Reducing to 1/4" scale for 1" scale can be very simple, if you can find the right thickness wood.  Just divide everything by 4.   The problem arises from things like 3/8" plywood (which is usually only 11/32" thick), either way, it doesn't divide nicely into a standard plywood size.   For 1/4" scale structures, I usually us 1/4" plywood for the floors, and 1/8" plywood for the rest of it.  This makes a very sturdy house, in which the floor and wall thickness are approximately to scale also.

From there on, it's just a matter of calculating.  Since I do everything on a CAD system, the recalculating merely consists of tell the system that the new units are 1/4 the size of the old units.   The computer will do the rest.

For windows, doors, etc, I use Grandt Line and I cut the holes with my computer controlled router, which is accurate enough to do the smaller scales.

Tom Berkner

Corrugated roofing: Noticed several postings from people looking for Corrugated metal roofing: I sell rolls of 2" wide plastic metal looking material that is corrugated. It would look great for a roof. Give me an email if you want more info. minilorrie@yahoo.ca

Lorna Harvey

Dovecote Park: http://www.joyperkins.com/myminiatures/dovecotepark.html The Gazebo was already made, which I purchased about a year ago, so I just painted it peach outside and white inside.... I added a wooden drawer knob to the top along with some additional, stained wood strips on the roof to give it a bit of dimension. All the little white flower pots are wooden, from Lee Valley Tools, and I painted them white. The tree is from Lemax, which I painted (cuz it was white for a winter scene). I made the two Grecian benches in the Gazebo and stained them a rich green with Saman stains. The dovecote is from a separate project book from the magazine Dollshouse and Miniature Scene. And as for all those flowers, it's all dried flowers, shoved into clumps and lumps of Fimo, then glued, then more glue slathered over that, then sprinkled tea leaves over it all. I don't think that will come apart ! LOL There are a couple of things I am happy with, one of which is the planter where the green foliage runs up the side and the roof of the gazebo. The planter is porcelain, from Connie Stitt, which I bought a few of at the MEM show last year. I mixed an indigo blue wood stain and a dark brown wood stain ... to the point where the 2 colours streaked together, and just sponged it over the container. Sometimes the things we fuss the least with, come out the best.

Joy in Pointe Claire

Cinder block veneer: try Precision Products; they have all sorts of shingles, bricks, cobblestones, etc. It comes in sheets about a foot square - and in a flat box marked "This is NOT a pizza"! - and is easily cut with scissors.

I don't have a web site for them, but the address is 763 Cayuga, Lewiston, NY 14092-1724. The catalogue is $3, but if you tell them what scale you want, they may be able to give you a price right off the bat.

Dani, in Bradshaw, MD

FORMICA SCRAPS: I discovered from a friend that some kitchen cabinet stores carry a product called Corian that can easily be cut with a Dremel table saw. It comes in many different shades of colors and is solid color through and through. My friend actually did some miniature spindles so that I could create front steps with a granite railing and balusters. You can sand it and polish it to a high luster with steel wool. And just like the Formica, you can normally get some good sized "chunks" for free out of the scrap bin at the store.

George - Cedar Rapids, IA

Cutting Formica: I use my 4" Dremel table saw with a carbide blade to cut Formica (also acrylic sheeting). Put masking tape on top & bottom of where you want to cut, prevents chipping.
I get scraps of Formica at a local custom cabinet shop. I've picked up four or five 2 ft X 3 ft sheets and the man will say "just a dollar or two". I've used it for flooring in kitchens and bathrooms. Also for kitchen counter tops. To cut out the opening for a sink on the counter top, I use my small scroll saw.

Ruth

Cutting Formica: Saw this on HGTV and have never done it myself, but... they scored & cut it from the back and also taped the beginning & end cut ( just off to the inside of where the blade will be). He said this prevents the chipping on the initial & final cut. Filed the idea away for a future project.

