I’d made a rather thin box for drain extension purposes last year, whilst waiting for other things to glue, dry, etc. In the meantime I discovered Continue reading Whilst waiting for glue to dry
Tag Archives: TARDIS
Blackwood cabinet
Well I don’t know where that time went, but I now have an urgency to turn my pile of blackwood sticks into something. Continue reading Blackwood cabinet
TARDIS visitors
I’m pretty chuffed that my TARDIS notoriety has spread. After 2 years of being harangued Continue reading TARDIS visitors
TARDIS lit up
As winter approaches, afternoons at SWTAFE get darker allowing me the opportunity to photograph the TARDIS in its lit up spooky beauty.
Blackwood furniture
Serendipity reigns! The woodwork teacher from the local high school happened to be chatting to me having seen the SWTAFE ad/article of me & my Tardis in the Warrnambool Standard. We got chatting about timber & he recommended I try the good people at Australian Furniture Timbers in Port Melbourne. Fab!
TARDIS done!
I could spend a bit of time tinkering, but I’m going to call it a day. There’s still some considerations as to location and some other displays but in the meantime here’s some arty shots.
TARDIS- St John’s logo
In my head, I couldn’t really conceive when I started of a point when the TARDIS would be done. Now however, my fortuitous forgetting of the St John’s logo when I had the other signs made up has lent me the signal for completion. I was tossing up whether to actually include it or not but since the design is (mostly) based on the 1963 pilot prop, St John’s logo it had to be.
And so, the crowning moment.
TARDIS Interior
Here’s some final pics of the TARDIS interior. The lighting strips come up quite well and there is a surprising amount of space inside.
TARDIS: Light em up!
The end of time approaches! I had to change my TAFE day due to other commitments and so was quizzed by a teacher as to why I was there a day early. I responded that I was actually here on the correct day but that I’d travelled back in time a day.
Boom. Tish.
The lighting is killing me. I’d finished the soldering last week (no pics as nothing new to show) and discovered that my 24v transformer wasn’t supplying the juice to run 100 Xmas buds as well as the window and sign lights.
Some snipping and re-soldering later showed that my wiring was correct but I didn’t have enough power. On closer inspection (bringing in my trusty multimeter), the Xmas lights ran off a 24vac transformer supplying 12vdc to each string (2 strings of 50 for sparkly patterns) and supplying 600mA which explained the non starter.
Brushing up my high school electronics, I decided for the time and effort it would take (and I am keen to get onto the next project) to abandon the coordinated single string of window sign and lantern lights and to run them separately off their own transformers.
Bright lights! I’m happy that the LED lighting is clearly visible in the bright light of day.
I left it wired up and running to test and then had a chat to teacher Pete about my next project. He asked if the TARDIS was supposed to be flashing to which I answered ‘not deliberately’. I’m channelling Jon Pertwee here with the wires and the flashing and the smoke…
The 24vdc 1.25a regulated power supply I’d sourced from Jaycar turned out to not be supplying enough power for the string of 25 led strips (bright for a while and then flash flash bzzpt and a very hot transformer) so have sourced a higher rated supply.
Will try the higher rated supply next week and see what happens. Meanwhile, have (hopefully) sourced a heap of blackwood for the next project.
Fame in funny places
I was asked if I would mind if TAFE used the TARDIS for a bit of promotion. The journalist did a good job of not making me sound like a nutter.