abcd Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 I started this room a little while back, it will have wainscoting once the floor is done and I'll have to make that out of individual pieces of wood. The floor is made of individual strips of hardwood (mahogany and walnut) 5 mm thick set in an alternating pattern 45 degrees angled to the walls for visual interest. I use 1/2" thick veneer core plywood for the box and 3/4" for the floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeekendMiniaturist Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 Artist, I love the Toile wall paper you have chosen; and while I love the Victorian Era, my head is stuck in the elegance of the Georgian (UK) / Colonial & Federal periods here in the US. I love building structures, but I am trying to work with purpose (and keep my mini distraction disorder under control) on refining my turning skills. I hope you can periodically update us... as it will be fun to see your updates. This is really tempting for me to put the lathe away, and I haven't been tempted for a while... I better get myself into the workshop and start turning or else I will be standing at a table saw cutting up walls. The truth is the inability to locate my personal required 3/8" material is driving me a little nutty... my heart is set on locating Medium Density Overlay... (MDO) but I may have found a source in Indy - it just requires I get two big tasks done in the office before I can take another day off from work during the week to drive down to pick up my supplies - and I can always visit the museum in Carmel for an hour or so too... I look forward to you watching your progress! Wallpaper shopping in at the UK mini show is on the top of my mini bucket list! Are your walls 14"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcd Posted July 21, 2018 Author Share Posted July 21, 2018 I always liked this type old world scenery paper but never knew what it was called until a couple of months ago! Turned out too that when I was little we lived in a house in 1966 that had this type wallpaper, the house was built new around 1964 so the paper dated to then, and I just noticed it in the background of an old family photo a couple of months ago too, it's very similar to my paper but it has pairs of horses and riders on it, probably a fox hunt themed toile paper with a light brown color theme, but I couldn't find any examples of that exact paper anywhere- lifesized or miniature. I will probably be going to my workplace where I'm working on this room- later today, I don't remember the height of my wall I think it's 14 inch or close to that, it's going to be a pretty tall ceiling but the part of the heght is also to accommodate that large cornice, and the door surrounds. I will definitely updated as I go, I am also on Facebook and post to the IGMA Page as well. I have a chandelier and a couple of pictures and some other accessories but my original idea of having a large painting over the fireplace my be modified to having an overmantel of some kind instead by have to find and overmantel that looks like it matches the fireplace and also fits the size of it and I think I found a couple that might work and they are on my bucket list for later. The wallpaper that I bought she has to be very nice quality good thick paper it's almost like the quality of paper you buy for your real house, definitely not inkjet paper! It went on nice and smooth and even, I used the Yes! Adhesive even though it is pre-glued on the back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcd Posted July 21, 2018 Author Share Posted July 21, 2018 Here are 2 progress photos, I just set up a few accessories to get the photos it's starting to look like a little room! It will have an overmantle of some kind instead of the framed picture. The ceiling is 13-1/2" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcd Posted July 31, 2018 Author Share Posted July 31, 2018 The first section of some 3" high basic raised panel wainscotting is taped up to the wall to see how it looks, it doesnt have the top or bottom molding yet. It will be painted white like the doors. It is made up of 11 pieces of 4mm thick basswood. The fireplace is going to be changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeekendMiniaturist Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Artist, I haven't made any raised panels yet... Did you use the profiles from Northestern? I have a project planned that will require raised panels. I bought several styles of fireplaces from Braxton Payne...and I even know where they are! I am planning to use the Overmantle from my Alison Davies Guild Study program class in a room of my Georgian Build, when the time comes for the scratch build dream project. I like the way the raised panel wall will look in your room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcd Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 On 7/31/2018 at 7:36 PM, WeekendMiniaturist said: Artist, I haven't made any raised panels yet... Did you use the profiles from Northestern? No, I scratch made these completely using the woodworking machines at work to take the basswood down to 4mm thick and cut the pieces to size, for the beveled edges on the panels I used the stationary belt sander with it's 6" wide belt after clamping an angle fence to it turned to a 30 degree angle, I made the next section with 3 panels today. I don't have any miniature related woodworking machines of any kind, I've always used the normal 10" table saw blade and all the other normal woodworking shop machines at work to make my rooms. I DO need to get the cap molding and quarter round from Northern though. I didnt see any overmantles on Allison's site, only the fireplaces, she has