Sunday, November 12, 2017

I Found My Wire!

Well, I found some of my wire. God knows where the rest of it got to.  But luckily the wire I did find was bronze-ish/copper and a decent gauge so it worked for what I wanted.

I also found a couple of little eyelets.  I think that's what they're called, the little screw ins with circles on the ends?  Whatever they are, I found a couple that would work in my stash of beads and stuff.

After some eyeballing and measuring I figured out where I need to screw the eyelets into the ladder.  Then got my wire bent/shaped to the right length and size and screwed holes into the floor and loft edge for the wire track to go into.

I would like to say that my normal procedure would be to put the wire in with glue, then curse because I forgot to attach the ladder first.  Thankfully I skipped that step this time around and managed to get the ladder on the wire track before the final glue was in.  Yay me.

So here's the finished product.



I did clean up the extra glue afterwards so there won't be random splotches of it on my loft floor.

The ladder stands up pretty well when it has the loft to brace against so I'm pleased.  And when it comes down it won't hit the sliding door of the bathroom either. Yay.

I found some pretty shampoo and body wash bottles on Etsy, in Stephanie Scott's shop, and I really like how they look.  Not name brand but our home owner is more the organic shampoo type anyway.



Not bad right?  I might add a little jar of bath salts to hide behind the shower curtain, just for fun and because I'll know it's there.  We'll see.  I've got some stuff to make a loofah too which is another project for today.

The major project for Saturday was the front porch pillars.  So I started with mortar for the stone.


And while that dried I started on the cap and tapered columns.  I made the cap from some mitered wood of the same width as the wainscoting lip.


Then a little step up detail to the cap, which I widened a bit more with some strip wood.


Because I noticed on a lot of the Craftsman houses I've seen there's a squared base and then the tapered columns begin after the trim and I'd inadvertently made my little step up the same width as my tapered column base.


The tapered columns were a bit tricky but the website I found, actually a blog, was super helpful. I don't know if Mr. Katz ever thought he'd be helping miniaturists build their dollhouses but his blog is excellent.

The trick is determining your base width and your top width and then centering your top measurement over your base with the length/height of your column in the middle.  Then you cut from point to point.  I started with an inch and a quarter and cut that in half for my top width.  That's for the front and back. The sides you need to remove the width of the boards you're using. 1/8 bass and balsa in my case.  So your side column pieces are narrower.  Then you sandwich them together and glue.  And tape.  And pray.

Then you test fit.  With tape still in place with the glue dries so I could untape and make adjustments if I needed to.


I had to do some sanding and then I started adding trim to the base of the tapered column.


And then to the top of the columns. Otherwise they look unfinished to me.


Before I painted I went over everything with wood putty to fill in any little cracks and to smooth things out.

And waiting for that to dry was a pain but I managed.

Sanding and paint.  And glue them into place.


 And I added the trim to the top of the porch so it looks more finished.


Voila! The porch is pretty much done.

I have a doorknocker that I'm waiting on to arrive, and a mailbox to put up but apart from some plants that's pretty much it.

Here's a question for you, should the columns have a wooden cuff around the bottom of the stone?  Something in white to echo the white columns above it?

Here's a few pics with the wood raw just to give you an idea.



Not so great pictures off my phone but you get the idea.  It just feels like the stone needs some transition to the wood porch floor.  Does that make sense?

I also need to measure for a base so I can have some landscaping and something solid for the whole thing to go on.

So that was my entire Saturday and my Sunday morning folks.  What do you think?  And what have the rest of you been up to?

Oh! Also we've gotten the go ahead from the insurance company to get everything repaired from the water damage.  And won't that be fun to pay for the remainder with our deductible but hopefully it'll start getting rebuilt this week.  Yay! Doors on my cabinets and shelves inside again.  Very exciting.


26 comments:

  1. Hi Sheila. The columns look great! I really love how they’ve turned out, very authentic. I don’t like the wood around the base of the stone. I don’t think it’s needed and will make a visual block between the floorboards and the stone. But that’s just my opinion! Have a great week.

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    1. Thanks! That's why I'm asking, I'm not sure and I want to see what the rest of you think.

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  2. hi sheila, that looks like quite some progress you made. The ladder looks like a real engineering job ;-)... well done. ans I agree with shannon: no wood around the base of the columns. Keep it up and glad that the insurance paid up.. at least part of it..