Leslie Hampton

I started staining the cedar shingles for my dh this morning. I am not one who cares to use much in the way of oil based stains or paints, so I tried mixing up a batch of my own using water based products. I made a stain "bath" using acrylic paints, faux finishing glaze, and water. Dipped a few shingles, patted off the excess and let them dry. Worked great! And, after every few batches of shingles, I added a little more paint to change the color just a bit, this way, all of the shingles won't be exactly the same color. Worked like a charm!

Sloan

Hard Woods: another source for hardwoods is Fowler's Miniatures in Wood, Sherry Fowler-Pendergraft, 18175 Blue Tent School Rd., Nevada City, CA 95959. the phone number is 530-478-9819. They cut all kinds of exotic woods, and have been at the Good Sam show for 4 of the past 5 years. I suspect they could cut whatever you want. Tell 'em I sent you.

Barb Jones

Hard Woods: An excellent California source of wood , including many exotic woods is Fowler's Miniatures, Sherry Pendergraft and Harold Fowler. Their address is: Fowlers Miniatures in Wood, Sherry Pendergraft, 18175 Blue Tent School Rd, Nevada City CA 95959, Phone: 530- 478-9819

They are the source for all of our wood, other than the walnut and cherry that we get from Dee's.

Sharon Stockton

Wood for Scratch Built Dollhouses: I prefer using Baltic Birch 7 ply plywood; it is normally used in cabinetry - nice on both sides, 3/8" thickness, comes in a 5 foot x 5 foot sheet. There are never any holes in the center part like other plywood we've used. We order it from our local lumber yard - it has to be special order, as they do not keep it on hand. I am currently building a 20 room Victorian, and I am finding this plywood to be very sturdy. Price here in CA is approximately $26 per sheet.

Marjorie in CA

Hard Woods: where can you purchase hardwoods, as cherry, walnut, mahogany, rosewood? This is true caliper scale 1/32, 1/16, etc. My web site http://www.dollhouse-miniatures.com

Tom Berkner

Hard Woods: when I did furniture restoration work, I came across a wood supplier in Louisville who has all kinds of beautiful woods for us to work with and is a doll himself! he has exotic woods in small sizes, cabinet grade plywood with regular or exotic face woods, flexible veneers and woods in all kinds of thickness’. He will sell plywood in 16" x 32" size and along with rosewood, he has tulip wood, Mediterranean olive, black wood, ebony and basswood and others. he also sells boxes of remnants! name is: Bob Morgan Woodworking Supplies, 1121 Bardstown Road, Louisville, KY 40204, phone: 502-456-2545 fax: 502-456-4752 email: info@morganwood.com, http://www.morganwood.com

Kathy in Kentucky

Scale Lumber: We purchase rough cut full scale lumber and I mill it to any thickness for Smaller Than Life and a few customers. We specialize in quarter sawn cherry in any thickness and often reduce rosewood, mahogany, walnut, hard maple and poplar. We purchase basswood from the trade milled to size. Quarter sawn cherry is not ordinarily available in miniature thicknesses and its grain is much preferred by miniaturists. If you want us to quote on any of these species at any thickness e-mail me your requirements and we will give you price and delivery information. Because of the hassle of handling and shipping we have a minimum order. There may be a lead time on some species and sizes. Boards are usually 24 inches long and between 2 and 4 inches wide. Size on some species like rosewood vary considerably. We are also willing to quote on other species if they are available to us. http://www.nh.ultranet.com/~smallife

Pete Boorum, On Sebbins Pond, Bedford, NH

Gluing plastic bricks: I have used plastic bricks and glued them with Elmer's carpenter glue.