one with caryatids I want but I didn't see an overmantle for it, but Sue has a pair I also like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeekendMiniaturist Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 My husband has a really large belt sander, and I have used it; but I can't imagine making my own raised panel like this. Your technique is effective and working with the equipment you have access to and comfortable with is a great. I have appropriate sized modeling power equipment and was contemplating dremel router set up in a table, and table saw for my raised panels. ! I have found many miniaturists used life size equipment for their model making. I find the 10" blade for sawing 4 mm thick wood to increase my heart rate substantially; I am glad to had the opportunity to purchase my desktop equipment. I use life size bandsaw and miter saw with ease and no anxiety. When you mention northestern's cap molding and quarter round... I have had minimal experience grinding my own tool steel to use in my taig lathe so the hope is to create my own profiles in the future for moldings. Sharpening must become a core competency for me - this is the class that I should really subscribe to in the future. Reading about tool steel has to be the 'dryest' reading of text that I have ever tried to do, and I am able to sleep even when reading and walking on my treadmill while reading about sharpening. I don't sleep while I am walking on the treadmill, but I could sleep when I was reading the last book about sharpening steel. The study of sub-atomic combinations of metals and their behavior was more then I ever wanted to read; and I am 100% sure that I would not pass a test on this chapter. I think I would try to alter a dremel bit or as Elga has shared with us, a drill bit can be used. Of course I can purchase round tool steel from MSC locally. I also participated in Tom Walden's classes where we used a drill press and pin router concept, so a round piece of tool steel can be ground to the correct profile. I apologize... my Guild Study Program class was with Allison Ashby... another closed to being finished project - it got put away for that Christmas season of entertaining and I haven't had it back out to finish! http://www.fineminiaturesforum.com/topic/753-chicago-2015-guild-study-program/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcd Posted August 2, 2018 Author Share Posted August 2, 2018 I use the machines available to me, also in part because I look at a lot of the small machines made for modelling work like the mini chop saw, table saw etc and they look like cheaply made toys, I almost bought a small chop saw but after reading the reviews on them and how many said the motor didn't even have enough power to cut small strips of softwood without bogging down, and so on, so I didn't buy. Guess I'm used to machines substantially made out of cast iron and metal, not plastic. I didn't use the table saw for the 4mm strips I used the 24" thickness planer to do that on strips about 2" wide, and then cut those into strips 8mm wide on the table saw. A friend said for what I want to do with making architectural elements in 1:12 scale is use Meshlab, but I'm not sure about that software, it looks like it has a huge learning curve! Then there's the matter of a 3D printer, one of the miniaturists in the UK apparently has or uses a $50,000 ProJet MJP 3600 MultiJet 3D Printer, that level of expenditure is way out of the question! On the Northern lumber, I can't fathom how they make 24" long pieces of moldings like 1/16" cove and quarter round! I'm a full time woodworker for the last 20 years and even I couldn't do that and have no idea what kind of machine etc they use to mass produce all those moldings, I even showed some of the moldings to co-workers at the shop- some have been there for 35 years- and all of them were amazed and couldn't fathom making such tiny molding out of wood. It almost makes me wonder if they don't just PRESS the pieces to shape in metal dies instead of routing. The molding is cheap enough to just buy ready made, modifying or building up with multiple pieces if desired. Probably the most versatile machine is a milling machine, we have two old Bridgeport mills at the shop and I've used one to drill the tiny holes at 45 degrees into a staircase banister for the spindles in my first room box that had stairs, it would be very difficult any other way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElgaKoster Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Hmm, I have made small moldings with a home made cutter in my Proxxon mill. The secret is to mill your shape on the edge of a wide piece of wood. I also add any rebate I want on the other side and then either slice my molding strip off carefully on my Proxxon table saw or if it is really small using a small straight cutter in my mill. I usually make my molding on both edges of my wood. This is how I made the molding for this tiny piano shaped sewing box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeekendMiniaturist Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 I wonder how much it would cost to have a 24" long die to press quarter round? I think the cost of tooling a press die, leads me to believe they are mfg molding the more traditional way. Does anyone know if Northeastern is mfg in the US or offshore? Someone call Northeastern and ask! