Dream in progress -->French Pavillion

[WeekendMiniaturist]

May 2019 Group of 13 miniaturists who love Petitpoint travelled together to the UK for a wonderful tour of famous Historical properties, and specifically to see as much embroidery and a dash of miniatures as possible.  We were able to visit Kensington Dollhouse festival!  During the course of that incredible trip, I realized that I need to make 1 ornate room, and the benefit of the room is that it can house some of my Geoff W class pieces... fast forward 3 years, I drew an initial floor plan and elevation for a French Pavillion.

My vision of this Pavillion is to have walls in the back, 2 symmetrical side doors that are hidden with a central fireplace and some ornate molding appliques for the walls.  I love French furniture, but I don't have enough of it to make an entire house, so a roombox is a perfect back drop for period costumes....  The tentative plan is to be brave and attempt to have a curved window on this wall.  There is actually a life size home on our street that has a  curved window in a curved wall.  Unfortunately they recently sided over it, so I can't take a picture of it, but pretty amazing.  The glass can be carefully slumped in a kiln over a form, the same way glass is slumped for period victorian lampshade.

After last years adventure with petitpointer friends in Chicago and having a wonderful experience in Frank Crescente's class, I'm finally going to be brave and attempt to cut a floor from veneer.  

 

Today, I designed the Versaille parquet floor.

This is a draft of the floor file.  I think there are 39 pieces in each of this draft of squares.... ok, maybe I want to change my mind before I start, eh?  Or make a much smaller room, overnight I am going to try and talk myself out of this!  There are 8 additional border pieces that were not drawn yet.

I learned from last years Crescente class that I have to be very, very accurate for this 39 pieces in a square to come together.  I will draw the larger squares on the board before I start gluing.  The MOST important little detail, is that the front must, must, must be accurate  if this is going to be closest to the viewers perspective.

My husband used his table saw to kerf a couple pieces of bendable plywood for me so I could see if I could curve the walls.  Does wood bend?  This saw kerf cut was done at 1/2" intervals and the plywood is a little more then 5/16" or 8 mm thickness.  The height of this wall in the test state is currently 12" in height.  He has a life size Delta Table saw with an excellent fence and 45 years cabinetmakeing experience.   None of my miniature table saws,  size of the table would accommodate this kind of cut, because the table saw table is too small.  Please DO NOT kerf structure walls on a miniature table saw.  It is NOT SAFE.  

Tomorrow the plan is to see if that form will hold.  It is not glued as I need to cut a window out of the corner, and my first test board broke when we tried to bend it.   Diameter of curve is 3.25".    Both pieces were wet with water from kitchen faucet before bending.

Test 1:  The Sterlite Tote jig, trial bend is with a piece of wood that is 6" tall.  It was wet around the bend and clamped at the top to the tote.

Test 2:  Tinkercad plastic jigs designed by Grandson and printed on 3d filament printer.

This is likely to be a summer long floor project if I cannot talk myself out of 45 piece solution.

Your kind comments and experiences are welcomed.

 

 

[MeezerMama]

I love that you're thinking about slumping the glass!

[WeekendMiniaturist]

Bullseye glass has a slumping basics tutorial on you tube and since this is a 1/12th scale miniature, I do think this is possible with my little glass kiln and a lot of trial and error.  I will start thinking of how to make my own ceramic mold.  First things first is to decide on the window shape.... and size of the window.  Tapping on past experiences, I may try the additive method of sculping the window frame with milliput and then casting the windows in resin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MeezerMama]

People typically fire a low fire slip clay to make slumping molds.    I also understand that it *might* be possible to slump a piece of thin glass over a thick bottle.  Here's the advice I received:

"I’d ramp up pretty slow in the beginning. You’d still want the base piece to be thoroughly heated to prevent thermal shock cracking. I’d probably go up to the 1250 slump temp. Maybe shorten up the hold at 1250F so that only the top piece slumps. 

If you use a ceramic slumping mold, remember to get kiln wash so your glass is glossy.   Dunno if you'll need that if you slump over glass, but it can't hurt.

 

EDIT:  Based on my extremely limited slumping experience, the dimension of the post-slumped glass may be the biggest variable.  You may want to design your window frame and possibly even the wall around the resultant size of the window glass.

[WeekendMiniaturist]

As I contemplate the interior of this dream build, I discovered a wonderful download at the NY Met Museum.... Free - online Research! 

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/French_Architectural_and_Ornament_Drawings_of_the_Eighteenth_Century

 

[LilBittyThings]

How wonderful!! Thank you for sharing. 

