Dremel: For ease and safer way of using a Dremel rotary tool.  I have used   the flex shaft offered by Dremel for many years. Using Flex Shaft handpiece I don't have to hold the awkward tool itself instead I hold a 1" diameter handpiece with choice of bit in chuck.  

MicroMark`s Page:   http://www.dxmarket.com/micromark/products/60889.html    ( If you choose a flex shaft choose "Dremel" made)

With the stand (on this page holding Dremel, flex shaft.

MicroMark`s Page: http://www.dxmarket.com/micromark/products/50352.html

and using a speed control (on this page) it allows you to give a lighter touch and better control.

With my work piece in a vise:

http://www.dxmarket.com/micromark/products/81314.html       

http://www.dxmarket.com/micromark/products/21123.html  or ???

The Dremel drill stand; It is a low cost entry level accessory for the Dremel rotary drill, but with lots of patience it will achieve marvels.

http://www.dxmarket.com/micromark/products/50288.html  Somewhere Dremel offers a table top holder for the Moto Tool with a swivel, sorry I lost source.

Some of your project pieces you can hold in your hand while using handpiece.

Note;   Just like brushing your hair, if you brush against grain hair will stand up.....  therefore if you push tool against grain the tool will kick back. Try to go with grain, however there are times you have no choice, so use lighter pressure.

NOTE ! Using the circular saw chucked in Dremel "Freehand" is a VERY Dangerous way to use it. Only use in drill press or some other controlled set up

When using any power tools ..... listen to them, after using them over time you will hear when they are running correctly or straining and when straining. trouble is coming either a jamb, kickback or a bad finished product

=== Curious George;   Just what kind of things are people trying to accomplish with a Dremel tool?

I see that at the Tom Bishop Show in Chicago they offer workshops  (unfortunately my try this AM would not open site). If you check offerings it would offer new tool users a great opportunity to get some hands on basics from the workshops.

Most of the woodworking classes offered at the IGMA Guild School use other type tools than Dremel rotary. Tools such as "Overhead Shapers, Cameron drill press’s, wood and metal lathes, table saws etc.  

You can with patience make something with a hammer and screw driver, but a tool designated for a specific purpose does it so much easier, faster more accurately and far better quality of finish.

George Hoffman ~ IGMA Fellow

Water puddles: A few days ago, I was gluing a bunch of miniatures together with Weldbond (a very strong white glue available at hardware stores).  I had dabbled spots of the glue onto a piece of scrap cardboard and from there applied it to the miniatures I was assembling, wiping the excess glue from my fingers back onto the piece of cardboard.   After the excess glue dried completely on the piece of cardboard, I noticed that it looked like drops and puddles of water -- very hard, and completely clear.   It occurred to me that this might be a good source for making shallow puddles of water, and perhaps even a fountain.  Must experiment more.

Anita Myers, Arnold, MD

Applying Yes glue on wallpaper: I have two ways of applying glue to wallpaper.  One is to use a stiff bristled brush, and sweep it on.  The other way, which is much faster, is to take a tongue depressor, dip it in the glue, and put a glob on the wallpaper, then using the entire flat side of the stick smooth it out onto the paper. It is kind of like toweling with a stick.   This method gives good, smooth coverage, and you can slide it right off the edges of the wallpaper   onto your underlying paper (wax, newspaper, or whatever).

Carol

Applying Yes glue on wallpaper: I use Yes glue (also sold as Grandmother Stover's) for wallpapering all the time.   I apply it to the wall, not the paper, using an old credit card to spread it very thinly.  Then I put the paper on and use another credit card to smooth out the paper.   This method seems to work quite well for me.   Tip: try to use the kind of credit card that does not have the raised embossed letters and is a bit more flexible - my favorite is actually an old auto club membership card.

Chris in Minnesota

Applying YES glue....I keep a small bowl of water handy, and use a sponge/foam brush.  I wet the brush, squeeze out the water (leave the brush damp), then just scoop out the YES glue with the brush, and spread it over the back of the wallpaper.   If it's pre=pasted paper, I even cheat a bit....I will wet the pre=paste with some water on the brush a little, letting that paste activate...then apply YES over that.