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcd Posted August 3, 2018 Author Share Posted August 3, 2018 16 hours ago, ElgaKoster said: Hmm, I have made small moldings with a home made cutter in my Proxxon mill. The secret is to mill your shape on the edge of a wide Yeah, I've done that on regular boards with a router, routing both edges and then cutting them out, though the tricky part is when you cut the board on the table saw and set the fence, you would normally set the fence to the width you want to KEEP, and whats left over on the left side of the blade is just waste, that way you get consistantly sized pieces, but if you route both edges of the board then those edges instead are what you want to keep- just the opposite of the norm- the center of the board becomes the "waste" piece. Once you cut one edge off then your board's width is reduced by that amount plus the saw kerf and that can be a little tricky to get consistancy. OTH if you do it the other way- using the fence to get the width of the edges you routed, then you have a narrow funny shaped strip that can be tricky to hold with a push stick and push through. So there's a few different ways to do it, no one way works perfectly for every project. I like that little mill, that's definitely a way to route strips, there is a video by a guy who added on some servo motors to use it like a CNC with software, it has some potential but since he didn't make plans or anything, and there doesn't seem to be a simple bolt-on "kit" available, it's a fairly advanced project to do. Turn your volume DOWN before playing the video if you don't want loud horrible, stupid music playing! Your little sewing table is very cute, amazing work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcd Posted August 3, 2018 Author Share Posted August 3, 2018 11 hours ago, WeekendMiniaturist said: I wonder how much it would cost to have a 24" long die to press quarter round? I think the cost of tooling a press die, leads me to believe they are mfg molding the more traditional way. Does anyone know if Northeastern is mfg in the US or offshore? Someone call Northeastern and ask! Probably quite a bit, but made in China - not too bad, they probably route the wood, but knowing how easy wood tears out with router bits it's amazing they can make molding that small, I bet the discard/reject rate must be fairly high. I believe their web site and Google street view indicates they make them right there, certainly big enough building for plenty of machines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcd Posted August 4, 2018 Author Share Posted August 4, 2018 Most of the wainscotting is made except for adding the cap molding and the quarter-round molding, these two corner sections are primed and fitted but not glued in yet, two other sections have to wait until I get the fireplace and fit that in and decide how to trip the small bit of wall it will leave to the corners. Next step after the wainscotting pieces are made, primed and painted is to finish the flooring so I can sand, stain and finish that. I have mixed feeling about the doorknobs and plates, the knobs sparkle too much and the gold is too bright, it begs the question of either painting the door plates, or giving some gold accents to the door headers and brackets to complement the door plates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeekendMiniaturist Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 I really like the finish of door knobs and hardware Ron Stetkewicz; I have purchased lots of hardware over the years from different artisans at various shows, and I definitely want to support our 2nd generation miniaturists that have continued in the art of fine miniatures. https://www.facebook.com/Ronstetkewiczminiatures/ You can alter the shine on brass finishes with blueing products used by gun smiths... I have used Birchwood Casey Brass Black Metal finish and found this to be acceptable. Other alternatives are products used in the Stained glass world to age your solder. I only have minimal experience but have found products available in these specialties to be helpful. I know the brass black worked to age my nails for a leather sofa project; but I have only used the Novacan black patina for aging solder for a intro to stained glass class. (check out the supply at Delphiglass.com). If you have someone locally that you work with in the artistic & restoration community, perhaps they will let you experiment with your miniatures - Hobby Lobby may have some of this product in their inventory; I'm trying my best to stay out of the stores. You are making great progress and it is fun to see the updates. It is coming together nicely. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcd Posted August 12, 2018 Author Share Posted August 12, 2018 One more row of flooring to lay in, and then the spots along the two walls to fill in. One long and one short section of wainscotting are painted but they won't be permanently installed until the floor is completely finished. The flooring is a bit of a challenge, as my little mitre box is not as accurate in it's cuts as I anticipated it would be, the aluminum channels' 45 degree slots wear open wider with use creating a little sloppyness in cuts, and that small amount is enough to throw accuracy off, so I've had to compensate a little to get the leading edges of each section straight across with a sanding block, but doing that slightly changes angles and the next row winds up with slight fitment variations that need further compensation to fix. I also should have done the floor by itself first and then cut the finished square to a size that evens up everything left to right so there would be no need for half width pieces etc to fill in. So far though it's pretty accurate and no big issues, but it would have been easier doing the floor alone first, as well as have more open room to work on it free of confines of the walls. I also would have had an easier time with the wainscotting had I routed the walls where it goes just 1/16" to inset it slightly below the door frames, I've done both of these on my bathroom box and sort of forgot to do that with this one, though I routed out the door openings part way into the plywood to inset the doors. