November 3, 2014

Fairy Tale Castles

© Karin Corbin 2014  Fairy Tale Castles, a glitter house, putz kit.

What's next? Why a fairytale castle set. Today as soon as I finish the directions for the new Tiny Tudor set I will be tweaking the castle pieces that are from the other collections and releasing them as their own grouping.

I had made up my mind to create a special grouping of the castle style buildings last Christmas. They will be cut in 4 sizes. The two sizes you are used to Micro and Tiny and also 2 more larger sizes that can be used for Christmas ornaments and decorations. I can cut thicker cardstock with my new machine so that means I can expand the designs into the full size glitter house market opportunity. Of course they are still miniatures ;).

One of these days I will do a larger castle with more turrents but that won't happen this year.

November 1, 2014

holding a ruler down for cutting

© Karin Corbin 2014, all reproduction right reserved

In a chat today I was reminded that it is easy to have trouble with some of the basic tasks in model making. This time it was how to hold a ruler firmly while cutting. My best friend happened to be close by so he became my hand model. He has that hand tremor condition but despite it can do great fine detail model making so he is perfect for demonstrating its all about how you position your fingers, not about how steady your hands are. The little finger is on the table adding stability, heel of palm can rest on the table for extra stability if needed. There is a cork backing on this steel ruler. Do not use a ruler for cutting against with a knife unless it is made from steel. Never plastic or aluminum rulers as the knife blade can snag into those materials.

October 19, 2014

The inspector general


© Karin Corbin 2014, all reproduction right reserved
Zak's favorite spot to hang out while I work. He sits right in front of the heat exhaust from the laptop. I am doing the final check on the prototypes this morning. At this stage I work right by the computer so I can make immediately stop and make any needed adjustments to the cutting files as I am assembling the prototype buildings.

I should be able to start producing the new kits tonight!  Creating the instructions usually takes several days.



October 16, 2014

Storybook style

© Karin Corbin 2014, all reproduction right reserved

When I went to cut prototypes I found I was frustrated with the assembly of one of the buildings in the Tiny Tudor set so I replaced it.  I keep getting asked when I will build a castle. Not yet! But I did add a gatehouse to the Tiny Tudor set. There are a number of fun Tudor Revival Storybook buildings in California that have arched gateways in them plus towers and overhanging dormers and bays. Of course the real thing is around in Europe as well. Anyway this is my own original design of that style of building, hope you like it :)

I will cut the prototype for this building this morning. I am busy making friends with my new cutting machine, so far I am pleased with the results.  I don't use a laser to cut this series as the pretty white paper would be not so pretty and white. They are cut with a miniature sized knife blade! Hopefully a bit more fine tuning of the settings will get rid of 99 percent of the hanging chads which will make life a lot more pleasant for me.

May 14, 2014

learning new techniques

I am getting ready to make trim moldings and cabinetry for my little vintage motorhome. The motorhome will become my new work space for making miniatures.

I have decided to use a cabinetry style for my project that is inspired by the architects Greene and Greene. They are famous for the Gamble House which is now a museum in Pasedena, CA.

One of the features of the cabinetry are small wooden plugs that get installed over recessed screw heads. They are of a contrasting wood. A bit like beautiful buttons dressing up a jacket they dress up and accent the wood work. But of course I want to be efficient in my methods of work so I sought out a tutorial for them.  You might want to watch it if only for the method of safely controlling small pieces of wood on a router table while you put a profile on the edge. That part of the segment is at the end of the video at 14:30 minutes.

February 10, 2014

Xtra sharp craft knives



I am one of "those" people who sharpen their #11 knife blades. In fact I sharpen them before I use them. Those blade edges feel rough to me when they are new as I am so used to how they  feel when beautifully sharpened. No I am not one of those crazed people who loves the physical process of honing tools.  Instead I have a quick and easy method that takes less than a minute to get the job done. My sharpening tool is very portable as it is the size of a credit card. So if you are heading off to a class or club meeting it will tuck right into your traveling tool bag.