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    1. Thanks! It was a lot work but I'm really pleased with how the ladder and porch turned out.

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  3. Hello! The ladder is really great! The bathroom too, the little bottles add to the realism very much :-). About the columns: it looks very good as it is now :-).

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    1. Thank you! I'm really excited about the bathroom being nearly done. Yeah I worked so hard on the columns that I'm wondering if I'm just hesitant to say they're done.

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  4. Nice job on the tapered columns, hon. Wow! The Loft ladder turned out really great too. Impressive!

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    1. Thank you! They literally took all day Saturday to do. Nice that they turned out all right. The ladder really worried me but it worked pretty well too.

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  5. The tapered columns are great. I looked up the link and was able to see what a great job you've done on them. The ladder too is fantastic and the bathroom looks live-in.
    Hugs, Drora

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    1. Thank you! Those columns took forever but they were worth in in the end. I was really glad the ladder worked out as well as it did.

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  6. The tapered columns are great work and I agree with others: no wood around the base of the columns. Thanks for sharing the link! I like the ladder to the loft, it's impressive work. The bathroom looks wonderful, the bottles are great additions.
    Ilona

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    1. Thanks! I'm going to glue a few more things in and then I think the bathroom is done!

      General consensus seems to be no wood around the column bases and that's fine with me because it means they're finally done!

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  7. The project is looking great. The ladder is neat, but the tapered columns are fantastic. My vote would be for a stone base around the column. Keep up the good work - Troy

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    1. Thank you! I'm not sure what I worried about more, making sure the ladder worked or that the columns were accurate.

      Everyone seems to be of the opinion that I should leave the stone alone. Which works out because I'm not sure I want to mess with it anymore.

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  8. Hi Sheila! I love your columns, they look very authentic. I can see that all your hard work has paid off as the result is fantastic. Love the ladder too, it´s so original and yet real. Have a nice week :)

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    1. Thanks! It is very nice to have all the worrying and mental gymnastics rewarded!

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  9. Hi Sheila! Well Done on the two columns; They look GREAT! You have all my sincere admiration for tackling a job like that from scratch.
    I also commend you on the ladder- once again, your engineering and construction skills are Superb! BRAVO! :D

    elizabeth

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    1. Thank you! I was so pleased with how they turned out. And really relieved both they and the ladder worked!

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  10. I always love getting to this point in your fabulous builds. All your creative ideas and innovative solutions begin to come together capturing my pure excitement! I am sending out enthusiastic high fives on the ladder and the skillfully constructed columns - Inspiring Sheila!

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    1. Thanks so much! I have furniture and cushions to make and then I think its just the finishing touches... like art for the chimney wall. Maybe I can make a big clock or something... hmm...

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  11. Hi Sheila! You aced it with the tapered columns!!! They look great and are such a distinguishing feature on the house! Bravo!!! I think the stone columns should not have a cuff... like the foundation itself... because the bases echo the foundation. As for the folding ladder... another really original detail that Works fabulously!!! And now you are getting to the stage where all the tiny pieces like the shampoo bottles really make the "story" come alive! Great Additions!!! I can't wait to see more!

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    1. Thank you! I'm really excited to have the columns done and that the ladder works! It even stands up and stays standing when braced against the loft floor. It wouldn't do that before I attached it.

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  12. Sheila, your columns are awesome! Very authentic. I love them just the way they are. I agree with everyone, no wooden cuff required. :)
    Your folding ladder is a stroke of genius too. A wonderful moving detail.. Who doesn't love those little surprises in a mini build. :) Great work! I'm looking forward to the next installment.

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    1. Thank you! I'm in agreement with everyone else, no wooden cuff on the bottom. I need to do a bit of woodputty around the top so it doesn't look like there's a gap between the columns and the porch ceiling but they're pretty much done.

      You have no idea how much I worried over that ladder. I'm so glad it works!

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  13. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who uses real size tutorials for miniatures! I used a stair calculator online to do my floating staircase, and it was a lifesaver! What a lot of time and effort that saved me!

    I really love the way your posts turned out. I have a soft spot for Craftsman architecture and this is just so darling!

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    1. Thank you! I use real life stuff all the time because its so much easier to find!

      Those posts were painstaking but worth it in the end.

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