Carol

Scale windows: I made the open/close windows for my Newport dh. I went to the hobby store where they have the large cardboard box of different sizes of balsa wood. It is a large tall box with sections. Each section has strips of different sized wood in it. First figure out what sizes you will need and then you can buy the strips at perhaps 3 feet long by 1/16" or 3 feet long by 2/32". Make a jig for cutting the pieces to the exact length each and cut all of them. Then assemble into window frames. I use the Butyrate sheets found at http://www.micromark.com for the "glass

Barbara D

PLASTIC vs GLASS WINDOWS: Certainly a decision with advocates on both sides. Hope I don't rankle feathers (these are OPINIONS and only MY opinions at that). Plastic materials work with most manufactured windows frames/sashes. The plastic is easy and safe to work with. It will dull and probably discolor with time. You must be extremely careful when cleaning these windows to minimize accumulated microscopic scratches which eventually dull/fog the windows. Most plastics become fragile with age and exposure to sunlight. NET ASSESSMENT: Fine for a personal, play dollhouse. Less desirable as a choice for what you hope will become a family heirloom to be kept for generations to come.

Glass windows are harder and glossier, less vulnerable to maintenance damage, discolor only with GREAT age and then to very charming blue and green tints (vs. browns and yellows for plastics). There is a safety concern working with glass but, with care, it is easy to cut, widely available, and inexpensive. You will probably have to make your own frames/sashes but this is not such a terribly difficult project and it gives you a lot more freedom than being limited by "available offerings" of size and style.

There is no need to use specialized (expensive) "thin" glass for windows if the edges are not visible. Blackening the edges of cut glass before assembling into sashes will perfectly hide even the most outlandish thickness from detection. If I ever get a day off to get back to my miniatures, I plan to assemble a booklet for easy to build windows using 1/16" "picture frame" - single strength glass. Until then - here goes for a kwikee verbal on double hung sashes. Cut 1/32" thick stripwood for the vertical portions of the frame. Two (1.32" thick) should be full length (i.e., top to bottom of BOTH the upper and lower sash). These will be the interior frames of the upper sash and exterior frame of lower. Cut and fit horizontal members at top, bottom and middle. Use 1/16 X 1/16 stripwood for the following edging. On one side of the rectangle built so far, consider the face you are looking at as the "exterior". Strip across the top edge of the top horizontal (all the way - extend to also cross top edge of vertical members) Strip across bottom edge of MIDDLE horizontal. Flip your frame over to look at the "interior". Strip across the bottom edge of the bottom horizontal and top edge of middle horizontal.

Now you have a place to set glass between the 1/16 X 1/16 pieces. Cut glass to fit both exterior and interior boundaries (almost all the way out to edges of vertical members). Paint the glass edges with flat black enamel. Set into place and attach with a couple tiny spots of super glue.

Cut and attach 1/32" thick vertical members for external top sash and internal bottom sash. Likewise, cut and attach 4 horizontal members.

This is a very simplified description for a basic double hung sash but I hope it conveys the basic idea. Make a couple "basics" to get familiar with the idea and then start looking at how you can "complicate the issue" with decorative milled edges on the wood and such. These windows are easiest to build in an assembly frame of scrap wood the size and shape of the opening they will fill. I suggest painting the wood inside and out before actually placing the glass. NOTE: Some sources of glass have single strength which is slightly larger than 1/16" thick. Measure closely before buying. Likewise, make sure the 1/16 X 1/16 wood is AT LEAST as thick as the glass and preferably a few 1/000ths thicker.

Mel Koplin, LV

Sheets of bricks & stones: Hobby Builder's Supply catalog has them also on their website at: http://www.miniatures.com

They offer plastic brick sheets 7" x 11" (item # 0016) and pebble (item # 0011) and fieldstone (item # 0018) sheets that are 7" x 24". I just used the pebbled sheets for the flooring in my garden shop. They all come plain tannish gray. . . and you paint them however you want.

John Medeiros

Beginners: what to start with -: if you're just starting out and don't yet feel comfortable with the tools/skills to work in wood, why not try experimenting with cardboard first? Kaye especially, even if the results aren't perfect your daughter will still find it play-worthy. If you feel too inexperienced to design your own plans, there's a book called Building Cardboard dollhouses by Jeff Millstein which has several styles and complete patterns. It's out of print but www. bn.com has several copies and probably Amazon does too. That will give you experience with the basic principles of construction that will carry through to more durable materials.

Loretta. Sniarowski

Jacqui in Hilo, Hawaii