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keifer33 Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 That floor is going to look amazing! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeekendMiniaturist Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Artist, Are you cutting all those pieces by hand? I can see me laying them down and then drawing on them with some kind of square to get the correct angle... and off to the miter saw <gulp> . Checking the cut, over cutting, checking the cut and then cutting to the line. I am sure there is some kind of cutting jig for this operation, but of course I would have to do this the hard way! I am enjoying the 'perspective' view. So many times we make our rooms with 90 degree angles for the walls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcd Posted August 18, 2018 Author Share Posted August 18, 2018 On 8/14/2018 at 1:21 PM, WeekendMiniaturist said: Artist, Are you cutting all those pieces by hand? I can see me laying them down and then drawing on them with some kind of square to get the correct angle... and off to the miter saw <gulp> . Checking the cut, over cutting, checking the cut and then cutting to the line. I am sure there is some kind of cutting jig for this operation, but of course I would have to do this the hard way! I am enjoying the 'perspective' view. So many times we make our rooms with 90 degree angles for the walls. Yes I have been, using an aluminum miter saw and saw, once I decided on the length of the normal pieces I set up a "stop" on the miter box so I can just slide the longer strip of wood to that and cut, in theory each should be identical, but in actual practice there is a little play in the miterbox' cutting slots, and as you use it the saw wears the guide slots slightly which makes the saw looser, it's that looseness that causes slight variations in lengths, it's not more than a half to one milimeter, but it's enough to cause fitment issues. The miterbox has two 45 degree and one 90 degree cutting slot, all the flooring is cut to 45 degrees no measuring or marking each piece needed. A more accurate way would be an electric chop/miter saw. The long pieces you see in the floor were easy enough to cut, it will be the little shorter pieces to fill all those triangles along the two talls that will be more work as they will all be different lengths and have to be cut and sanded to fit the spaces. 90 degree walls are easier, I have a 45 degree wall in my room for the fireplace so the fireplace will be more angled towards the front where the viewer would be, but it makes it quite a bit more work to cut wainscotting, flooring, wallpaper, and the ceiling cornice- mine especially since I chose a very elaborate cornice that is not the easiest design to miter, plus it's plaster which is even worse to work with as far as cutting and installing. I hope to finish the floor in a couple of weeks, and after sanding it will probably get Minwax Red Chestnut oil stain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcd Posted August 18, 2018 Author Share Posted August 18, 2018 I finally finished the wood floor today, sanded and stained it, not the best photo to show the colors as the light in the scene is fluorescent and a nearby LED and it does something odd creating a yellowish blotchiness that isnt there, where there is some shine from the fresh stain. The fireplace and maybe the brick it stands on will be changed out for a considerably larger, more ornate one soon, I have to order it from England and wait for that. There will also be a small carpet, I'm hoping for a multi colored oriental style carpet but without the fringes they usually have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeekendMiniaturist Posted August 18, 2018 Share Posted August 18, 2018 Artist the floor looks great! I love wood floors; this is very inspirational! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keifer33 Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 See? I told you that floor was going to be amazing! I may steal your design pattern for a future build. You may have stated above but what were the 2 woods you used? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcd Posted August 19, 2018 Author Share Posted August 19, 2018 On 8/18/2018 at 8:54 PM, Keifer33 said: See? I told you that floor was going to be amazing! I may steal your design pattern for a future build. You may have stated above but what were the 2 woods you used? You bet! What would be interesting to do would be this herringbone pattern but all converging to the center from all four directions rather than just left to right, something like this floor in a house for sale. I would use an electric chop saw not the aluminum miter box. I used mahogany and walnut. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcd Posted August 19, 2018 Author Share Posted August 19, 2018 I have the first application of sanding sealer on the floor now, sometime this week I'll rub it out with 320 sandpaper and then start applying the urethane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcd Posted August 26, 2018 Author Share Posted August 26, 2018 The floor is done now, waiting on some parts, including the fireplace. Three sections of wainscotting are glued in and the rest are primed and waiting to be finished. The fireplace is going to really make the room. I have some ideas for more furniture, at least a couple of chairs, a carpet and table of some kind to start with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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