HOM kits. I agree about staining first. I had great success with the bachelor chest, my first piece. The second piece I glued, then stained and it worked out just fine, too (a half round table-cherry). Then I tried experimenting and glued, sealed then stained the hutch and bookcase top and I don't like it AT ALL. I think it will get painted now.

Peggy in Madison

When to stain/House of Miniatures clock kit: I'm in the process of putting the clock together as we speak! You are talking about the grandfather clock, correct? My process of assembly, thus far has been: Check all the pieces are present
Sand as needed
Glue as directed ( I used Aleene's tacky glue--in the gold bottle.)
Wipe any excess glue as this will interfere with staining as well as appearance.
Sand if needed.
Stain ( I used Minwax stain) The pieces that don't show and are to be glued do not need to be stained.
Sand again. With fine sand paper--You don't want to sand away all the stain.
Wipe pieces with tack cloth or any cloth to get rid of sanding dust.
Apply glossy coat of polyurethane (I used Minwax Fast-drying Polyurethane). Note follow the directions on the products whether to be stirred, shaken, or neither. This particular polyurethane is ready to go after you open the can.

Things I've learned with this kit:Now, if you note, some of the parts of the clock will need to be stained and polyurethaned prior to insertion of the inner workings of the clock--if you don't stain them first it will be difficult to do so after the pieces are in. Also, I would not stain and polyurethane the back side of the clock until the inner part is done and the top part of the clock is glued on.

Nursemini

HOM kits: While going through several kidney procedures last summer, I was assigned to the couch for a few months. During that time, I experimented with sev of the HOM kits, to see what assembly worked the best.

I would suggest the following:

I found that if you stain and seal after you glue there will be many places thatyou will miss getting the finish you desire, and you risk leaving glue residue on that will not take the stain.

Many projects can be worked on at once, as my coffee table was proof of that. I kept a separate tray for each ongoing kit, with the box on each so I could see at a glance which was which. The only 'human' in the house that didn't like my taking over table with all these projects was the cats. (any horizontal surface is their territory!). The kids liked it, cause they didn't have to fetch so many things for me, and didn't hear me WHINE as long as I had something to do with my hands and mind!

Lisa Lynn

Frosted glass: I would like to say that the glass to put in the hutches can be made by using the vellum paper. The kind used in scrap booking. It works well.

Shirley Wheeler

Scale Cabinetmaker: As far as I know all the patterns are given in full-sized inches and feet and you need to use a scale ruler to scale them down, but the drawings, as Nancy pointed out, are in scale and can be used as patterns just as they are. The other measurements given are for the thickness’ of the wood and they are given in thousands of an inch so .0833 refers to 1" in scale, or 3/32" thick wood. If the sofa is 6" long then it is 6' in full size and so on.

June in London Ontario Canada

Cheap Hutches: try using ribbon to "curtain" the hutch; with wired ribbon, you can Fraycheck the ends and glue a length inside the open space in the doors. Looks great with one of the metal mesh or open weave ribbons. It would be pretty difficult to make gathered curtains fit -- the fabric bulk would prevent the doors from closing, although if you cut matchsticks or skewers the width of the openings, made curtains with top and bottom casings , slipped the curtains inside the casings and glued the sticks into the openings, that might work.

Loretta.Sniarowski

Removing the shine: for the lady who asked about taking the shine off inexpensive furniture. I have done some of mine with a couple of very thin coats of watered down pva. That took the shine off then i painted over the top of that and then sealed the item

Sharon

Catalog site: http://www.mackenzie-childs.com   which if you're not familiar with the company, is rather like Mary Engelbreit on steroids -- and incredibly pricey, too.   Very whimsical, multi-patterned painted finishes, chunky shapes.  It all looks like it should be miniature anyway! Folks like me who enjoy customizing cheap wood furniture and Michaels hutches will particularly like the faux paint ideas for the armoires and tables.

Loretta.Sniarowski

Reference resource for DIY Victorian bathroom fixtures: http://www.victoriancrapper.com/index.htmlYes, the URL is a bit, er, risqué, but it is a rather serious page on Victorian toilet bowls, with lots of pictures, and some history.   I found it while looking for ref materials for my own DIY project's bathroom.

Maura Bass

Punched Tin Cabinet: The foil from a Large Kool aid container or from any commercial tins of food, such as nuts, fruits, etc., will give you the "tin" without the heaviness and bulk of real tin. They are easily cut with scissors/X-Acto knife. So cut away and enjoy the punching. A large darning needle with an eraser on the end is a good tool for that.

bon in Sunny Alberta

Punched Tin Cabinet: For punched tin, you can buy tooling aluminum, available in many craft stores, or you can use the aluminum from disposable pie or broiler pans. Just make sure that whichever ones you use have a large enough area that is flat for your use.

Alice Zinn

Modern kitchens: Here are the places I know of that have modern kitchen fittings:

www.dollshousehomepage.co.uk/elf.htm are beautiful but hideously expensive the Poggenpohl of dollshouse kitchens!

www.jlbminiatures.co.uk has some kitchen equipment but a lot of the pictures aren't working

www.miniatures.com/ has kitchen cabinets and appliances

Sally Holmes

Working with leather.   If you are molding leather over a form of some sort then you want time to move it and adjust it.   In which case you want a glue that lets you slide the leather a bit rather than one that grabs immediately.   Mix starch paste with alkaline wood glue in the proportions 50/50.   I use it all the time for bookbinding full scale and minis.

