Dollhouse Dormer Part 3

Cutting dormers for the Elizabethan birdhouse part 3.

Today I am cutting the window openings in the dormers using a miniature table saw with a 3 and3/8" diameter blade. 

First thing to do is draw lines right onto your tablesaw top. Use a felt tip marker and  a straight edge draw a put a line across the top that is the same width of the saw blade that runs parallel with the blade. Then draw a line perpendicular to that line to indicates the center of the saw blade's arbor hole.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012

That intersection of those two lines is the center point of where your blade will come through when you raise it up through your panel.

The first two sides of the window openings, top and bottom, were done using the table saw fence against the bottom edge of the dormer. The top point of the dormer lines up with the line indicating center of the arbor.

The last two cuts are created by placing the bottom edge of the dormer against the miter fence and using those lines on the table top as my reference point I line up the dormer to center the blade on my cutting line.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012

Because my window is centered on the peak of the dormer I have used double back tape to stick to temporary plywood fences to the top of my table saw (those are the light colored wood). Now I can just flip the dormer piece  over after making the first cut to make the second cut without recalibrating my position.  Note in the photo that I have clamped the dormer to the table saw top to make these cuts. When it is possible to use clamps I always take the time to do so instead of risking my fingers.

Cutting dormers part 1
Cutting dormers part 2

power strop to go

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012

 More work done today on my new carving stand including a way to power hone my tools for those scary sharp edges that cut wood as if it were butter.

My carving stand was built using a "hide-a-horse", lightweight (7lbs) folding saw horse. I love it, it sets up in seconds but folds up into a very small package easy to store under a bed or in a closet.

Watch the video on this link to see how it works http://hideahorsefoldingsawhorses.com/

 A proper tool stand was made to fit. It is screwed to the base plate, not to the saw horse. The screws allow me to take this carving stand apart and flat pack it. If I wanted to I could then  put the pieces of the stand (minus the saw horse) into a suitcase and fly away with it.  I put T-nuts into the back side of the plywood to hold the vise and used plastic knob screws to go into the T-nuts. That make it fast to take apart but still strong. I have put cork sheeting on the underside so the tool stand so it can be used on its own on a table or desk.

I put a layer of thin adhesive backed cork sheeting over the magnetic, stainless steel knife bar. I purchased the bar from my local Ikea store but they can also be found on Amazon or Ebay.  The length of the bar is what determined the size of my carving stand. I like the stand to be that long because it keeps the C clamps that attach the stand to the sawhorse, desk or table top from hitting my knees. Also it gives me lots of room for hanging up carving tools. The cork sheeting is shelf liner from the Contact brand. You can find it in hardware, home center stores and places such as Walmart.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012

Another chore today was mounting a honing disk onto a mandrel so I could use it in my battery powered drill motor. This kind of mandrel can be found in hardware stores. The honing wheel is made by gluing layers of mat board together.  Be sure to carefully cut the circles so you don't have to do a lot of sanding to true up the disk surface after the glue is dry. Use the motor turning against a sanding block. But to get that chore done even faster turn it with the drill motor against a running power sander.

Add captionphoto copyright Karin Corbin 2012

 The green color on the wheel is honing compound. The wheel does not need to be charged with compound very often, it last a good long while.

Cutting Dormers: part 2

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012

Cutting dormers for the Elizabethan birdhouse part 2.

This time I am using the same miter slot sled jig I made in part 1  to cut a dormer for the back of my structure and also  the two side gable  ends. These pieces are triangular without any vertical side lengths. I have changed the angle of my miter fence using the 60 degree drafting triangle and now the base of the triangle will rest against the fence unlike in part 1 where the vertical sides were resting against the fence.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012

The first step was to cut a piece of material to the width of the base of the triangle given in  my measured drawing.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012

The right side of my jig was cut off by the saw blade so that is an easy indicator of where the actual cutting line is and I will make use of it as the registration for the point of my triangle. All I have to do is place a scrap piece of plywood at the corner where the fence and that right side of the jig intersect. Then I butt the material I am using for the dormer over to that location, remove the scrap and while holding the material down on the jig against the fence I slide it on through the saw blade to make the first cut. I always turn off the saw motor and let it come to a full stop before removing the part from the jig or trying to remove the waste cutoff piece.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012

Now flip your material over, register it again to that same intersection as in the last step (don't forget to remove that scrap you used to located the corner of the triangle) and then cut the last side of the triangle. The peak of your triangle will be perfectly centered across the width and that means it will also be the correct height. This is a very simple method once you get the hang of making triangles this way on your table saw. But if you are going to do lots of them exactly the same size for a production type of product then use a stop block on the left end of the fence instead of registering your pieces it to the corner each time.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012

I will do a post on making the roof cuts for the dormers later, it involves making compound cuts, a bit more complicated as you have to make a left and a right side but  it is  also done with a miter slot jig.

