Kemper cutters: you can find some kemper cutters at: http://www.craft-club.com/

Joanne., Norfolk, England

Magnifier: I'm pretty sure the Micro-Mark catalog has the magnifier with light on the headgear thing your mother is looking for. Http://www.micromark.com

K. Lee

Mod Podge. when applying fabric to a box try using Modge Podge. It does a good job, adheres well and doesn't warp what you are working with. I have used fabric on two projects, applying both with this adhesive.

Katherine

Carving tools; One company that makes miniature carving tools is Dockyard.

Woodcraft Supply carries them on page 17 of their catalog. 800-225-1153 . . . No web site. Good company. . . . I use them often.

Pete Boorum

Making 0. 75 -1 mm dowels: Cut off one of the tapered ends of the round tooth pick and place it in the chuck of a drill and then sand down to the thickness you require.

DrBob. . . Delray Beach, FL.

Wood doweling: In MicroMark catalog they sell a "Jewelers Draw Plate. , that makes doweling under 1/16" in diameter, this may be just what your looking for .

Alice Prosky

Plastic Brick Sheets: I use Liquid Nails or Weldbond and tape the sheets in place until the glue sets.

Sally Cook-Thomas

Perma Grit. I bought a Perma Grit block a couple of weeks ago, very useful. They also do various files and flexible abrasive strips which can be bent to any shape and would be useful for sanding profiles. They have a web site here. http://www. permagrit.com/

The Perma Grit block isn't really suitable for getting into tight corners, its main use would be for sanding flat surfaces. I've just been using mine this morning for sanding smooth seats after they've been cut with the bandsaw, it removes the saw marks very quickly.

They do a flexible strip though which might be useful. It's a thin steel strip with the grit bonded to it which can be cut and bent to your own requirements. You could make up your own sanding blocks using this. Cut a piece of wood to any shape you want and bend and glue the strip to it. Or for getting into tight corners you could glue two pieces onto a block at right angles or any other angle that you might want. You could make up your own sanding blocks any size and shape you want this way. I would suggest the fine grit for miniatures, I bought a fine and a course one but I think the course one might be a bit too course.

Colin Bird

Bending tubing: My method of bending a tube is cost effective. Fill the tube with sand, flour or anything that will fill the tube and remain fairly dense. Then I delicately (gently) bend the tube, By filling the tube a fracture is prevented.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL.

Monoject: Next time you are at the dentist (or orthodontist), ask the assistant to save you some of the little rubber tips that cover the ends of their disposable composite material cartridges. They work very well.

I fill it using a tip of Brooke Tucker's. Pull out the plunger and fill up about 3/4 of the way with glue. Stick in the plunger and then sit upright on a table top with no cover on the tip. After about 10 minutes or so, the air left in the barrel will work it's way up and the bubble will force a big blob of glue (say that five times fast!) out the end. Just push down on the plunger and that will expell the air. You don't want that air in there - that's what will set up your glue.

Stick on that handy little rubber tip from your dentist and you are ready to play. I still find that Aleene's has a tendency to set up if left over time. If not using it, once a week make it a habit to just squidge out a little and put the cap back on. I've had the same syringe and cap going for about a year now.

Debi in Quesnel

Glue syringes: I got this tip from Liz from Grandpa's Dollhouse in Port Stanley. She suggested plugging the end of a glue syringe with some of the Blue Tac stuff. Works like a charm.

Pat M, London, ON

Foil coffee bags and GLUE: Regarding the gold and silver coffee "foil". It MAY be some form of PVC, which is what some of the "foil" ribbons are made of. Any glue that works with PVC would then probably work.

Rose

Gluing: For those of you who are having trouble sticking one thing to something else. like the coffee packets to wood, try one of these tricks: try Fabritac glue, or coat one surface with Tacky glue, let it dry, then attach it with super glue....or, use wet Elmer's or Tacky on one surface, and super glue on the other.

Alice Zinn

Goop: I have personally used a glue called "GOOP". It will adhere anything to anything. The acid test is that I affixed a metal cylinder to the stucco on the outside of my real life home and this has withstood the heat, sun, humidity and rain of So. Florida. If push comes to shove you could use caulking compound by applying a very thin layer and setting the roof tiles in that. Very cost effective.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL.

Holding Room Boxes together while the glue sets: A pair of picture frame clamps, which will give you a nice square box with little fuss, should work beautifully. These can be found in almost any shop that sells picture framing supplies, or you can check with a woodworking store.Their advantages are that they take very little time to set up, provide an accurately square glue-up and can be readily used on a wide variety of room box sizes. Happy Building!

Brian

Finger planes- Finger planes are tiny wood planes that are guided with an index finger and cushioned in the palm. They are used by musical instrument makers. Finger planes get into tight spots in guitars and violins and often have curved soles. They might be useful on the interior of dollhouses but seldom on miniature furniture. I use a block plane on miniature furniture which is easier to handle than a finger plane and the throat is adjustable. The other day I shaved off the end of my thumb with my very sharp block plane. Does this make it a thumb plane?

Pete Boorum

Stained Glass: I will tell you about my new adventures with stain glass. I don't have pictures up on my site yet but I was blown away by the results. If you buy the liquid leading at WalMart or your local craft store you can also get a set of Tips that are tiny, tiny and work wonderfully.

So you have your piece of plastic from your dollhouse kit or your piece of glass depending. Now put your pattern under the piece of plastic, unless the pattern is already on your plastic if it is from a kit, OK? Next Take your Liquid leading and trace the pattern either on or under you plastic, using the tip that suits your project the most. I suppose that you could use a pin or small brush if you were really coordinated. Once that is done set aside to dry. Now you have another choice. If you don't buy the glass paints you can mix clear drying glue and food colouring. The next step is simple as with a very tiny brush fill in all the little sections with the glass paint, (store bought or homemade) in whichever colour you wish. Let dry.

It turned out wonderful and now I am going to the mall and allow my kids to get those gumball machine toys so that I can have the plastic containers to make lampshades out of them. My dollhouse that will be posted on my site soon will have stained glass in every window. I am working on designs for Stained glass suncatchers also.

Oh, the greatest thing about them is if you make a mistake it just peels off, you start again. Wonderful, wonderful stuff if you ever wanted to try it, I recommend it.

Kathy Huffman

Stained Glass: Our club has done the Stained Glass Workshop. We did this by the following method.

Make up a design to your liking or copy one and shrink to the appropriate size. Buy the transparency sheets and transfer the design by copier.

There are ready made kits for children in the toy stores for stained glass (plastic) projects. Those kits offer a variety of colors in glass paints which are a better value than purchasing individuals bottles.

Paint the transparency and outline with a permanent marker, preferably, "fine". We had black, silver, and let your creativity dictate. Cut, trim and glue in place with a glue that will dry clear.

bon maio

Plastic windows painting: I am into 1/4" and all the windows are plastic or have been so far! The suggested method for painting them is to put them on double sided masking or scotch tape on a scrap piece of wood and then spray paint them. If you have the right color spray paint, then two light coats should work, but if not a light coat of say Testor's white and then you can paint over them with normal paint.

Isabel-CT

How to Paint Windows - I have the Houseworks working windows and in order to avoid getting paint on the Plexiglas I found it easiest to take the panes apart. They came apart fairly easy. I use a foam brush for painting and that kept down the thickness of the paint. I hate to state the obvious as it can be insulting but don't paint the sides of the panes where it goes in the track and don't paint the track.

Carol