[Mesouth]

Tamra, thanks for sharing this and I look forward to your progress! Your curved wall will be spectacular. I think MM’s suggestion of slumping the glass first and then fitting the frame and wall to the glass shape and size would be the best approach. You already have the skills and talent to adjust the frames and wall!

So glad to see that a few people are still posting on the forum!

[WeekendMiniaturist]

Martha, I asked Son#2 to video record using the gripper on a table saw; hopefully I can pin him down for half an hour to film a few minutes of me ripping some wood for some floors using the gripper.  I do appreciate the suggestion to make the glass first.  It is like making the staircase first for the other big dream build, right?   The  house with a cantilever staircase?  You do the hardest components first, that will trip you up in the journey, so it doesn't sit unfinished forever.

If all else fails I think we can heat very thin plexi glass for the windows, but I've always wanted to slump glass in miniature.  I think the temp may require some adjustment because I'm using glass that is very thin, ie 1/16",   Thankfully I have a nice stash of glass,  so hopefully I won't have to use my entire stash of thin glass on 4 curved wndows.    Perhaps I should not be over confident and go back to the Dollar Store this weekend and buy more glass.  

I will most likely cast a plaster mold negative for the glass slumping project.  I need to do the window first though.  I'm used to working with plaster molds as I've poured a few miniature dolls and fired them to porcelain a couple of years ago.  

It is a chicken and an egg riddle, of which should come first.  I think DH will work on the walls this weekend.  DH is going to kerf them again, but I won't glue them until we slump the window.  I bought task board to add to the walls as necessary to improve the finish.  Bendy plywood doesn't appear to come in a top cabinet grade finish.   We will kerf the wall, and then will cut out a window, then will wet the bendy plywood and mold the wall.      I'm sure with glue the kerfed wall will be very stable.  

I am presently conflicted on Oak vs. Cherry vs. Mahogany for the floors,  I will do a test in Oak veneer, but I think the grain is to 'strong' or visually prevalent and it is going to be out of scale, so I am hopeful this next weekend the first test for the Versailles floor will get cut.  Will test the oak first and then will also do a test in Cherry.  Cherry is my favorite, but I also bought mahogany veneer when I bought the oak, and can resaw and plane mahogany too as I have a couple of boards of mahogany and haven't misplaced it either.   My heart is set on oak, for some very strange reason, which I'm puzzled why my heart wants oak....  

Welcome LilBittyThings to the FMF!  Martha, it is great to see you here on the FMF.  You should post your build in progress...

 

[WeekendMiniaturist]

New thought....  maybe I should glue up a test wall, OUTLINE the window and use a glued up wall to create the plaster mold?  

 

 

[MeezerMama]

On 2/27/2023 at 10:20 PM, WeekendMiniaturist said:

If all else fails I think we can heat very thin plexi glass for the windows

If all else fails, you could vacuum form plastic for the windows.   Do not use polycarbonate if you can avoid it because it's difficult to prevent bubbles.  It's pretty easy to make a homemade vacuum former and heat the plastic in your kitchen oven. 

 

PS.  Hi Martha @Mesouth!   This is Chris M.

 

Edited March 3, 2023 by MeezerMama
Added tag.

[WeekendMiniaturist]

Maybe, we can cast clear resin window?    That would be really easy, uugg... but it isn't glass, but it might look like wavy glass.  I saved my glass from my 1916 house when we replace the life size double hungs... if we are using a kiln, that wavy glass is my end goal for this project.

I love the spirit of this modeling by suggestion process!

 

 

[MeezerMama]

I found this online: 

Quote

Early manufacture of glass involved single sheets of glass manufactured by a craftsman by blowing through a tube, resulting in tiny bubbles called seeds. As a result, glass produced in the 1700s tends to have more distortion than glass produced in the 1800s.

So maybe vacuum forming polycarbonate *would* give a more realistic appearance because the bubbles are typically tiny.  

We are all living vicariously through your build.     What a fantastic endeavor!

[WeekendMiniaturist]

I'll be purchasing the Plaster at Dick Blick and I can pick it up in person...in a couple of weeks during our short little road trip...  the 25 lb bag looks like a decent price; hard to believe that #1 pottery plaster is less expensive at an Art Supply Store then a pottery supplier.  Who would have thought that... 

