Wiring, On my web site, listed under Tom's Tips, are some instructions for wiring (FREE) http://www.dollhouse-miniatures.com

Tom Berkner

Backlight: <If I put a regular photo up to a light, it looks a bit washed out>

You need to start with a transparency rather than a photo. Any copy shop should be able to make you one. Then put a sheet of white plastic (like they use in fluorescent lights in stores) behind it to provide a background.

Tom Berkner

Christmas Lights: Many years ago I bought a set of lights. They are very tiny and the batteries are two AAA and are hidden in a little box that is covered with gift wrap and placed under the Christmas tree. These lights are all on one string just like the regular size Christmas lights are. I am pretty sure I bought them at Michael's.

There is a different kind of light that I also use in garments (vests mainly) that I make for competitions. They are quite different from the lights mentioned above. These are one light per wire, the light bulbs themselves are much larger than the Christmas ones and the batteries are the button type that would be used for things like hearing aids and things. The little thing that holds the batteries seems to me to be kind of touchy and I am always having to fool with them before a competition to make sure they are going to "behave themselves".

The ones I use for garments are Westrim I think and I looked at the Christmas ones and can't find any name on it at all.

Ronni Wetherall

Backlight: We also have a restaurant here on Johns Island, SC that has a huge wall size back lighted picture of the Great Wall. One day they had it down repairing the lighting and it was just long strips of fluorescent bulbs. Does make it look very good though. The Frame was deep and the lighting was at the very back. I'm not much on doing electricity so I can't convert this idea in miniature but maybe if the lighting was far enough away from the picture it would look real.

Jane Ratcliffe

Back lit picture: I have a room box with lead light windows made for me by my son that has a wonderful print of a snow scene with birch trees in the back ground behind the windows. The print was copied onto the clear sheet used for an overhead projector and then mounted on translucent white Perspex and set about 2" back from the windows. I have this sitting in front of a window so do not need to light it.

Rae

Back lit picture: One possible idea for a backlit picture, use a slide. Some photo shops can print a slide from your 35mm negative. My brother took pictures of New England in the fall and had enlargements made that looked like large slides. Then he made a lamp shade from 4 of them. This was back in the late 50's.

Ann from AZ

Lights: Just this past week I went to JoAnns and found the T-shirt lights that are only on the shelves at Christmas. I bought a package of 10 twinkling and a package of 10 steady burn just to have on hand. Their stock was plentiful and they also had the multi-colored lights.These require 2 AA batteries and you can buy them with either white wire or green wire.

Connie

Wiring:  Round wire is wired just like the wiring for a big house, unfortunately, in minis we don't have that convenient space in the walls between rooms, so you have to "dig a groove" in the floor or ceiling and buy special baseboards  with a space for the wire if you use this. The tape wire lies flat and is so  much easier to use. Wallpaper, carpet, flooring etc. covers it nicely. You  just have to remember to check beyond each connection as you make them. I  find that soldering the connections is much better than using the pins or eyelets, not as likely to loose a connection.

Rusty

Lighting kits: Hobby Builders Supply has them in their catalog. www.miniatures.com

Leslie

Soldering:  When soldering use "rosin core solder", and buy a tube of rosin as well. Never use acid solder, it is for plumbing only and will corrode your wire. After you have stripped the insulation off the 2 pieces of wire (or copper tape if you must use it), wrap them tightly together to form the joint. Apply some rosin to the bare wire, it will both clean the wire and help the solder flow. Then apply your hot soldering iron to the wire and bring the solder to the joint. It should freely flow onto the joint, and should be shiny bright. Any excess rosin can be wiped off with a paper towel. Remember, apply the soldering iron to the wire, then add the solder. You need to heat the wire so it will allow the solder to flow all around it. This is an almost instantaneous process.

Barb Jones, Cupertino, CA

Switches: When you cut the tape for a switch everything beyond the switch is controlled by the switch as you noticed. I make the cut as narrow as I can, so my fixture will be straighter. Anyway you need to bridge this gap successfully to allow the system to work. Make sure you've put the switch together correctly and that there is a prong in each tape run. A way to avoid this for a ceiling fixture and only control one room at a time is to run a piece of tape from your main tape to the ceiling place where you want the fixture. Put the slit in this wire only and not in the main tape. Then it will control only the ceiling fixture.

Deanna, Thiensville

Wiring:&nsp; You sure can 'mix and match' brads and eyelets in your Cir-Kit wiring layout! Wiring seems to be one area of our hobby that newbies feel so intimidated by until one takes a class or does that first wiring job then it sure becomes easy. 

I used to calm customers by telling them that they would not be electrocuted by dollhouse wiring, and in most cases, they couldn't burn down their dollhouse, either - LOL!   These were my 2 biggest fears until I did it myself, anyway!