Elizabethan birdhouse

Cutting dormers part 1

Cutting Dormers: part 1

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012

Cutting dormers for the Elizabethan birdhouse part 1

I still remember the days when I did not know how to approach making things like dormers for a miniature building. Lack of knowledge and often a lack of tools is where we all begin. This being a teaching blog I will show you how I am cutting the pieces for the front of a dormer that has a steep roof pitch. There are a number of methods to make these cuts and I don't always make them this way.

The miter angle fixtures that come with table saws won't rotate past 45 degrees but for this house I have to cut a sharper angle than 45. The method I chose  is to make a single runner miter sled for my 10 inch table saw. I have a number of pieces to make using this particular angle so the jig will be useful for insuring all the parts get cut to that same exact angle without variation.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012

The runner that goes in the table slot could be made of hardwood or if it is only going to be used a few times pine or basswood will also do the trick.  I am using a metal slide since I have one that I can unscrew and use it again and again for other jigs if I wish. As you will see I am using materials out of my scrap bin for the sled base and for the fence as well. Actually the plywood came out of a neighbor's scrap bin, I am not too proud to use his leftovers!

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012

As I am cutting this roof at a 60 degree angle I am using a  drafting triangle with a matching angle to accurately establish the angle. I place the edge of the triangle right against the saw blade being sure it is not resting on any of the saw teeth, sneaking it between them, touching only on the flat of the saw blade. I have attached the fence to the base with double back carpet tape, it is plenty strong enough to hold it in place without shifting. I am using double back tape because I am going to reposition that fence to a couple of other angles for other dormers and gables and dormer roofs before I am done with all the cutting on this structure.

This first dormer front wall I am cutting has some vertical sides on it. Other dormers and gables I will cut are simply triangles with no vertical sides on them. I am showing those in other postings.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012

First the dormer plywood material is cut to width. Then I mark out how tall the vertical sides are. I make sure the mark at the point where the roof pitch starts gets transferred on down the edge of the plywood. That mark is going to be aligned with the cut edge of my miter jig. See photo above, it will enlarge if you click on it. This is a quick, simple and accurate method of aligning the starting point of the cut for the sloped roof line on the dormer.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012

The first cut goes just past the point of the peak.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012

Then the board is flipped, aligned to the mark and the second cut is made.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012

Notice how my board is left longer than the length of the small dormer, it gives me good registration against the fence. I will cut the second dormer piece I need from the other end of the board. That butterfly shaped piece left in the middle will still be there for a nice long registration against the fence.

That center waste piece has complimentary angles that will soon be recycled into making yet another miter sled jig for cutting the timber frame trim pieces that will go onto this dormer and on the gable ends of the house. Be sure to watch for opportunities like this because they give you those exact matches on angle cuts that will fit perfectly onto your house parts. I will show you the jig I make from it later on in this blog.

If I was making a dormer with equal side lengths I could have used a stop block on the fence for the second cut. But these dormers are on each side of another third dormer that sits between them and the peak is not centered across the width of the dormer.  You can see the dormers I just cut on the CAD model in the image below. They are on the left and right of the center dormer. Elizabethan birdhouse image below.

photo and design copyright Karin Corbin 2012

Link to Cutting Dormers: Part 2
Link to Cutting dormers: Part 3

Fine tuning for miniatures

The other day I noticed the throat plate on my 10 inch table saw was a bit wobbly, not all of the leveling screws were touching the supports underneath. I was cutting a length of wood that was shorter in length than the throat plate so it became a safety issue and of course also a quality issue. Time for a precision tuneup. I cut large lumber pieces into strip wood down to about an 1/8 inch or so on this saw so I need  accuracy from it.

Not all tablesaw throat plates mount and level the way mine does so you will have to figure out the best way to level yours. But it is important to make sure it is flat and very close to level side to side and front to back.

