Rosedale: hinge the front & close the back?

[permutations]

I'm covered in saw dust, and so is my apartment. At least this time I had the foresight to cover the computers before I sanded. I have a small electric sander and, though it doesn't fit everywhere, it saves a lot of time.

I cut off the extraneous tabs, and now I'm filling the tab holes that will no longer be used with 1/8"x1/8" strips. There's very little torn wood, surprisingly. When I was doing the surgery, I kept repeating to myself, "Take your time, go slow." It helped. If I'd been impatient, I easily could have destroyed the dollhouse. What few tears there are, I'll correct with plastic wood.

FYI (in case anyone else wants to try converting the Rosedale to front-opening), there are no shortcuts to this. I had to have assembled the dollhouse in the usual way first, and then cut it, as I did. The kit pieces are cut and assembled in a certain way. I'm taking the assembled house and cutting it up differently.

[permutations]

I'm working on the size expansion now. I decided on 4" more on the right, 2" more in the back (depth), and 1" higher attic ceiling (from 6" to 7"). Mockups help me to see what it will look like (that the proportions, etc, work aesthetically), plus I need the mockup to cut out the extra wood (or cardboard templates, in the case of the attic). Some of the wood is basswood I purchased, and some is cut from the waste in the kit sheets.

 

I might partition the upstairs room - maybe add a storage closet for cleaning supplies. I've got an adorable sponge mop, a string mop, a metal bucket, a scrub brush, and two vacuum cleaners.

 

The expansion is much slower going than I anticipated. I have to cut out a lot of wood pieces, and it has to be very exact. There will be an additional window on both the first and second floor in the extra 4". I marked this on the outside, but you can't see it on the inside.

 

 

 

[havanaholly]

I like how your expansion keeps the lines of this pretty house.

[permutations]

When you look at the dollhouse from the front, the left side goes back a little, then more to the left into a bay. The part that goes back before the bay has an oval window. The external trim on this window and the edging below the roof block the left side from opening freely. I'll have to angle the parts that stick out so the left side of the front can open.

 

I still haven't figured out how the hinges will work on the front (though I've bought them). Because the wood is so thin, they can't be screwed in. I'll have to use a very strong glue instead.

 

Also, I need to stabilize the parts of the house that were previously stabilized by attaching to the front. The hardware store didn't have L-brackets that were small and thin enough. Maybe I can get them online, or perhaps I can add edging to the corners to brace things.

[permutations]

I like how your expansion keeps the lines of this pretty house.

 

I looked at pictures of real houses in this style, and followed that. They always have 3 floors (including the attic), they're always asymmetrical, the spacing of the windows isn't always perfectly even, etc.

 

It's going to take me a long time to do this - tons of careful measuring and cutting. I need to adjust my mind to that. It could take me a couple of weeks (since I also have to work). Bit by slowly, it will come together.

[havanaholly]

As I have belabored the point before, there is no deadline for a hobby.  In your case, all this extra time will result in a gorgeous setting for all your pretty furniture.

[permutations]

Yes, hobbies are about the process, not the endpoint. 

 

I have been focusing on getting the front to open, and I can't do that part until I finish the expansion, so I started thinking I wanted to hurry up and finish the expansion. Bad way to think about it - takes away all the fun. So I'll focus on the expansion, and when that's done, I'll do the next thing. It's all about enjoying the journey!

[permutations]

4" isn't enough. I need to expand the width 6". I'll put a divider on the second floor to make two rooms in addition to the bathroom. The attic will have a workshop, a laundry room, and the cleaning supplies (mops, etc.).

 

 

[Selkie]

Playing the devils advocate here with one other thing you might want to factor in as you expand your building.

Perhaps ask yourself if this is truly going to be your only building/house to display your collection, will you have enough extra space in it for your collection to continue to grow or will you be content to stop collecting because of lack of available space?

I looked in your album at all the lovely items you have collected and my sense is that you will be drawn to continue to seek other special items along the way.

[permutations]

I live in a very small apartment. There is barely room for one dollhouse - there will not be two. I'm planning to make and sell miniatures on eBay and/or Etsy, for creative entertainment and profit (perhaps).

 

I uploaded two more pictures of the expanded dollhouse - the gluing has begun!

 

 

[Sable]

The Dremel carbide blades don't shatter. I use them for cutting stone.

Oops, late for that party.

[permutations]

You can cut stone with a carbide blade?!

I'm going to need to cut holes for windows in the extension. I can use a convention drill to make a starter hole, then create the square with a jigsaw. Or I can use the carbide blade on the Dremel. I'm leaning towards the former because I can use a straight edge to guide the jigsaw (which I hope still works - hasn't been used for a while).

