Porcupine Quills: About using porcupine quills. I have been working with them for years in my beadwork and I read Graceanne's tip on removing the barbed end. She suggested sticking the tip through leather before cutting off the barb. GOOD Idea I have found something that works very well also. I put the tips into a piece of Styrofoam scrap and use that. It is a bit easier to poke into than leather and doesn't tend to bend the quills as the smaller quills can be quite fragile. Never try to cut off the barbs without anchoring them into something first. They will fly through the air and disappear to who knows where. These barbs are very dangerous and are not easily removed if one should find itself embedded in your skin. They are like a fishhook and don't want to come out the same direction as they went in. I like using the Styrofoam as the barb stays down inside the Styrofoam and can be disposed of safely.

Brooke, Wa

Quillwork: For those of you interested in quillwork, here are two supplier sites: http://www.nocbay.com/
http://www.clawantlerhide.com/
and here are 2 sites with info and samples of quillwork - mostly for embroidery with quills, but you can get some great general info on working with them:
http://www.nativetech.org/quill/
http://www.powwows.com/dancing/crafts.shtml

Graceanne

Paint Brushes and Water Picks: "I received a dozen roses for my birthday and they all had the nice little plastic flower "keepers" ....The water tubes on the end of your roses are a favorite of mine when I'm painting. I place a small amount of water in each tube, stick them in my famous Styrofoam work block. I remove the rubber lid and slide it over the end of my paintbrush. When I finish the work I'm doing with that brush, I place my brush in the tube then slide the rubber cap down and reattach it to the water pick. I use a different brush for each color and stroke. This even allows brushes to be left overnight. Such a joy to sit down at the worktable and pick up where I left off. I also love not having a jar of water to knock off my table. I also use these little gems when I'm painting at an outdoor location. They protect my brushes better than anything I've ever found.

Becky Holliday

Small Holes: Before I had enough small drill bits to do the job I needed, I "invented" my own. At the time, I was using the small "E" string from a guitar to mount my dolphins. The nickel coated wire didn't rust, and was sturdy and very thin. I cut a piece of the wire about 1/2 inch long, using normal wire cutters. That left a flat, sharp end on the wire. I glued it into the center of a 1" long, 3/16" piece of dowel, and when twisted between my fingers while putting pressure on the wood, it drilled a perfectly sized hole. Nuttin' to it! Cheap, too. Just has to be good sturdy wire.

Dave

Tiny dowels:It is fairly easy to make and use a "draw plate" to make tiny sized dowels. Secure a piece of 1/16 to 1/8" tool steel from your local machine supply. There are a couple in OKC (not too sure about Norman but you could also try a farm machine repair shop or the metallurgy department at OU) Drill a series of holes from the smallest size you may want to the diameter of your stock (tooth picks) From one side, countersink each hole until it would almost but not quite enlarge the hole if you countersink any deeper. The series of holes should be incrementally larger in very small steps.

A trip to the blacksmith, machine shop, welder, or farm equipment repair shop should get you the prepared tool hardened for a few dollars.

Once it is hardened, draw your toothpicks through each hole from the flat side to the countersunk side. Each step will shave a little more wood until you pull through the hole which represents the size you want for that particular spar.

One unfortunate matter about draw plates (for your application) is that the dowels will not be tapered as you would want for ship spars. I suggest that you make an extra draw plate with the holes near one edge. Now grind and file away half of the holes to give yourself a series of "shavers" that you can use to draw over the spars against a flat work surface. Practice will teach you how to add a nice linear taper.

Mel Koplin, Las Vegas

Glues: A flower-making friend of mine introduced me to Ultimate glue. It's great. It flows well, but has a fast tacky bond and dries clear. I have added it to the glues I sell in the shop.

I also carry Gloop which I find better than most glues to attach plastic to wood like brick on dollhouses sides or roofs. However, one of my customers who uses a lot of plastic siding and rocks insists on using Quick Grab. The trick is not to have globs of it in pockets like the formed plastics tend to have on the back. When it doesn't have air, it eats through the plastic. I have also used it successfully before I used Gloop.

Deanna from sunny Thiensville

Transfer Medium: The Transfer medium you are looking for used to be called Frisket. I have used clear contact paper for the same kind of transfer, however, the most recent uses at my house were painting Mod Podge on the picture or object to be transferred, give 2 or 3 coats, drying between, cut out area you want to use with scissors, then soak in warm water until the paper part looks wet, then gently rub off the paper, leaving the transfer part (colored) let dry, trim as needed, then fix transfer to object. My mother did a lot of decoupage in her later years and this is the method she used. I just look at a picture and draw and paint what I want right on the object. (sure I know each of us has our own talents and one of mine is drawing and painting) You can also use thinned tacky glue if you can't get ModPodge.

Rhoda from Whidbey Island

Glue Tip: I use the Aleene's tacky glue and have several bottles that have thickened and just wont come out. It makes them impossible to pour. I use a glue syringe. I run some warm/hot water in the sink and sit the bottle down in it for a while and then you can pour it into the syringe with no problem.

Kim

Weldbond Glue: Weldbond is a white glue that dries clear and is available at home improvement stores such as Home Depot and at hardware stores such as True Value and Ace Hardware. It comes in a white plastic bottle with red writing.

Jennie in San Antonio TX

Weldbond Glue: Weldbond is a general purpose glue that can be thinned to lots of different consistencies to do lots of different things from gluing to glossing. It's very sturdy when dry-I used it on some picture frames that had to hold some weight-and it's holding up just fine. It's very runny (a little more so than Elmer's white glue) and it takes 24 hours to completely set. I have found that Aileen's Quik-n-Tacky works the best-it tacks up quickly, but not so quick that you can't jimmy pieces around, and it's not too runny. I found Weldbond at the art store in the drafting section (!why?) and Quik-n-Tacky at Joann's-but I've seen it at every craft store.

