Make a colander the easy way.

Today the postman delivered a wonderful gift.
Thank you very much Carmen.

March 31, I described how I had made my colander. Carmen placed a reaction.
In Spain she bought beads that were  perfect for this job.
She also did ask my address and today ............

......this arrived.
Perfect beads for the colander. I had to laugh. It's so simple when you do have the perfect bead.

Also included were wonderful Spanish tins.

How to make a colander 1:12.

First a welcome to my new followers.

I follow the blog from Carmen. She pointed out how to make a colander.
It's very simple.
This is her blog:
http://pekevasion.blogspot.nl/

I had buttons but I didn't know what to do with them until I read her blog. Then I asked my husband what she used on the bottom of the colander. It's a bead ring to countersink screws.

Left is the button. I only used the top of the button. 

You use a metal marble. From a ball-bearing.

Put the marble inside the top of the button. Place them inside the vise. And gently turn the jaws of the vise together. Maybe it does not work well the first time but if you try again with different sizes of the marble and ring it will be a success.

Then glue the button on the bead ring.

Form handles from silver wire. Glue them also on the button.

Carmen painted the colander. I don't because I think this fits perfectly in a Victorian dollhouse.

Next item is a sieve. But I can't find the water saver from the tap. It's somewhere in the many boxes.
I think it's easier to demolish a tap then search my hobby room.

The French polished floor.

Welcome to my new followers.

For comparison I added the picture of the unfinished floor.

This is the finished floor. We showed this floor to my sister in law. They just bought another sailing boat. She asked Frans if he could make a table top for the boat. He declined the offer.

You can see the reflection of the sun in the French polished floor. It isn't possible to feel how smooth the floor is that's a pitty.

I already told you that my husband is all crazy about French polish. So he turned these balls from firewood and you guess ??? Yep all of them finished with French polish.
I wish you all a productive week.

Different techniques to finish wood.

Our first question. How should we finish the floor ?

My husband wanted a top layer with Glitsa. I wanted a polished finish. So we had to come together in one way or another. The only way was to try all kinds of techniques.
Searching on You Tube we saw all kinds of techniques.
So we decided to try all the techniques on the wood that we used for the floor.

Number 1 is the original wood. Untreated.

Number 2 is treated with white beeswax.The veneer looks a bit lifeless. It doesn't shine.

Number 3 treated with dark antique wax. The color of the wood is looking a bit darker but still frosted.

Number 4 is treated with Glitsa. We use that on parquet floors in our house. When you paint with a brush, you sometimes see the lines of the brush. That is disruptive to thumbnails.

On You Tube they advised to poor a little pure alcohol on the surface. Then set it on fire and rub with cotton so you don't see the lines anymore. They use this technique for slightly damaged furniture. It works perfect. It'looking a bit smoother.

Number 6 and 7 are French polished. At first my husband was anti French polishing because it's a bit expensive. You only need a small amount for the doll house. But he also likes wood turning. I could convince him that French polish brings life to the wood. Now I have to put him on a chain. He wants to polish all kinds of wood. We both are convinced that French polishing is the perfect way of treating  the wood.

I knew my father French polished a table a long time ago and we had to buy shellac for him. That store doesn't exists anymore.  So searching the internet we found our store. Sorry it's all Dutch. But here you can order what you need and it explains also the technique of French polishing.

www.meubelrestauratieshop.nl

When you're on the side you go to politoerproducten.

Now my husband is contemplating to re do the Louvre parquet. We used Glitsa on that floor but French polishing is looking better. B is the original oak veneer and above B is the French polished part. The wood is coming alive.

Hereby my thanks to Giac of the English Manor Dollhouse because he used French polish and triggered me.

So next time I show you the finished floor. 

Progress parquet

The floor is almost finished.

The compass.

The last step. We have to  learn a new technique. We want to polish the floor.

The floors at Giac's mansion are always looking great. He told me he did polish them.

So now we have to order stuff for polishing.

To be continued and wishing you all a great weekend.

Parquet for the turret of Greenfield Garfield House 1:12.

It's time again for the dollhouse.

I feel myself as the elephant in the china shop today. Everything that I touch breaks. So no miniatures today for me.
My husband  is working on the parquet for the turret.

The design.

Oak veneer on cardboard.

The first pattern.

Be sure that the veins of the wood point in the same direction.

Put the glue on the cardboard.

Place the veneer with the forceps in the right place .

The cutting of the veneers to the right length. 

Now the compass is under construction. Unfortunately I do not know what wood I use. A while ago I bought a remainder. I didn't realize that it would be handy to know what kind of wood it is you use. Now we only look what fits together.

For cutting veneer refer to my bog date

DONDERDAG 22 DECEMBER 2011

How to cut the veneer on correct size.

To be continued.