.

These measure 2 3/8" long by 5/8" wide opened, so closed they're not too big.

It takes two side-by-side to cover the width of the door:

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/742/8EX6hO.jpg

Just need to sand them down a bit, put some primer on them and then hit them with some PK7173 equivalent.

I figured they could be omitted, but I am still kind of curious what on earth they are. And I'd love to make the build as accurate as can be on the off chance it's possible to find one of these parts. I have never seen anything like this; I wonder if it was a salvaged part.

Ruddigger's suggestion led me down a chain of Google image searches and I found some related terms "lid/door support," "lid/door stay," etc., but I haven't been able to find any depictions of the rounded notched version. Did Mike give you any clue as to where this part might have come from or what it might have been called? Usually the trick for finding these things is learning the industry term for the part, which perhaps I'm missing.

If no luck after a while, I may be able to machine a run of these from scratch—though I'd obviously like to take the lazy way out if we can find a ready-made supplier. ;)
 
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HI Guys,
OK just to clear up how it was made. There are a few of these (Bev.) Med cases that were made for production. Some of them did not open, they were just walk a round props. All but One of the cases used the piano hinge. That one being the 1st ever made case. On the 1st case the door was alum. the whole door as well as the pockets. On that 1st. case door the hinge was a steel pin that went through the whole case and door at the base front. This allowed the door to be removed easily during construction as well as when repairs needed to be made.
 
Those plates were cut from plate alum. and the half rounds were drilled in. Not a found item. there was no time to source a part it had to be made. The case was made in about 5 days start to finish.
 
IMHO, it seems to represent something like this



However, since it's not truly rounded as it should be, it was probably just fabricated to look like a locking type hinge.
 
Those plates were cut from plate alum. and the half rounds were drilled in. Not a found item. there was no time to source a part it had to be made. The case was made in about 5 days start to finish.

Fascinating. Thanks so much for your reply, Mike!

In that case, what was the rest of the case made of? Presumably at least the pin that moves inside the half-round would need to be metal too?

Looks like that machining class I just signed up for is going to come in handy. ;)
 
HI Guys,
OK just to clear up how it was made. There are a few of these (Bev.) Med cases that were made for production. Some of them did not open, they were just walk a round props. All but One of the cases used the piano hinge. That one being the 1st ever made case. On the 1st case the door was alum. the whole door as well as the pockets. On that 1st. case door the hinge was a steel pin that went through the whole case and door at the base front. This allowed the door to be removed easily during construction as well as when repairs needed to be made.

Also, presumably, even the aluminum door with the notched half-round lid stays/support also had the piano hinges (or some type of hinge) around which to pivot at the base?

Thanks again!
 
Can't have enough TNG props! I'd love to build this one day too.

Couldn't agree more. After recently finishing up a Mark VII kit that came out well, I have a long list of TNG builds of obscure props I want to do. If I end up making the machined components for the medkit, I'd be happy to trade you a set for a cast of your amazing Legrasse Idol. :)

HMS Mike comes through again. Man I love the RPF. ;)

Indeed!
 
Is this going to be your build thread as well?

Probably not. I created a separate thread so people Googling or searching the RPF for a specific answer to this question will be able to find relevant info. I'll probably make separate threads for the blueprints project and then the actual build itself so as not to clutter things too much. I am finishing up a Tuvok meditation lamp in brass and a Vulcan katric ark right now (and will post build threads with instructions on those when I have something finished to show), so the medkit project will probably be a month or so away.
 
Also, presumably, even the aluminum door with the notched half-round lid stays/support also had the piano hinges (or some type of hinge) around which to pivot at the base?

Thanks again!

The steel rod is the hinge. It runs through the bottom of the door. There is a hole on both sides of the body that capture the rod.
 
@Eric Ardros and I have discussed this and I believe he is amenable to releasing the plans—and since I'll be doing them in Illustrator I can share them as PDFs that can be printed on any oversized printer or plotter.

He and I have both been burned in the past by the historical culture of closed doors and secrecy in the prop world and we're hoping to try to encourage a culture of sharing. :) It's nice that the internet is finally enabling this kind of collaboration among enthusiasts, even if a few years late to the game (relative to the software world, for example).

[...]

I'm definitely agreeable to sharing the PDF plans once you've got them done, for the aforementioned reason of fostering more open sharing of such prop knowledge :D Looking forward to seeing your blueprints thread and also your WiP thread, buddy.
 
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