The first thing I do to the throat plate is make sure it is flat. Then I take a file and flatten the ends of the adjusting screws. The ends of machine screws are typically  rough with burrs around the outside edge left from the manufacturing process.

Leveling can be done with the use of a straight edge resting on the table top sliding it back and forth to see if it hits but that is a rather clumsy and hit or miss method, you can't really see how close you are to dead level. All you can tell is if you hit an edge. Better than nothing though and that is how I used to do it. Nowadays I use a dial indicator gauge mounted in a holder. This is not expensive, you can get the setup for around $20.00 but you do want to be sure you have an extension for the feeler end of the indicator so it reaches the table. Dial indicators are useful for other kinds of tool setups as well such as working on lathes, seeing drilling or overarm router depth and router bit heights in standard router tables.
http://www.grizzly.com/outlet/Magnetic-Base-Dial-Indicator-Combo-President-s-Special/G9849

I start by leveling each end at the center then check the level at each of the four screws, then back to double check the two ends. When finished all screws should be firmly resting on the support underneath with no rocking. On this big saw I leave the back end of the throat plate about  half a thousandths high and the front end about that same amount low. That prevents the wood from potentially catching when I make my cuts.

For precise cuts like dadoes in miniature furniture or for cutting and tiny strip wood pieces or miniature furniture pieces then I use a 4 inch or 2 inch miniature table saw. Be sure you have level throat plates on these smaller saws.  It is not a worry with the Preac or Jim Byrnes table saws as they are designed and made level (unless you bend one) but it can be an issue on Proxxon, Micromark and Dremel table saws.
Since I had out the tools I use to calibrate my saws, lathes and such I went ahead and checked to be sure my table saw blade was still square to the miter slot and that the saw fence was also in proper alignment. I am using the same dial indicator type but a different holder that fits into the miter slot. One of these days I need to make a miter slot fixture for my miniature table saws, no one sells that item.

Saw cuts, drilled holes, routed edges are only as good as your hand control for feeding them combined with the quality of your tools but also it also matters how you set tools up and care for them.

make a stropping wheel

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012

Over the last couple of days I built a homemade stropping wheel for sharpening my carving tools. It makes them incredibly sharp, even the very tiny 1mm and .5mm gouges can be sharpened to a razor sharp edge with this wheel. There is no risk of overheating or burning the small tools. It will remove any minor nicks as well. A local carving teacher told me how to make this wheel.

The cost is low and the materials are easy to come by. The material the wheel is made from is mat board. Yes, it is the mat board you find at art supply stores and framing shops. You adhere layers of it together with a PVA glue such as Elmers. Be sure you cut accurate circles so you don't have to spend a lot of time shaping it into a true circular surface after you mount it to a motor. I did the final shaping of my wheel with a coarse grit sanding block while the motor was spinning the wheel. The sanding to a true circle creates a lot of fine dust so I used a vacuum cleaner nozzle right next to my sanding area to collect the dust. Don't forget to wear a dust mask! After the wheel is trued you can put honing compound on it.

I used 8 layers of double thick mat board in this wheel. I put weights on the stack of mat board disk while the glue set to prevent voids in the layers. Getting voids is a defect that will spoil the effectiveness of the wheel.

I have glued my new stropping wheel onto a plywood disk screwed to a faceplate so I could spin it with my lathe. It is very important to look at the photo above to see how the wheel should be turning in relationship to the tools you are sharpening. I am standing on the backside of my lathe while I am sharpening my carving tools to get the correct spin direction.

What a difference using this wheel is making in my work. I can't get my carving tools this sharp with hand stropping on leather. The tools now glide through the cuts with little effort or pressure leaving a nicely polished surface. I hear that lovely ssssstt noise as the tools cut. The noise that only happens when you have razor sharp cutting edges with polished bevels.

Building the shutters

I have started cutting the parts for the window shutters. They are basic plank board shutters but I am adding some extra detail so they have a little more interest than a plain board does. My boards are being artificially weathered for an aged look. The wood I am using is Western Red Cedar and I have selected pieces with tight, vertical grain. They will be painted blue but the first step is to make the board have a gray tone. You can see the natural color in the groove I just cut.