Monika

Yes Glue: I do mostly quarter scale, and it doesn't take a lot to wallpaper a quarter scale house, so my glue does thicken on me. I find that when it does, after spreading with a credit card, lots of times it is almost dry by the time I start putting it on walls, and it doesn't stick as good. I just add a little water, mix it thoroughly and for me, it does a much better job. I hated to use it before I started thinning it.

Betty in Ky

Yes Glue: YES glue is actually a bookbinders paste. It is used to glue those sheets of sometimes fancy paper on the inside of the covers of hard cover books (among other things). One of its great attributes is that it doesn't cause paper to stretch or curl. Adding water can negate this feature. A really good tool for spreading YES paste is the auto body putty spreaders that are available in auto parts stores. We use them to spread the paste (just enough to make it look shiny or wet) and to smooth the wallpaper onto the wall to eliminate bubbles.

YES paste also does not attack the copper wire as some wallpaper pastes will do. What I don't understand, is why Grandma Stover's takes a 4 fl. oz. jar, fills it with YES paste and sells it as 6 oz.

Tom Berkner

Chopper II: I have the Chopper II with the replaceable self-healing pad in the center and noticed this morning I needed to turn the pad one turn so that there was a new surface under the blade - and it would be the last time I could do that. HOWEVER...it dawned on me that if I cut a half inch strip from the pad (I used my scroll saw - you can follow the grid on the pad for this), place the pad back in the Chopper II but move it all the way over to the right (OR the left--whatever) then simply tuck/squeeze that cut strip into place, and, "Voila" --- you now have another new surface to cut on. I would think you could do this several times with that same pad, making sure the pad/cut sections are always flat. This will definitely extend the life of each pad.

Bonnie Soucek/Normal IL

New Glue: I just discovered a New Glue!! New to me anyway... Made by Loctite (there's a clue) Wood Worx. Comes in a tube like toothpaste. The caption says it's a new thicker formula... I think it's kind of thin, but they like it I guess. I've used it on books, fabric, wood/metal so far and I really like it. Claims to bond in 7 minutes and dry in 24. I find it grabs in a few seconds and sticks great while still making it possible to move the surfaces around slightly for a few seconds. Price at Lowes $2.95 tube. It's a bit opaque tan color when wet, Dries nearly clear. Water clean up for wet glue (as on paintbrush) Nail polish remover for dried glue. I rather like it. . I use a toothpick dabber and for really tiny glued spots this rather thin formula is neat, it holds good and seems a nice well behaved glue.

Judie

METAL CUTTING TOOL: There is a tool called a "Nibbler" which does a very nice job of cutting light metal without distorting the metal, guiding your hands to laceration, or requiring all work to be near an edge. Nibblers come in power and hand models. The hand model may be difficult to find but is worth the search. Mine came from a LARGE (Not Radio Shack) electronics supplier who sells them for prototypes to make cutouts in chassis boxes and such. You need to drill a 3/8" starter hole after marking the perimeter of your cutout. Insert the cutting head through the hole and line the cutting mouth to your line. Squeeze to remove a tiny rectangle of metal, move, squeeze again, and so forth. It is spring loaded to open when you release. The process can be slow but is neat and easy. Work over a newspaper (or a Florida ballot box) to collect the chad for disposal somewhere other than into your bare feet in the middle of the night. Unless you are far more precise than I, You will have to dress your edges with a file or emery cloth when finished. The raw edge can be sharp but a bit of rubber wire insulation split lengthwise and peeled from the wire can be set over the edge for protection.

Mel K. in Las Vegas

Metal Cutting Tool: A great tool for cutting tin is in Micro-Mark catalog. #60662 Metal shear. It works on a nibbling idea and cuts out a path for itself as it goes. It doesn't distort the tin as much as a regular shear would. You first need to drill, cut or punch a starting hole in the side of the can or tin to get started. This starting hole is based one the idea of the inside of the section to be removed. Such as a window or similar opening. I prefer to cut the opening a little smaller to start with then trim and file it to final opening size. CAUTION. Tin is sharp and sneaky. It can grab, stab or cut you when You least expect it. But tin is my favorite media to work in. I usually teach it in some form at the Guild School each year. I know this may sound like bragging but I think I turn out some of the very best tin miniatures out there. That is my goal at least.

Bill Hudson

Paint Pens: While in my local CVS (drugstore) the other day, I found a new product by Elmers(the glue company). They are called "3D washable Paint Pens" and come in 8 colors. They are essentially pen-shaped tubes of paint, which you squeeze and paint squirts out. However, they have fairly thin tips, which makes them useful for mini work. I used them to decorate some plates, but I think they might also have applications in food (for "dollops" of frosting, etc), or anywhere else you want a slightly raised surface. They are probably available in most craft stores.

Celeste in Boston

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

Miniature Iron: I used a really neat miniature iron at a recent workshop for ironing miniature clothing. It had a small spade shaped foot and otherwise looked like a curling iron. The only name I could find was Clover. Anyone know where this item could be purchased?

***** Note from Joy Perkins ***** I have one of these miniature irons. They are sold in Quilt specialty shops...Maison Calico in Pointe Claire, Quebec sells them and are $50CDN with tax...and well worth it if you do mini sewing. *****

Shirley

Glue gun: the glue sticks for glue guns come in at least two heat ranges. That may be why results vary from person to person. A hot store window or a hot car will melt the glue of even the higher heat range glue sticks, I have watched it happen. If you still have the choice, why take the chance?

Barb Jones