TARDIS Build Update - Part 8

The work continues at a furious pace! So fast, that my blog is falling behind. This is a good thing, by the way.

The most "glamorous" work recently has been the mounting of the two front doors. Please let me take a moment to remind my readers that I have pretty much zero woodworking experience. This is all new to me. So it was with great satisfaction that things came together so well.

Things started off with the building of yet another jig. This will be used to router out the space for the hinges.

This is what I'm talkim' bout, bro.

After that, it was just a matter of installing the hinges on the door. As always, I followed Philip Wise's build, and used a separate plank for the other half of the hinge. This is then screwed into the post.

Here's the first door in place. I was pretty darn happy with it. It hangs very straight! I still need to do a tiny, tiny bit of trimming along the bottom, just to level it out, but overall it's really great. Swings nicely, hangs straight. Just what every growing boy hopes for.

I then repeated the process on the other door. Shockingly, the doors fit together almost perfectly. I need to do a teensy bit of sanding to get them to mate up 100%, but visually they look great from the front. A tiny bit of bowing has occurred in the primary door, and I'm attempting to fix that as I write this blog post. I will keep you posted. No pun.

With the doors in place, it was time to turn my attention once again to the roof. The roof hasn't really been a pain, it's just something that keeps getting pushed to the back burner. Regular readers will recall that I did a POC pyramid, but was unhappy with the amount of time it took to make and the lack of precision. I changed gears and made a jig for the triangles, and produced a second POC which was absolutely perfect and I was thrilled with it. Had I known it would turn out so good, I would have used my target wood for it and called it a day.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, and my photos.

Using my template as a guide, I quickly cut out these four pieces.

I had to build a chimney too. At the time of building, I was using different dimensions than what would become my "final" chimney. But, it was a good learning experience to build this. I used my chop saw to cut meiter joints on the four pieces of wood, then glued them up using a set square as a guide. This method worked really well, and the ultra-flat surface of my kitchen counter once again came in handy.

I then assembled all the pieces to make sure everything was fitting properly. My jig was not designed to cut the edges for the chimney, so I had to do those by hand. I have since updated my jig to include those. The chimney was run through the table saw a couple of times to cut the lip into it, into which the pyramid sheets fit. This way, the chimney not only serves its purpose as a lamp holder, but also provides structural support for the entire roof.

With everything fitting together properly, it was time for the glue up. I start by assembling the entire thing using painters tape. This allows me to not only make sure the joints are held together very tightly, but also that everything is aligned.

After that it was just a matter of running glue along each of the seams on the under side. I let it dry for a couple of hours, then did another bead. Here's what it looks like after the glue had tried and the tape came off.

Here's a close up of the joint after all was said and done. Really nice!

With the second roof POC a screaming success, I knew it was time to finally push ahead and do the final version. I'll save that for the next blog post.

Another task that was remaining to be taken care of was the squaring off of the corners on the posts. Since a router bit leaves rounded edges on the insides, I needed to take a chisel and clean them out to make them square. Took all of about ten minutes. While I was doing this, I also took care of some lingering clean up tasks on the posts. Just cosmetic stuff that needed sanding or levelling.

I'm really happy I picked up a ten dollar set of chisels from Home Depot. They are very versatile tools that have already gotten a lot of use on this project.

Here at Team Tardis, we are working on two tardis builds at the same time. Some of our capabilities are limited, based on our requirements. As has been mentioned before, Ewan is building a tardis that will live outdoors, and therefore requires different things. One such thing is plywood that will withstand the harsh rigors of California winter. Meaning rain a couple of times a year. For my plywood, I just went to the local Home Depot, stole a cart and pushed it home. Recall that plywood is sold in sheets that are four foot by eight foot. Neither of us own a truck or van or anything, so pushing the cart is my only option. So when Ewan purchased his wood from Ganahl Lumber in Costa Mesa, we had a new problem. How to get that wood home?

As luck would have it, a good friend of mine and neighbor is a principle for a tequila company that happens to have a cargo van they use for deliveries. He's a sponsor of the MattMobile project, which by proxy makes him a sponsor of Team Tardis.

Be sure to support our sponsor by picking up some Ultimo Agave Tequila at your local BevMo or other trusted booze supply house.

Back to the story. I borrowed the van and drove down to Ganahl. Here's the view from the captains chair:

And here's a few shots from the lumber yard. Usually when Ewan and I go to a lumber store, we are faced with that awkward moment when the dude behind the counter asks "So what are you building???" While I understand that they are just doing their job, and possibly looking for up-sell opportunities, it's always a bummer when we have to say something like "a shed. A really trick, precision, well made shed" because what are the chances of the dude behind the counter being a huge doctor who fan? We've had people ask us if we are building a giant victorian doll house, a mega dog house, and a few other shameful constructions that are way worse than having a tardis in your back yard.

However, this trip was different. The dude helping me load asked what I was making, and I sheepishly replied "Do you watch Doctor Who, by chance???" and he said "Are you building a tardis?????" I felt vindicated!!

Lastly, be sure to check out the third and probably final installment of the Team Tardis FAQ videos. I fear that ewan and I ramble on a bit too much, so I probably will save the last 20 minutes of our discussion for a live panel or something.