A groove is cut near the edges of the boards. I want the groove to be the same distance on both edges of the boards so I am using a  jig to control the position. A small flame shaped jeweler's steel burr is being used to cut the detail. My shaper is a Cameron Deep Throat drill press, this is a specialized drill press that  turns very fast and accurately, almost as fast as a router. You can't use router bits or most cutting burrs (exception diamond coated burrs) in most drill presses and get a smooth cut in wood. So generally this work needs to be done with a Dremel or Proxxon motor mounted into a drill press or even a router table. Those machines turn fast enough for routing. Always check that the bit you are using is rated to run at the maximum rpm you plan to use for cutting.

What is important is having complete control over the board you are putting a groove into. I have created a channel which controls the board. The groove will now stay in the exact position along the edge. The only work my hands have to do is push down on the board while pushing it along through the groove.

My jig is  not fancy or complicated, it is built from wood scraps. The fence at the rear is permanently fixed to the base of the jig. The fence at the front is not fixed, I clamp it into position as required. It needs to be adjustable as my shutters are of different widths. Remember jigs can be easy to make and inexpensive. The results you get will make you look like a professional.

Bench Hook

Have you ever needed a little portable workbench you can use on the dining room table or counter top? Have you ever tried to saw something too big for a razor saw miter box and had it slide all over the place? If so then make yourself a "bench hook". Bench hooks have been around for eons, they are an ancient, simple and very useful jig. They are called hooks because they have a cleat that hooks over the front edge of a work bench or table or counter top.

There is certainly not much involved in making one of these. You will need a flat board and nice straight wood to make the cleats. One cleat is on top at the rear of the top, the other goes underneath the front edge. Be sure to keep the top cleat shorter than the length of the board you glue it to so the saw can clear the cleat. I have left room on both the left and right side of the cleat. Cleat boards are easy to make from 1" x 2" lumber. I have used a leftover piece of Baltic Birch plywood for my base since it was lying around unused. I make sure my top cleat has a truly square 90 degree cut on the ends so they can be used a guides for a flush razor saw that has no tooth set. That type of saw won't cut into the cleat that is guiding it. You could make the other end of the upper cleat a 45 degree angle for a miter cutting guide.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2010

I have spray glued some rubber drawer liner to the bottom side of mine. That will protect the table top or counter top I use it on from scratches. It will help the bench hook grip to the surface I am using it on which will make working with it easier.

Look Mom no clamps to screw and unscrew! Need to stop to make and eat dinner and your project is in the way? It is easy to pick up the board with the project still on it and set it aside until you can get back to work.

How they work is simple, if you are using a saw that cuts on the stroke that pushes away from your body or using other tools that you push away from you such as chisels then the force of the tool keeps the bench hook in position. Of course you are not limited to just those tasks, you can use them for cutting boards with knives or for light duty hammering tasks. Make one with a Formica (laminate) covering on the top, wax the Formica and you can glue or paint projects on top of  your bench hook.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2010

In the photo above I have placed a board I am going to cut against the rear cleat lining up the cut mark with the end of the cleat. Next I clamped a piece of plywood in place that lines up with the edge of the rear cleat. That clamped wood will do two things for me, first it keeps the wood I am cutting from shifting around so much, second it gives me a square edge to guide my razor saw against. I did not care that my scrap plywood had a hole in it or that it looks ugly, what matters is that there is an accurate 90 edge to guide my saw against.

See the bucket in the photo below? Just think of all the potential jigs for making miniatures that are hiding in there! With a few buckets of leftover wood, some glue, brads and a few screws you can create so much for so little money. There was that scrap of plywood with a hole in it sitting right on top.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2010

Surfacing the soapstone

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2010

I thought you might like to see a photo of the method I am using to smooth the band saw marks off the surface of a thin piece of soapstone. The tool in the drill press chuck is a 1/8" diameter shank, diamond coated bit. I do use a dust collector when surfacing the stone but I removed that so it was easy to see the stone and the bit. I only remove around a 1/16" of the surface in a pass, sometimes less when I get close to the final dimension. Too aggressive of a cut risks breaking the stone.

You can do this task on a regular drill press, even on a Dremel Drill Press if you have a speed control on your motor. Diamond coated bits are not rated for high speeds. Don't exceed the recommended speed stated for the bit you use. Only do this for soapstone, hard stones need to be water cooled while surfacing and you will ruin a regular drill press or Dremel if you get water in it.

