A Little Time Off - TARDIS Style

I decided to take some time off from blogging a while back but should get back to all things Mac shortly. It wasn't like I didn't have other projects going on though. Since my family loves Dr. Who, I thought I would share the TARDIS nightlight I just finished. Now I just turn it on at night to scare away all the Daleks and Cybermen hiding under my bed.

As a DIY project I'm sure it's been done to death but I figured it was going to be fun and interesting to see what I could do with it. 

I started with some plans I drew up and some materials. 

Some cutting, more thinking and many trips to the big box hardware store and I finished the basics. (FYI - Big Box hardware stores suck at small parts and accessories. I got almost everything elsewhere.) 

Add some glue and the classic outline was done. 

I fussed over the details of the call box sign. How do you make the text clear and readable? How do you make 4 signs that all match? Should I make the signs illuminated? A few  internet searches later I found a sticker place that will print your own custom made stickers. WOOT! 

A little Sharpie action, some pre-stained wood side panels and when all was done I ended up with this.

Several coats of "Tardis Blue" stain, a wash of black to add some depth and I had my nightlight. If I get around to it I'll take some night shots. The top light is clear acrylic that glows. The windows are frosted and covered with blue acetate to give a nice blue illumination. All in all, it works well and it makes me happy. Isn't that what's life is about?

Geek Day Off - The Tardis Box

A few weeks ago I posted about my woodworking hobby and how I occasionally let my inner geek loose on some of my designs. Because my daughter now works at a game store and also likes the BBC show Doctor Who I decided to make one additional box; a Tardis card box. I hope you like the results as much as I do!

The color, the addition of the decals really set the tone. It took a while to find the right font and designs for the Tardis signs but my daughter is really happy with the results.  

Geek Day Off - Woodworking Edition

In 2013 and 2014 I've rested the tech side of my brain and embraced my inner geek by attending the Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle. I do plan on attending again this year but I do let my inner geek loose in other ways. 

One of my other hobbies is woodworking. I wrote about one of my past projects, a stand for my MacPro that I built that to help prevent future issues with coffee spills. Today I'd like to take a break from my Mac blogging and show you my latest woodworking project: Boxes to store my kids collection of Magic, Pokémon and other cards. 

To earn some extra money my daughter got a job working at Uncles Games. Suddenly her interest in, and collection of, card games exploded. As a gift for her I decided that I should design and make a box for her to store all her cards. Being the engineer that I am I figured if I was going to design and make one box then making a bunch at a time wouldn't be that much harder. Several of my kids are into cards so why not give them each a couple of boxes. 

I made a prototype that fit a standard card (including protective sleeve), I added a small compartment for dice and after I fiddled with the construction a bit I turned out 8 boxes. I changed the finish on each and even made a special version that I'll post about later.

Take a look at the results. What do you think?