My sharpening system:

One Xtra fine, 1200 mesh diamond coated piece of credit card sized steel. I bought mine at Rockler (see photo below). But sometimes I see them in hardware and sporting goods stores. You must have  the Xtra fine grit.

Remove the label from the back of the card and on that back side adhere a piece of 3200 Micro-mesh abrasive paper also purchased from Rockler. Another source for this kind of micro grit is for polishing out scratches in acrylic (perspex) windshields.

I use 3M carpet tape for the adhesive for the micro mesh  abrasive paper as it is wide enough to cover the steel surface without having a seam but you could also use a spray adhesive. No lumps on the surface under the paper allowed. This is VERY important as you must have an absolutely flat surface to hone the knife properly.  The sharpening card will likely come with a sticker on the backside and you will need to remove that sticker and any adhesive left from the sticker. One reason this sharpening system works better than regular sharpening stones or leather strops is because the surfaces of this stainless steel card are very flat and they will stay that way.

Method: a drop or so of water on the diamond side. Holding the knife so the beveled edge of the knife is flat to the surface of the diamond card and give it 10 strokes or so per side of the blade. Next turn the card over to the micro mesh side, drop of water for lubrication and another 10 or so strokes to polish the blade edge. I get asked which direction to push or pull the blade. After experimentation my conclusion is it does not make a lot of difference. I find I am often using and short stroke back and forth  motion rather than focusing on going only in one direction. That is likely something I began doing because the blade that has such a short length. I also get asked what is the angle of degree you hold the blade at. Only one answer, I have no idea what angle they set the blade grind to be. I just match the angle the blade was ground at to place it flat against the surface. You can become sensitive to feeling it flat against the surface.  Its just a matter of practice rather like learning to eat with a fork when you were a toddler. Our brains will develop the sense of what is right within a short time and memorize the angle to hold it at, then you won't even have to think about it, you will just do it.

Because the #11  knife blade is so short I am really only working along the edges of the card. But if you are sharpening the flat chisel type craft blades #17, 18, etc. you can do those in the center of the card as your knife handle won't get in the way.

 You can wash your card with soap and water if the grit starts to get filled up with metal that you have honed off the blade. No solvents please as they will destroy the micro mesh paper.

Unless the blade breaks you can use the same knife blade for ages and always keep it scary sharp, even sharper than when it was new out of the package :) Some people actually like using blades with broken tips if they don't need the tiny point for cuts so there you go, no waste at all.

Now that my accidental knife point prick in my thumb has healed over while I wrote this posting I can get back to doing the tutorials for the Old Town project.

http://www.rockler.com/ to  purchase the extra fine diamond coated steel card and the micro mesh abrasion material to adhere to the backside of the card.

© Karin Corbin 2014, all reproduction right reserved


January 6, 2014

My favorite sharp pointed scissors

photo from Amazon

It has been a while since I did tool talk so I think I will indulge myself in a snippet of it as I have this tool out for use today.

I have owned quite a few small, sharp pointed scissors over the years. Including the ones all the quilters rave about. But not one single pair comes even close to the precision and quality of a pair I purchased at a fly fishing store. The point of this scissors is so sharp and precise it can easily pierce you so you need to be sure to keep a protector over the tip when not in use.

They have a fine adjustment screw for tension when cutting varying thickness of materials. The finger loops are generous and comfortable since this is a product designed for use by men. There is a little rubber bumper between the loops to prevent a hard, pinching close. Not many companies pay that kind of attention to details or put their manufacturing dollars towards that kind of feature.

The blades are thin enough to sneak in and make tiny snips and the point is precise enough to do exactly that.

Here is a link to the Dr. Slick Catalog page for this item. DR. SLICK CO
These scissors are available from a lot of sources, you might even find them locally if you have a fly fishing store around. But not all fly fishing scissors are of this quality. This is the premium pair in the Dr. Slick line of tools, worth the extra dollars they cost. 

They will always be in my tool box.

© Karin Corbin 2014, all reproduction right reserved