Laura in OKC

Multi-Grip Hardware, Household &   Marine Adhesive: Speaking of praising and glowing about glues... Here is the new glue I just discovered.   Works as well as Quick-Grab without the mess, or losing half the tube to the clogged nozzle; great bottle, somewhat  like theTacky Glue bottle but clear;   bonds Tile, Brick, Concrete, Wood, Glass, Leather, Fabric & Plaster.  Waterproof and dries crystal clear.  With all those credentials, silly me, I find it great for Polymer Clay work - neat and clean.

Anyway, it is Multi-Grip Hardware, Household &  Marine Adhesive (by Beacon)   I bought mine at my local hardware store (another place we miniaturists lurk).  Hope you can find it to try it.

Mary (Eccher)

Beacon Adhesives: Folks have been asking about where to find Beacon Adhesives. I ran a Google search and came up with this URL. http://beaconcreates.com/   Apparently they make a wide variety of specialty adhesives for home and industrial use.

Brian

I rehab a lot of houses, but for children, so sturdy playability is more important than period detail and perfection. Often if trim is in bad shape, I just sand, use wood filler, sand again, and repaint rather than going to the trouble of removing and replacing it -- but either way, it's much more tedious than difficult! If you're lucky and the original builder did it the lazy way with hot glue, if the house isn't falling completely apart already, you can loosen the broken bits with a hot hair dryer, then scrape off the glue residue. And of course when you do your restoration, use a good glue (check the Archives for tips) so your work stays done. Have fun. This is the right place to get all the advice you need step by step from people with much more expertise than I have, but if I can do it, so can you!

Loretta.Sniarowski

Clay Tools: The clay tools you need for Fimo and other polymer clays can be found at http://www.clayfactory.net/kt.html    They are Kemper Pattern Cutters. I used these in another lifetime when I made bread dough (yes, that really ages me).   You can buy them in sets or individually.   I would buy them and then use needle nose pliers to reshape them .  You then have to level them off with a file because the reshaping distorts the tube.   Look at ceramic shops in your part of the world first.   However, they aren't heavy for shipping.

Diane Foster, The Colony TX

Punched Clay: Let's say you have a hand held (as opposed to those square plastic ones) maple leaf shaped paper punch. You want to make a maple leaf shaped candy dish, but out of polymer clay, not paper. (You can use the other punches too, and the method is basically the same.)

The first thing you have to do is remove that 'trap' on the back of your punch, meant for catching the cut outs.  Take a good size piece of polymer clay and dust it lightly with baby powder. Press part of your clay into the hole on the hole punch. Pull it out using the rest of the chunk of clay as your 'handle'. Using a NEW, sharp single edged razor blade, dusted with baby powder, slice the shaped part of the clay away from the backing.

Now you will have a chubby maple leaf shape. By gently squashing it, and curving the edges, you will have your maple leaf shaped candy dish! You can paint and give it a coat of gloss to make it look like ceramic, too!

I have done this with many of my punches, and it has not seemed to adversely affected their original use!

Alice Zinn- Pt. St. Lucie FL

Making Bricks: The pasta machine bricks, I believe are ours, and you can find them on our website. http://www.thomasopenhouse.com   Happy bricking.

Noel & Pat Thomas, IGMA Fellows, NAME AOH

Beware Of Super Glue: I see a lot of people posting about the use of Super glue, and I just had to post this. This was one of THE scariest things that's EVER happened to me! A lot of plastic mini kits recommend the use of super glue (cryoacrylate). In retrospect, it's funny, but at the time...

I was putting together a Chrysnbon organ. I decided to use the fine tip attachment. I was not exerting undue pressure. Nothing. The glue shot out at an angle. (Not the first time I used the tip either!) It was beyond belief...It hit me square in the eye. Instinctively...I closed my eye. And it stayed that way. Big Time. I was absolutely horrified!