I did go to the Dollar Tree store yesterday and bought a 8" x 10" picture frame and the glass is still thin... I will measure it with calipers soon to see if it is a consistent thin glass,  as the last batch.  I really need to see if I can cut glass with a glass cutter that is this thin.  I would prefer to use a diamond tipped awl kinda tool vs a normal glass cutter though for these ovals.  I'm thinking about how I can create a steel cookie cutter that will be tough enough to cut the glass into an oval shape after I pull it out of the kiln for a minute once it is soft.... I might be the only person on the planet, sleeping on the thought,  how I can make curved oval pieces of glass --- ummm... safely.  I only need 4 windows... that are curved and oval! 

[Mesouth]

Just catching up on my Forum reading. I have been enjoying this build vicariously as well! You may be the only person on the planet planning curved ovals of glass, but there are at least 2 of us thinking about it with you and cheering you on! If the cookie cutter idea doesn't work, could you sandwich the rectangular, but curved piece between the inner and outer wall?

I still have a bit more to add to furnish my current build or should I say rebuild. I have gutted and restructured a room box that suffered major sun damage over the span of 30 years, but there may be interest in the process.

Hi, Chris! I figured it was you.

[WeekendMiniaturist]

Hi Mesouth, ( ovals? no!!) oh yes they are oval windows in the inspiration.

My brain hurts now that you have reminded me they are ovals.  Instead of slumping the glass, I was thinking of putting huge wooden turning in the center of the glass chimney, and just cutting it with a glass cutter...?  NO slumping, just have to figure out how to do surgery on a glass candle chimney that is 6.5" diameter.  Time to go to all the resale shops in town and search for glass chimneys.  

 <Screech..> Perhaps this is a Bad idea,  so will go back to slumping glass in a mold; but I did manage to buy some plaster to make the mold in April 2023.  AND, I bought some more wood for the floors when I was at the Bishop show in Chicago, just in case I can't use the veneer that I purchased earlier this year for the floors.

Oh the dreams of a miniaturist!

The windows are the key; can't cut anything out until I figure out these curved walls, but I think after the windows are done, It will flow...  I could probably work on the floors, but I think it is easier to cut the walls and make sure the floor is properly centered before I start assembling the floor, as I know there is only one Versailles floor in this lifetime.

The Versailles wood floor seems to always be photographed in straight linear rooms... I am wondering what I should do with the floor around the curves of the interior 4 corners of the walls... do you think I should continue the over-the - top theme in this room and do some inlays?  I like the idea of doing a string inlay or some other kind of design, or could do a simple solid (boring?) border.

I was at Marc Adams School of Woodworking class last week, and one of the concurrent classes that other students was attending was decorative details, and that got the brain in motion, and the new need to learn about inlays details potentially for this project.  They were using the Stew Mac Router base in this class... so I may go back for the weekend class at MASW to learn more about it, and I purchased some video access to Scott Grove, too.

 

 

[WeekendMiniaturist]

Saturday, I was late for the petipointers Zoom call....  my  glued up 2x6 became 2x8 and now stacked and glued...

 

Sunday at 9:00 am was promptly standing at the lathe before the heat settles in the shop...

Chips were flying... I was wearing a mask, but could have really used a face shield.

About 3 hours later after measuring, turning, and remeasuring the diameter is consistent to 7.5" from left to right on the lathe spindle.

 

Testing the prototype wall for vs. the diameter of the turning.

The  approximate 7.5" diameter will be suspended in a box, after I figure out how to drill a hole in each side of it, and this will become the negative to create the mold to slump the glass.

Next to ponder how much the mold is going to shrink in firing... it is easier to make the structure diameter around that curved wall smaller... vs doing another turning.  A very smart miniaturist advised that I should slump the glass and then build the wall around the results.

I've only had that 2x6x8 for 2 weekends; that is the fastest I've ever brought a board home and turned it.  I am happy that I have spent all those hours at a metal lathe and cross slide and I understand how to measure a diameter for consistency from one end to the other.

And happy to know that I can even do this on full size wood lathe... my first large turning ever... just to make a mold!

 

[WeekendMiniaturist]

From MM, February 20, 2023 People typically fire a low fire slip clay to make slumping molds.   

Although low fire slip clay is an option, I decided to use porcelain as my largest kiln was purchased to fire miniature porcelain dolls from slip molds, and I feel like my pottery kiln is to small to fire the slump mold,  (it is important to not contaminate a kiln that is used to fire porcelain with other types of clay.)

I'm shrink wrapping the negative wood turning next and will slab and roll the porcelain clay and let it dry 1-2 weeks so I can fire it to a crisp 2300 degrees fahrenheit.

I will take pictures to post as time permits.