The drill press I am using in the photo is a Cameron, high speed, precision, deep throat. This drill press does not look like much, in fact it looks rather old fashioned and well let me be honest...ugly. But it was one of those very lucky finds of a lifetime that one hears about. There it was sitting all dusty and somewhat rusty, on a low shelf in a local consignment store selling used tools. It was the former property of a Boeing engineer who had it in his home workshop where he probably tinkered with making prototypes of his own inventions and made his own circuit boards. Once in very great while they show up used on Ebay. The Cameron drill presses run fast enough that one can use them as a miniature overarm router and the spindle is so precise in the bearings, with very minimal run-out, that you can use the smallest of drill bits without breakage. These are actually a three speed drills press and a speed controller can be added to take the lowest speed even slower. It certainly deserves a place on the wish list for a dream workshop for making miniatures. You can still buy new Cameron drill presses but they are very expensive and probably not in most miniature workshop budgets. Used is a viable option as the Cameron company has very good customer service should you need repairs or parts.

Cutting soapstone tiles

I am back to working on the fireplace. It has a lot of soapstone elements to it. For the apron of the fireplace I needed a few tiles that will be inset into the flooring. Like any fireplace hot wood cinders can come flying out and one needs a fireproof apron in front of the fireplace.

Making the stone tiles involved a number of steps. First I had to thickness the stone. I had previously cut some stone slabs on the band saw. I then made a smooth surface on the slabs with a drill press into which I mounted a diamond coated burr with a flat bottom. That milled off all the bandsaw marks on both sides and gave me a flat piece of stone to work with. Then I made the side edges square, the first long side was sanded smooth, the second side ripped square on the table saw and then it was rotated and I used the tablesaw on that first sanded side. I did not care that the narrow ends of my slab were irregular although I could have used the crosscut miter to square them off. I am stingy with my stone and keep the leftover pieces as large as possible for future use.

Now comes ripping it into thin strips. Relatively thin, too thin and the stone breaks apart. I will rout out some of the wood flooring to inset these stones and hide some of that extra thickness in the final installation.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2010

I wanted to rip the thin strips on the outside of the saw blade. If I had tried to rip them between the blade and the fence they would have shattered from the stress. To get all the strips the same thickness I created a quick and easy to make gauge.


My jig is just a piece of scrap plywood and a piece of scrap lumber that is double back taped to the bottom side of my purpose made jig. To use it you index it to the side of the table saw top, push your wood or in this case stone against it, then move the fence over to your material and lock the fence in place. Then remove the jig, rip the strip and repeat the indexing sequence for the next strip. You will see that underneath indexing position in a photo lower on the page.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2010

It takes next to no time or any special skill to make one of these jigs. I simply set the material I was cutting into the correct position for the strip width, locked the fence down. Then I butted the plywood against the material and reached underneath and stuck the taped wood under the plywood overhang making sure I had the strip right against the edge of the saw's table top. No measuring needed to make this jig other than making sure you have the right width for your strip. You can make this jig for any of the miniature saws. On the Proxxon or Microlux tilting arbor saws be sure to move over the plastic table  top extension so you can index to the metal table top. The miniature saw in my photos is from Byrnes Model Machines. Soapstone turns to talcum powder during cutting, it won't hurt the table saw or the blade.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2010

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2010

Once I had my long strips made I cut them into the right length using my miter box. Use a stop block so all your tiles turn out the same size. I dressed any ragged edges on the stones with a small file before cutting the next tile from the strip. If I had a projection of ragged stone or any saw dust against my stop block then my tiles would not have been the same size. One of my tiles cracked right after I cut it, that was lovely since old stone tiles do get cracked. Perhaps someone dropped a pot on it or a chunk of firewood.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2010

Auxilliary Fence

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2009

I did not find any C shaped brass channel of the size I needed on my shopping trip to the stores. However I did find some square tubing that could be made into C channel. 

Brass is somewhat dangerous to cut and drill. It is soft and the bits of material being cut will bind up in the drill  flutes and saw and even clog up your files. Because it will grab and bind on the tools it can spin out of your control and damage the part and you.

Working with small pieces of any type of material requires being able to control the material so it does not move in directions you don't desire. For this particular operation I created a purpose made auxiliary fence. Nothing special about making it just a piece of scrap plywood with a notch cut into it that I sized to fit snuggly around the brass tube I wanted to trim.

I clamped that purpose made fence to my normal table saw fence and from the back I pushed the brass into the saw blade. When I had a long enough cut (less than an inch) I pulled back on the brass tube to pull the piece back out of the saw blade instead of trying to push it on through. I don't need long lengths for my parts. If I had to cut long lengths I would need to make a second auxilary fence that was clamped behind, but clear of the saw blade. A long skinny length of material tends to whip around and lash back into the saw blade and of course knocking into the teeth on the saw blade would ruin the part.