Ended up in the ER, attending physician had to "pry" a hole in my eyelid big enough to insert an irrigation catheter. It took hours to loosen that crap up with saline. When he finally cut away the glue, and got my eye open, he removed my contact lens...It had melted. Melted! (hard lenses, not gas permeable mind you!) He told me it was a miracle I had the lens in when it happened, because I would've needed reconstructive corneal surgery if it hadn't hit the lens. When I look from side to side, it's still blurry sometimes, but my straight on vision is OK. PLEASE WEAR SAFETY GLASSES WHEN WORKING WITH THAT GLUE! I refuse to use it at all, now, safety glasses or not! Yeah, like I said in retrospect it's one of those quot;stories" my sisters manage to tell at the Thanksgiving dinner table: "Remember when that crazy Sherise glued her eye shut? Only Sheri!" Yeah, but not so funny if it happens. If you do use the glue, use glasses, please! A good alternative to cryoacrylate glue is Craftsman's Goop (holds better, too...I've noticed superglue loses it's integrity after a few years...) I never thought something that IDIOTIC could happen, but it did.

Sherise

Paper punches for flowers and clay shapes: A site for "craft punches" is http://www.alpineimport.com/    they have quite a few manufacturers of the punches used by scrapbookers.  They have some inexpensive punches and several great leaf and nice petal punches. Lots of other neat stuff too.

That being said, there is an internet site http://www.carolinastamp.com/holepunch.htm    that still offers all of the standard dies and the catalog is on the net.  However, they are more expensive--I think $45--and they are quite heavy so shipping to Oz would cost a major fortune.  Check out Oz sources for "ticket punches" and your better office supply stores.

Diane Foster, The Colony TX

NO STICK'UM TIP: I wish someone told me that if I spread a tiny bit of VASELINE around the threads of a paint bottle or glue bottle, it will keep the top from sticking to the bottle. Now I do not need my pliers to get the caps off, just some plain old elbow grease.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL

NO STICK'UM TIP: For the glue bottle, I wrap plastic wrap.  It also keeps the glue from drying out.

Ella

Painting small items: to make a workable surface take a large foam meat tray and pin masking tape upside down (sticky side up) place your things on this and they will hold while you spray paint.

Sue Groves From Cobourg

Dremel tools and accessories: Somebody mentioned a few digests back that Dremel rotary power tools were available from Micromark. If you are in the U.S. and have a Home Depot near you, you should consider buying one of these from there. They carry the whole range at cheaper prices and you wouldn't have to pay shipping costs or wait for it to be delivered. They also have a very extensive range of accessory packs.

Over the weekend, I went to the Harbor Freight Tools store in Newark, and picked up a small rotary power tool with 60 accessories for $12.00 (lot 41695). I'll probably never use the actual rotary tool, but the accessories were a real bargain. I also got an electric engraver for $5.00 (lot 46099). Their sale continues to May 13th. If you are interested you can look up these (and other bargains), by entering the lot number at their web site:

http://www.harborfreight.com Note the web site has the usual prices; the retail stores have the sale prices.

Rich

Gluing Jig: The gluing jig was from Designs by Dann (Betty and Steve).   The address is

6408 Sunset Terrace,
Des Moines, IA 50311. 
Email is desgnbydan@aol.com

Quinn

'Mod Podge' is a brand of decoupage medium. Basically it is a type of watered down glue that you use to smooth paper/decals onto your work. For example, say you had a little wooden box that you painted, and you found a patterned paper/nail decal that you wanted to stick to it. You would apply the podge to the entire piece, apply and smooth your paper/decal, then apply the podge over the entire piece to seal the whole thing. Podges come in different finishes, just like paint - satin, matte, gloss, antique. It's up to you. I used to work at a craft store and I do have a little advice on product selection.             There are a lot of different brands of decoupage medium, ranging in $2 - $8 (Canadian). The best one by far is by Plaid, called Royal Coat Decoupage Finish. It dries to a beautiful hard and clear finish and is easier to work with. Thus, the most expensive, lol. I have found that the cheaper ones always seem 'sticky' even after they've cured. So, if you just wanted to try it and see if you like it, get the cheap one ( you can pass it onto the kids later, lol - they love to do it too!) And if you find you like it and want to keep something for a long period of time, go with the pricier brands. A bottle lasts for a very long time especially if you only use it for minis! Good luck, and I hope this information was somewhat useful to someone! Cheers,  

Dawna in Vancouver, BC, Canada

'Mod Podge' is a liquid decoupage finish used to fix paper designs to a surface as both glue and the many layers of top coat used in that technique.   Since I'm not an artist, I rely on decoupage to fake hand- painted furniture.  

Loretta.Sniarowski