Laura

Wiring: I've noticed that several people have questions about wiring. Cir Kit put out a booklet called Tape Wire Instruction Book that is very good. It can be purchased at HBS for $3.95. There is also one on round wire. HBS also has a Wiring Instructional Kit that along with an audio tape and video tape and material to practice with that is only $9.95.

Rusty

Electricity:   I wire everything!!  I have once to often wished I had in retrospect , so I wire things that at the time you may not think need wiring. I use the small long bulbs for box rooms, I can't think of what they are called but you get them at lumber stores.  I have never been disappointed since I made the decision to always wire.  After all once you catch on it is not difficult and if you think you don't need it, don't turn it on.  I think everything I've wired looks better for it.

Kathleen in Colorado

Brads vs. Eyelets: I like to use the small eyelets to make connections, rather than the brads. Because the brads are pointed, any expansion of the MDF (or plywood for that matter) tends to force the brad out of the hole. The eyelets (when properly installed) are straight, and therefore just get tighter as the wood expands. Now, for the big question; How do you install them properly? "I'm glad you asked." I said.

Earth & Tree just happens to manufacture a tool (actually a modified automatic center punch) which is designed to install the eyelets without mis-shaping them (as pilot punches do). This tool has a square tip which is the same diameter as the inside of the small eyelets from Cir-Kit. This keeps the eyelets from collapsing when being inserted. The square end keeps the wood from splitting. Have you ever watched a finish carpenter installing small pieces of trim. When nailing close to the side or end, you will see that he first hits the point of the nail with the hammer; this dulls the nail so it will tear it's way through the wood, rather than forcing the grain apart as a point will do. Also a point will follow the grain, which is why you have nails sticking out the side even when you started them straight. As you push on the tool, you compress an internal spring, which when it reaches its limit, will expand suddenly, pushing the tip into the wood, thereby inserting the eyelet.

Since you don't need a hammer, you can even use this tool in bathrooms and hallways. This tool works equally well on plywood, MDF and solid wood. A second tip is available for inserting the large eyelets for outlets (receptacles - or power points). If you don't obtain this tool, then I suggest you drill a hole 1/16" diameter (or slightly under) using a piece of tape on the drill to mark the depth of the hole you want (just the length of the eyelet). Then insert the eyelet using whatever method you like (push pin, pilot punch, needle nose pliers). This way works fine, but is a lot of work.

http://www.dollhouse-miniatures.com

Tom Berkner

I highly recommend Tom's eyelet inserting "ConnecTool". Yes -- he invented it. It forcefully gets those eyelets in at your tape connections and for your light connections, without pilot holes or drills. And the eyelets stay in much better than those maddening brads. He sells it at his site: http://www.dollhouse-miniatures.com

Anne Gerdes

Brass Tubes for Lamps: I recommend using 1/16" tubing, but you should get the ones from Special Shapes that have a .007" thick wall (rather than K & S with .014") which gives an extra 1/64" internally for running the wire. You could even go with the 5/64" tubing for a little more space.

Tom Berkner

Auralights: Check at Home Depot or a similar store. Builders Square used to carry them, but they have gone out of business now. They were in the section with light bulbs and fluorescent tubes. Also, I believe they used to be advertised in the miniature magazines. They are great for lighting room boxes. The shortest length they come in is 10", I think.

Doris in San Antonio

Auralights are available through Dee's and can be ordered by your miniature shop. They are a mini shelf lite and good for lighting a roombox or shelf in a cabinet. I only carry the 10" version, but it also comes in 20". They are available in black or chrome, or white or brass.

Jackie

Lighting Theory: Why lights quit working.

Many people have had difficulty when using tape wire and making connections with brads. Doubling up the brads does seem to help. When the lights go out, usually all you need do is tap the connections with small hammer.

My view (based mostly on logic - not great scientific experiments) has to do with the shape of brads and the characteristics of wood. When wood absorbs moisture it expands (MDF more so than plywood). The expansion of the wood pushes against the tapered point of the nail, forcing it from the hole/wood. (You can experience this effect by placing some cooking oil on the tapered end of your ball point pen. Then grab the tapered end and squeeze. The harder you squeeze, the faster it flies out of your fingers.) Every time the humidity/moisture cycles, it pushes a little more. Finally, the brad no longer makes a connection with the two pieces of copper tape.

If you used the small eyelets, rather than the brads, you should have better luck. The sides of the eyelets are parallel, so the force exerted is equal, and doesn't push it outward. Now, if you used a pilot punch to insert the eyelets, they probably deformed to take the tapered shape of the punch point, so you have the same problem. It will probably take longer to happen because the increased surface area creates more friction so it moves slower. If you drilled holes (gives parallel sides) and inserted your eyelets, you should not have this trouble. If you used the eyelet insertion tool to insert the eyelets, it also keeps the sides parallel, thereby helping to minimize this problem.

Tom Berkner