TIP:   If you are working with leather and you want the APPEARANCE of stitched leather, run it through your sewing machine with no thread. It punches the holes nice and even.   Then glue as you would normally. It gives a lovely faux stitched edge.

Barbara B from South Africa

countertop materials : You can get man-made countertop materials - laminates - in thicknesses thinner than 1/4". Both Formica and Pionite are 1/16" thick. I've collected a large supply of the free samples available. They come in the traditional sorts of designs, but also in some wonderful "wood" grains. I'm always saying to myself that I'm going to put them to good use by creating my (unbuilt - but planned) kitchen counters, tile floors, and perhaps a butcher block (one Formica pattern is alternating strips of light and dark"wood") and a chess board. Anyway, The Building Box (but not Home Depot) sells large sheets (maybe 6 sq. feet) of the more popular Formica patterns and the price was very cheap $3.00 - 4.00 Canadian. You can also cut Formica without power tools. You can even use a utility knife. You simply score and snap! I found a site with illustrations -
http://alsnetbiz.com/homeimprovement/htseries/formica.html

Each sample piece has it's name, and ordering number stamped on the front, but I found that rubbing alcohol on a cotton puff (and some rubbing) removes the print, and gives you a little bigger piece to work with.

Jenny in Toronto

Quarter Scale Kits: I carry 1/4" scale furniture kits from Mustard Seed.
http://JBsDollhousesMiniatures.comJB's Doll Houses and Miniatures, Yuma, AZ

Jackie

Bespaq: Bespaq produced a catalog about 6 years ago but it's been virtually sold out and out dated for 3 years. He has put out a few update flyers from time to time. He is not on line but his products are available through my web site http://www.dragonflyintl.com ( I can order in anything I don't have in stock) or through many others.

As for as how extensive is the line. It is very large. They produce most items in several finishes, Fruitwood, Walnut, Mahogany, White, Unfinished, or some hand painted. His latest pieces are hand painted on silk or on the painted wood surface. They do all styles including Chinese, Mission, Queen Anne, Federal, Victorian, and many others.

Bespaq dates from the Mid 80's when Pit Ginsburg incorporated after Fantastic Miniatures went out of business. He bought out several of the products from that company and continued to work with the owners of Fantastic Miniatures making the products in Taiwan until Pit Purchased a factory in Mainland China and moved his production there. All of his pieces are hand cut ( no lasers are used) and his workers are paid very well. His master carvers are paid better then some doctors in China. I was recently reading an article of Chinese Arts and sadly China is loosing it's skilled craftsman to the more global society. Skills that were once passed down through the family are now being lost to the younger generations who want things faster and more modern like their Western counterparts.

How Large is the Line - I can tell you I've been to his warehouse in San Francisco many times and it is about 6,000 square feet of warehouse space stuffed from floor to ceiling with boxes of furniture some places on 2 floors. It is amazing that He can find anything in there yet amazingly he not only knows all his stock numbers but where things are at in the warehouse. My Hat is off to Pit Ginsburg of Bespaq for bringing us a quality piece at affordable (savable) prices. When the day comes that we loose him from this industry (hobby) it will be a sad day indeed. He is a true Gentleman of our Hobby.

Deb (the Dragonlady)

Clock Faces: I have black on clear clock faces in stock. I think I got them from JAF and they also have white face with black numbers. http://JBsDollhousesMiniatures.com

Jackie

Painting checkerboard borders on mini furniture: No real tricks to this one except a steady hand. OK, paint your light base color. White for instance, then allow to dry completely. Use a hair dryer to make sure it is dry. Take a small piece of masking tape, lay it on your pant leg, press lightly and pull up to remove some of the tackiness. Cut appropriate sized strips and then cut those into equal sized squares. Apply the squares into a checker board configuration. Burnish the edges of the tape so no paint will get under the edges. Apply paint so that the area does not get soaked and paint runs under the edges. Stipple style is appropriate as in stencil work. Remove the squares of tape very carefully and enjoy.

In the worst case scenario where the miniaturist can not handle the media, print out the checks on a computer. Fix them with Krylon or matte ink fixative and decoupage them into place.

Laurie Sisson

French Furniture With Caning: If you want mass-produced furniture, Bespaq has a variety of French styles. Some of the pieces have inserts that simulate cane. If you want beautifully made handcrafted furniture with real caning, get in touch with Nicole Walton-Marble nmarble@srpynet.com. Nicole also teaches her caning technique at shows occasionally. Nicole's French furniture kits are available on Renee Kutcher's site at http://www.miniaturefloors.com/artisan.htm

Judith Adams

Schoolmaster's Desk: We make a schoolmaster's desk and stool. You can see a picture in the school section on our website. Online Catalog http://www.stockton-miniatures.com

Mark and Sharon Stockton, Miniature Artisans