Tuesday, January 3, 2012

A diversion from my dollshouse story

I know I was telling you all about the dolls house I am building, but sometimes I take a break and do other things instead.  This time I have been trying out the new machines I bought earlier last year, during my overseas holiday.  I already had a disc sander and a table saw that I hadn't used much, but I wrote about it in the instalment: Getting Technical.  Back then I made a sliding table for my sawing machine.  I have also bought a thicknesser and it works a treat.  So I managed to lay my hands on some finely grained wood which I then put through my thicknesser to make it 2mm thick, the thickness I needed for my projects. 
My handy little machine in action

I wanted to make some wooden furniture and looked through my magazines for something that wouldn't be too hard to start with.  I found an old fashioned ironing board and a the very chair I would be able to use in my 50s house that I plan to build in the future.  It is a chair that converts to a little stepladder.  We used to have one like it when I grew up in the 50s and I have one right now, but a more luxury one which, in this case, is called a library chair.

The ironing board I changed a bit from the project in the magazine to make ik look more like the one my mother had.  The kitchen chair I had to make twice, because the first time I was 1 degree out with the hind legs.  That made them shorter, because they spread wider outwards, so I had to make the front leg shorter and also the back rest, because when you move it over to create the stepladder it sits on the floor.  Anyway, it was still usable, so I kept it, but made another one the correct way.

Since I wanted to use templates to get the degrees correct I decided to make a few kits to be used for a workshop at our miniature club.  All in all I had an enjoyable time and got to know my machines a bit better. :-)

The ironing board and two chairs, one of which is converted into a step ladder

Ironing board folded away

Both chairs together

The kitchen chair as a chair

The same chair as a step ladder

Sorry, I had published too soon (pressed the wrong button again!) and hadn't uploaded all my pictures yet.  Also I would like to welcome a number of new followers.  Unfortunately the list keeps coming up with different names all the time, so I am not too sure who the last newcomers were, but I wish you all a warm welcome and also a happy new year.


3 comments:

  1. Hey Marion, Love the thicknesser! I have been wanting one for quite a while, but you know how expensive they are!! Does it perform as well as you hoped?
    I have a similar wooden ironing board and stepladder, full size. I really like your miniature ones!
    De allerbeste wensen voor 2012 Marion!

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  2. Hey Josje, good to 'see' you again. That thicknesser is indeed expensive, but worth its weight in gold (well, almost...). It takes widths up to 80mm, which is sufficient for miniature work and it is very precise to tenths of millimeters. I don't use a ruler to measure the width but digital calipers, so I can tell exactly how much I take off every run. Fantastic that you still have your full size ironing board and stepladder. My mother's ironing board disappeared before I got all their furniture and the chair fell years ago to woodwurm. Alas. En jij ook een heel fijn 2012 toegewenst!

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