In the photo below you can see the backside of the auxiliary fence and the cut I made into the brass tubing. It is a very simple cutting task but a potentially dangerous one for injury to hands and fingers.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2009

I will do any filing and drilling work to this piece before I separate my new C channel from the long length of brass tubing. It is good to have a nice built in handle. I will also use that advantage to clamp the piece to my drill press table so it does not spin out of control. This channel will hopefully become part of a catch for my window locking system. My reference book "The French Farmhouse" calls the type of latch an "espagnolette". I will be making a very basic, no frills version, of that locking bar system.

Creating holding fixtures so you can work with small pieces of materials is a skill dollhouse builders must develop. If you needed to modify a small piece of commercial, strip, basswood and safely run it through a saw or router you can use the same type of technique of making an auxiliary fence that I used to resize my brass tubing.

Squaring Up Assembly Jig

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2009

Yet, once more you see a jig made out of odds and ends of leftover small pieces of materials from my workshop and you will keep on seeing them. It is the green thing to do, recycling at its best and it saves money.

I needed to square up and assemble the pieces of windows. The two white melamine strips are glued and tacked to a piece of plywood. They did not need to be melamine, its just what was handy in my scrap box today.  They are nicely square at 90 degrees, that is what is important, that the edges be 90 degrees so if I had to clamp upright pieces against them my parts would sit square to the base. I used a large, professional quality, drafting triangle to help align that corner.  That drafting triangle helps me setup all kinds of fixture and fences for dollhouse work. Glue and tack one strip to the plywood, then put glue on the second and using the drafting triangle as a guide clamp it and let it dry. You can add brads after it dries if you think they are needed.  One caution sometimes glue lets pieces that are clamped creep out of position so keep an eye on it and while it is still wet gently tap it back where it belongs. A fast way to get rid of glue creep is to rub the two glued surfaces together, the friction heats the glue so that it kicks off more quickly. A thin layer of glue evenly spread is better than a thick layer because it won't tend to creep. That is important to remember when you assemble wood pieces.

To clamp the pieces into the corner I use more cut off pieces of wood to the push the window components into that squared up corner.  Those pieces also need to be nice and square. One of the pieces of wood I grabbed is my push stick for the small table saw. It fit in there and why cut something when it was right by my hand at the right time? It will go right back to being a push stick shortly. Did it surprise you to see me using those big clamps to do a delicate glue-up task? They don't have to touch the miniatures, they are simply holding the pieces that are applying the gentle pressure on my window parts.

This is jig building at its most basic for a very basic and frequently required task.  Part of the reason for creating this blog is to show some of the behind the scenes dollhouse building work that is not in books or magazines. If you want to start building and don't have a background in making things it helps to watch over someones shoulder now and again. Just remember there are hundreds of ways of doing the same thing. I don't use the same way all the time, it varies depending on my mood, materials on hand and if I am in the mood to play engineer or mad scientist and try something new.

Proxxon Miter Saw Fence

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2009

The Proxxon KGS80 Miter Saw is a very nice size for many task when scratch building a dollhouse. Not for the tiny strip wood pieces but great for things like window and door frames, flooring strips and such. However as it is out of the box it is going to launch any small pieces you cut all the way across the room. It is a powerful saw for its size. Good luck finding anything small in the back room of my workshop and of course the parts can be damaged by the journey and landing.

To make repetitive cuts of strips of wood an easier task I built a fence out of hardwood. Now my cut off pieces stay right there on the fence and I don't have to go hunting for them. My custom fence is sized to fit into the existing clamp on the saw. I did not want to modify the miter saw as it is very good for cutting pieces of non ferrous metals in it's standard configuration. The fence is a piece of 3/4" thick poplar wood that is cut to fit into the clamp opening. It is a little tricky to fit the fence in under the motor and on into the clamp, you will have to mess around with the design making adjustments as you go. Do worry a great deal about getting the fence on the back nice and square to the saw blade so it makes perfect 90 degree cut.

I had not used the saw for a while as I knocked off part of the back fence during the move last year. But since I had been ripping strips of hardwood and had plenty of extra it was a quick repair with that rubbery superglue. Now I am back in action again, whew, that feels good. I really like this saw.