[Sable]

Actually, it's imbedded with diamonds.

http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Accessories/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=545

[permutations]

Cool! I'm using a different wheel, though. The one you linked to is 545. I'm using 543 (carbide cutting and shaping wheel). It's specifically for wood - doesn't say anything about diamonds.

 

http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Accessories/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=543

[Sable]

I have that one too. Yes, no diamonds on that one. I think rather than buying a lot of kits when I first started building, I spent all my money on tools. Everyone of them each has its purpose. I love my tools and all the different problems they can solve and the cool things I've created with them.

[permutations]

I also love tools (and also interesting materials), and have a lot of them. I've been building things since I was a kid. I was always getting into my father's workshop - it so fascinated me. My brother was a klutz - I (the girl) was the one who inherited my father's mechanical ability. But my father was a typical sexist man of his time (Mad Men era), and didn't want to teach the girl. He spent time with my brother, showing him how to do things. He never showed me anything - that was for father/son bonding, not father/daughter. So I figured out how to use the tools on my own. I remember I wanted to make a marionette and asked my father for advice on how to create the attachments. He said that what I wanted to do could not be done. But I went ahead and did it, and it worked great. I often used tools and materials in ways other than intended - not what they were made for. Perhaps it helped that no one told me what a tool "should" be used for.

 

After high school, I went to art school and majored in sculpture. A lot of tools are used in sculpture, and that's when I bought many of the tools I still have and use today, 40 years later. I've loved and collected miniatures since I was a small child, but I only started making them recently. That prompted another big outlay for tools - the Dremel with all kinds of attachments, razor saws, tiny clamps, etc. I often buy things without knowing exactly what I will use it for, then at some point it turns out to be exactly what I need. I use those little brass clamps from MicroMark all the time. In fact, I could use more. I have a little box with magnets for cutting perfect right angles that I've used in making mini furniture. Etc.!

 

I am so loving this dollhouse project. Being in the art supply stores reminds me of how I felt about arts and crafts when I was young - before art school ruined it for me. It feels like going back home again, after a long exile. It makes me happy.

 

 

[Sable]

My father had four daughters. One of my earliest memories was standing along side his workbench while he was hammering nails into something. I remember it hurt my ears. I was probably around four. Later he would say "Come here I want to show you how to do something" and I'd have to help change a tire or mix concrete or something like that. He came to visit last year and I got to show off all my tools and workbench to him.

[permutations]

That's beautiful - it's wonderful that your father and you could share that. My father was extremely sexist. He had one son and two daughters, and the only child he really cared about was his son. My brother got 100% of his attention, caring, and pride. He didn't really care what my sister and I did.

 

I ended up not using the Dremel to cut out the window holes. The utility knife was sufficient - I was able to cut a very clean hole.

[permutations]

One of the gadgets I bought at the art supply store this week is a syringe that I'm using for glue (though I think it's meant for paint). It cost $2, and it makes glue application 10x faster with much less waste. The additional panels for the expansion are going up very fast now. After I glue each edge, I reinforce it with artist's tape (acid-free) in the areas that are either going to be gesso'd white or hidden under flooring, siding, or shingles.

 

The expansion panels also support each other. I'm cutting them in a way that helps keep everything together - e.g., avoiding making joins symmetrical, horizontally or vertically, so a join on one side supports the join on the other. If both sides were joined the same way, it would make the addition weak - easily broken off at the seam. I think it will hold fine, and once it's finished (with gesso for the interior, and shingles/siding for the exterior), you won't be able to see the expansion panels at all.

[permutations]

The other thing I need to do is make a second stairway. It will be tedious to cut all those little shapes out of basswood, but it's do-able.

 

I've always been ambivalent about the bannister in the Rosedale. It looks fake - too simplistic. But on the other hand, the bannister in the house I used to own looked very much like that. It was made from square, rough-cut wood. Not every bannister has turned posts, etc. Maybe I'm bothered by it because it doesn't match the style of the rest of the house, which is more "turned wood" than rustic.

[havanaholly]

I have had reasonable results making banisters from cocktail pick handles and stripwood.

[permutations]

I was thinking about doing something similar. The main thing stopping me is how difficult it would be to cut off the existing bannister with the stairwell already assembled.

[permutations]

Steps to an attic are usually enclosed between two walls with the bannister (if any) screwed into one side. I can think of three full-size houses with a stairway to attic rooms, and they all look like that. Usually the stairway is narrower, too, but the main stairway in the Rosedale is already quite narrow.

[havanaholly]

If your staircase is set into place in the house You might need to use the kit version (unless you have one side flush with a wall, as suggested.  If the stairs can come out you can use a box lid or some other similar object for a jig to attach balusters and banister rail.

[permutations]

The problem is removing the kit bannisters when it's already assembled. I can't get a good angle to cut them off. New bannisters also would be hard to put in place, but cutting off the original ones is the harder problem.

The second staircase is not assembled (or even cut yet), so that's no problem.