Miniature Flooring: I have seen some hardwood floors on miniatures web sites, where the gaps between the wood strips are minuscule, but noticeable nonetheless. I recently installed the floor in my room box, and I found a solution. I used the flooring made up of 1/4" oak strips adhered to some type of backing, and I couldn’t stand the gaps. So... I used wood filler - the stainable type - to fill all the gaps. I used a putty knife to spread the filler all across the floor (going with the grain, of course). I then used the putty knife to remove as much excess as possible. After it dried completely, I sanded it completely smooth with various grits of sandpaper, and then stained it golden oak. I used three thick coats of polyurethane for the finish, and sanded with 0000 steel wool between coats. It looks great, there are no gaps, and the filler isn’t the least bit noticeable. If you plan on staining the floor a darker color, do a test first, to see how well the filler takes the stain, and if it would be noticeable.

Jonathan in Israel

How to Mitre / Miter:

1)   Hold your molding up to the wall - see which face of the molding is going to go against the wall. Draw  a pencil line all along this face - then always, but always put the marked face against the back of your mitre box.

2)   When you measure where your mitre is going to be, make a small diagonal line in the direction that you need to cut - this will save you from getting confused when moving back & forth to your mitre box.

3)   Unless you are using a piece of molding that is identical on either side of the mid-line, you will need to make a "waste mitre" each time you have cut a "real" mitre - in other words, when you have made a left to right cut you will need to make a right to left cut and "waste" a little piece of wood before you can go back to making your next left to right cut.

Lesley, Johannesburg, South Africa

Beaded Siding: Perhaps I can help with your problem. I carry Northeastern products in my shop so I went to take a look. They have "beaded" clapboard siding. The 3/8" is in 1" scale and is their number 387. But I think what you are looking for is what they call "bead & board siding". This has a flat strip about 1/4" wide with a "bead" in between the strips. This usually goes vertically on the interior wall for old-fashioned knotty pine paneling. Their number for this is 385. Hope this helps some! Any miniature shop can order this for you

Marlene

Double Beading: If you look closely at my photopoint http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1507950&a=11387125 shot of the Southwestern hutch (I know there's a Spanish name for that piece, but it escapes me at the moment...) you'll notice a bit of bead work on the edges. An easy trick to create that, and Laurie, maybe this could solve your problem? Take a 3/16" or 1/4" dowel, and drill into the end of it, making a pilot hole for a screw. Screw a small wood screw, the kind that countersink with an inverted cone head. The screw _must_ require a flat-head screwdriver, _not_ a phillip's head, and also the head must be a bit smaller than the dowel. This is now a scratch tool. Screw the screw into the end of the dowel the just until the sharp edge, which is the top of the screw's head, is the same distance from the tip of the dowel as the thickness you want to make the bead on the wood. Place the _dowel tip_ against the edge of the work piece. The screw is hanging over and resting on the work piece, and the screw _slot_ should be perpendicular to the work piece. Now apply pressure downward onto the work piece with the screw head, draw it carefully toward yourself while keeping the dowel tip in contact with the edge of the work piece. Now watch the bead appear in the work piece, always exactly parallel to the edge of the work piece. You will need to scratch it back and forth a few times for deeper beads.

Dave Pierce

Shellac: Minwax Polyurethane is NOT "the same thing as shellac." Shellac is alcohol-based and is thinned with denatured alcohol. Minwax Polyurethane is oil-based and is thinned with mineral spirits. For some strange reason sales people in paint departments will tell you they are the same thing. They are used for similar purposes but they are not the same thing at all.

SUSAN AT THE WRH

Shellac: For those that are looking for shellac. The person who was told that Minwax Polyurethane is the same as shellac was given totally wrong information. Shellac comes in two types; clear and orange. It is thinned with wood alcohol. If you're looking to use it as a sealer, start with a 50/50 mixture of shellac and alcohol. In a good paint store you should be able to buy both types. Use the clear, also called white. Polyurethane is very similar to varnish and is used to provide a final finish. It is usually available in both satin and glossy finish. Another good product for final finish is Deft which is very similar to polyurethane and is also available in both satin and glossy.

Garry Cosine

Shellac: Min-Wax is not shellac. Shellac is a natural product made from little bugs (don't laugh). Minwax is a plastic product that does not give you any thing like a shellac finish. If you want shellac try Constantine's at 1-800-223-8087. They will send you a catalog, too, if you ask.

Part number for a pint, clear SH308; Amber SH708. my catalog is a couple of years old but the price then was $5.45 for a pint. There are also other types of shellac in the catalog. Lots of other great stuff too.

Bill Hudson

Shellac: When the person at Home Depot said polyurethane is the same as shellac he probably meant that you can use it interchangeably with shellac. This may be true in most home improvement but it is not true in wood finishing. Think of it as using molasses to substitute for honey. They are both sweeteners but you won't get the same result. You can purchase amber shellac from any good woodworking catalog in dry form and mix it with denatured alcohol (ethanol). http://shop.woodcraft.com and search for shellac. You can also buy white (clear) shellac at a good paint or hardware store.

Pete Boorum

Staining End Grains: I will give you our tip on end grains, this is part of our talk at our theme luncheon at National NAME in Louisville in July. Sand the ends with fine grit sandpaper--220 or 280 grit. This way, less stain will soak in the wood. Another thing that you can do is apply a wash coat of the stain first, this will give less penetration of the stain. This can be a thinned down version of the finish or a wood conditioner. We use only Minwax products. Gel stains are SUPPOSED to work, we do not use those. This will work to reduce blotching also. Remember the trick is sanding!

Carroll H. Elmer

Scale Cabinetmaker: In case anyone else has problems cutting the wood pieces for the furniture in any of the Dorsett books, with the odd measurements given..... The drawings in all of their books are actually patterns. You can copy or scan and print them, draw around them, and then cut the wood. I should have thought of that when Dolores first mentioned it, but it's one of those simple-minded things you don't think of. (I've been using their books since the first blue one in the big format - still have four or five of those.) I think the first one mentioned that the drawings are actual patterns somewhere in the foreword - I was so anxious to start making something that I didn't read that part until after I had struggled with several pieces.

Nancy in Indiana