Construction: corner joints of walls

[JuniperJenny]

I'm a fan of freezer paper myself. It's waxed so stuff doesn't stick to it, and it comes in truly massive rolls. And you can use it to put a casserole in the freezer. Which is nice.

[havanaholly]

Freezer paper is also excellent for printing on fabric; iron your fabric onto the shiny side of the freezer paper, cut it to fit through your printer, and have at it!

[Ravenswing]

For your next build I would forego the Gorilla Glue. Although it is an excellent glue and holds things together forever, (wonderful for RL household items like furniture or "hard to hold" together things made of metal etc.) it tells you right on the bottle that it expands as it cures. Without the proper clamping it will invariably push your walls apart and force things to be misaligned. And, if you use too much of it in any joint you will find yourself filing /sanding for hours to eliminate the excess glue as it is NOT easily removed.

A better choice for a dollhouse build would be one of the more conventional wood glues (yellow glues) like Elmers or Dap. They hold just as well and will not expand when dry. Everyone should have clamps, the more the better...but with the more conventional glues a good quality masking tape is usually all you need to hold your joints together while the glue dries, and it saves you the expense of getting a lot of clamps all at one time and trust me, unless you find a sale the better clamps can be expensive.

[KathieB]

I use parchment paper! Almost nothing sticks to it, except silicone products (like my mold putty). You can use it over and over again, like Holly's wax paper.

I use a cap from an old water bottle. It's smooth inside, no threads. When I'm finished for the day, I leave the toothpick standing in the glue. By the next morning, the glue has set enough that it pulls right out of the cap, using the toothpick as a handle. I often use my utility or X-acto knife to cut away the glue and put a new point on the toothpick, so it's ready to go again.

I find that if I put a puddle of glue on something, sooner or later I'm bound to put my hand or something else into it.

[mesp2k]

For gluing walls together I place a 2" square block of wood (with freezer paper glued to it) at the inside corner of the walls, glue the edges of the walls, then use (4) C-clamps & masking tape to hold it all together.

I've been wanting to get these clamps. They come in 5", 8" & 12". They allow you to get into impossible places.

[Ravenswing]

Mike, I want new clamps soooo badly!I'd love to have some that are long enough to span the houses I build from one side to the other so I can get the front and both side walls up, square and plumb all at the same time. Unfortunately all the ones I've seen so far are for RL use and are much to big and heavy (they'd crush the house if you tried to use them.) The others are too small ( pretty expensive for their size) and are made for putting DH furniture together. Have you seen any light weight ones like the ones I described that could span a DH without the weight?

[Ravenswing]

Oh Snap! I just took a quick look at your blog and stopped to come back here and ask...Where did you get this kit? I've never seen a dollhouse like this one! I LOVE THE STUD CONSTRUCTION! Oh Mike, Mike, Mike...you my dear have been holding out! Where in the world did you get this beauty? Dude, come on, you have GOT to share this, LOL. And if you say you're making these kits yourself and have not been telling it, you are in such big, HUGE trouble! I want one!

[mesp2k]

Oh Snap! I just took a quick look at your blog and stopped to come back here and ask...Where did you get this kit? I've never seen a dollhouse like this one! I LOVE THE STUD CONSTRUCTION! Oh Mike, Mike, Mike...you my dear have been holding out! Where in the world did you get this beauty? Dude, come on, you have GOT to share this, LOL. And if you say you're making these kits yourself and have not been telling it, you are in such big, HUGE trouble! I want one!

Thanks! Its mostly scratch-built. Judith where've been? http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/\html\style_emoticons\/original.gif' alt=':)'> I started it back in April > see GL topic

[mesp2k]

Have you seen any light weight ones like the ones I described that could span a DH without the weight?

Yeah those 48" parallel jaw clamps are pricey - they're the lightest ones I know of tho?

If you use the C-clamp method you can still do a front & 2 walls with the deep throat C-clamps. Also use masking tape on the corners (not shown.)

You need to support it correctly too:

[Ravenswing]

Thanks! Its mostly scratch-built. Judith where've been? http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/\html\style_emoticons\/original.gif' alt=':)'> I started it back in April > see GL topic

April? APRIL! Oh it's on now! You've been doing this since April and I don't know about it? Oh that will never do. Are you still working out the kinks or are these little beauties for sale? I love that it goes up, rather than out, and the stud construction.....be still my heart :wub: I've been wanting to do a house with the wall studs exposed in places but figured I just muck up a lot of perfectly good lumber trying to get the pieces to fit and look right. I want one!