If you are going to make a setup like this for your saw keep in mind that the rear wood fence needs to be short enough for the motor of the saw to come all the way down. Look at the photo, you will see the approximate height you need.

photo copyright Karin Corbin 2009

I made my fence base so it extended out further to the left so I can clamp on stop blocks. A long stop block will reach in quite a ways towards the center.

It is very important for your safety that you need to know the correct way to use miter saws with stops. You must secure the wood you are cutting some place between the saw blade and the stop block. If you don't the wood will get into a pinching situation and the part can be damaged and so can you.  Sometimes there is room for your fingers to do the clamping but don't take foolish risks. The eraser end of a pencil gets where fingers won't but sometimes even that is too big.  You can make other kinds of  custom hold down pieces as needed. When it is impossible to get in there with any kind of a clamp make a removable stop. Secure the work on the other side of the blade instead where you can get a grip on it.

You can find out more information on the Proxxon KGS80 by clicking "HERE"

Cutting thin strips on tablesaw

The best way to safely cut thin strips on a tablesaw is to set up a gauge on the side of the blade opposite the fence. The gauge must be in front of the saw blade not in the cutting area of the blade where it would create a dangerous pinch and kickback situation. Note that I am using a push stick for safety as I have the blade guard removed. The saw shown in these photos is a Jet 10" cabinet saw.

The wood you are going to cut is set against the gauge and then the fence is moved over to the wood to be locked in position against it.


I have used a magnetic block on my steel table top as my gauge in these photos. It is just short enough not to bind the wood as I am cutting. I have it slightly angled so only a point is making contact with the wood. Another way of doing this is to have a gauge located onto a piece that is a snug fit in the miter slot. Set the wood against it, locate and lock the fence, then remove the gauge before you make your cut.

Rockler makes a jig for thin strip cutting. It is OK but I think there is a little too much play in the slide and it needs shimming. You can make something adjustable for yourself that fits into the miter slot. If you have only a small point of contact you don't have to remove the gauge.


I will be using the strips I am cutting today for making close studding on a timber framed dollhouse. The strips will be cut to width on a band saw and they will be textured before I glue them to the structure. You can see close studding on the real half timber structure in the photo below.

Bosch Colt custom router table

A few years ago the Bosch tool company came out with a new, small sized, 1/4" router, the Bosch Colt. There is a variable speed model and it is micro height adjustable, a perfect router for dollhouse building. Having read great reviews about it I decided to purchase one. I liked it so much I gave my friend Don one for his birthday. He liked it so much he designed a custom router table for it to do prototyping jobs for his business. Then he gave me one of his custom tables for my birthday. Nice!

This router table is laser cut from Delrin plastic with a backer of Baltic Birch Plywood. The plywood provides additional stiffness, acts as a backer for the removable throat plates and also adds extra length for clamping to a workbench. One of the great features of this custom table is the replaceable custom throat plates. Having those allows me to create zero clearance around any bit that will fit the router. While I don't have it installed in the photos shown I can also use wood strips screwed to the router fence to create a zero clearance fence opening around a router bit. No the photo does not show zero clearance in action, much too big of a gap around the bit, I was in a hurry to snap some shots and did not have time to size a plate for those particular bits. Oh well, I am lazy some days. I took these photos several months ago and don't feel like redoing them.

Zero clearance is very important when working with tiny parts to provide good support for the parts you are cutting. Also it prevents the leading edges of parts from catching on the far side of the fence as you are pushing a piece along the fence.There is also a movable component for the fence that I don't have shown in the photo as it is not yet finished. It is made from wood and will slide open or closed for a tight fit around the bit.

The next item I will make for this router table is a clear dust collection fitting over the bit which will provide safety for fingers while getting the sawdust out of my face.

By using a collet reducing bushing I can use 1/8" shank bits in my 1/4" shank router. You can buy these reducer collets from Stewart MacDonald http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Routing_bits/Adapter_Collet.html

In the photo below you can see me using my router table with a router bit that has a bearing on the top of it. These are sometimes called pattern following bits. This allows me to follow a template accurately. That is a window opening being cut into an Acorn Cottage wall. The template window opening was made with a scroll saw. After the template is double back taped to your wall you drill a starter hole for the router bit in the area of the window opening. Once the window opening is cut I can quickly square up the two lower corners with my flush cutting razor saw. Routers can't cut square inside corners.