[Ravenswing]

AND you can pack it away??? Dude you are just 5 kinds of wrong for not advertising this all over the place. I'm on this stupid forum at least 5 days a week and I never saw it. I'm all over the internet, all over ebay looking for dollhouses...something different, something new - and here you have one right under my nose and I miss it. I want you to understand that this highly upsets my shopping sensibiliteis, I probably won't be able to shop for at least a week - if I had a fainting couch I'd take to it right now just to regroup. April. Since April....(walks away mumbling to self....April...who knew?)

[havanaholly]

Judith, you just missed the post. I get long bar clamps when Harbor Freight puts them on sale. I use stacks of bookd to support their weight when I clamp the walls with them. I also pick up the packages with the the plastic pads for the clamp ends to protect the wood.

[Ravenswing]

No, I saw it Holly, but I don't want the big heavy ones they give too much pressure and my space is limited, I don't want to have to bring other items onto the work table to prop them up. my books just wind up mucky that way.

[havanaholly]

Mike, we hit a Harbor Freight today after lunch and they had some of the parallel jaw clamps in different sizes, so I picked up a couple to try. Sorry, Judith, they are also HEAVY!

[mesp2k]

Mike, we hit a Harbor Freight today after lunch and they had some of the parallel jaw clamps in different sizes, so I picked up a couple to try. Sorry, Judith, they are also HEAVY!

Hope you got a good price Holly. If you use a square & proper supports on the dollhouse - you can use heavy parallel clamps. Instead of a square or blocks of wood at the corners you could use 90 degree angled aluminum. I'm using some 2" x 2" x 1/8" pieces.

Hi Heather hope you're busy gluing walls together - any progress pics yet?

[Ravenswing]

Mike I went back and checked and I didn't see an email from you. Can you send it again? scottj_14337@ hotmail dot com.

[mesp2k]

Mike I went back and checked and I didn't see an email from you. Can you send it again? scottj_14337@ hotmail dot com.

Email sent

[mesp2k]

Mike, I want new clamps soooo badly!I'd love to have some that are long enough to span the houses I build from one side to the other so I can get the front and both side walls up, square and plumb all at the same time. Unfortunately all the ones I've seen so far are for RL use and are much to big and heavy (they'd crush the house if you tried to use them.) The others are too small ( pretty expensive for their size) and are made for putting DH furniture together. Have you seen any light weight ones like the ones I described that could span a DH without the weight?

Hey Judith, check out how Boyd [ApeDolly] uses corner clamps! Maybe these can work for you?

[Joyrene10]

So many good ideas, you have me confused but I will have to get something when I get to the upstairs of the Stony Maggie as I am going to fit a bathroom between the two rooms as the set of furniture that I was given for Christmas has an old fashioned 'thunderbox' toilet which will only fit in the middle of the house because of the sloping ceilings. Problems to come I think!!!

[havanaholly]

Joy, you can put an old fashioned thunderbox in either bedroom if you're going for period; or you can cut a door into the back of the staircase and make your door cutout into a door for the under-stairs loo and put the t-box in there.

[More Minis Dollhouses]

I always clamp with masking tape and am able to get a good tight bond. If all of your tabs are in their slots, completely, then i suppose the cracks your describing are not too bad. Small cracks in wall joints can be ignored for the most part because your wallpaper will fold over them, covering them completely. Wallpaper mucilage is also very strong when dry, so it will seap into these cracks and re-inforce the structure.

If the cracks are wider

[More Minis Dollhouses]

then you can always use spackle. Baseboards and crown moulding work well for any small cracks between walls and floors or walls and ceilings.

[havanaholly]

If there are small gaps after I've glued my corners I pop in a couple of heavy duty staples and get out the lo o ong bar clamps.

[klaviergoddess]

Holly, do you have any pictures of your stapling? I'd like to see how you position them.

[havanaholly]

Not that would show up in the pictures I take. I just position them more or less evenly along the edge, two to each floor (or so). It's the bar clamps that do the main job. This is not all stuff I figured out on Day One, BTW.