WendiesMiniWorld: doors

As requested by Michelle...

to get your doors to sit flush within the door frame so that no gaps are visible where you've added the door, you have to rebate the hinge into the door, just take a look at your real doors at home.

So here's how I did it... Firstly lightly mark around the hinge to be fitted, I positioned mine about an inch from the base, in line with the brace at the back of the door and the mock strap hinge at the front. You can buy working strap hinges that are all in one.... unfortunately I only discovered this AFTER I'd bought mine :o( so had to do it this way.

then cut/slice this section away using a sharp scalpel (I have no idea if you can get proper mini chisels, but I found this worked well enough for me) as a safety warning... cut away from you (not like I do... I am an accident waiting to happen LOL) Cut away just a 1mm depth or that of the hinge you are fitting.

like this -

Put a drop of superglue on the back of the hinge to keep it in place, but take great care at this point not to allow the glue to get into the hinge or it will stick & remain permanently in that position ! (yep, I found out the hard way)

add the fiddly screw-pins, remember, double sided sticky tape over the end of you thumb is a godsend for keeping the pins where you want them!

at this point I go over any raw bits of the door with a touch up of woodstain, and paint the hinge with a bit of black paint, filling the gap between hinge & strap to make it look like one piece (again, you can buy working straps and save the hassle of this bit).

When dry, your hinge should close flat like this :o)

and not be raised at all, perfect for a close fitting.

as you can see... I didnt find the doorknobs! LOL so havn't finished the final fitting bit as it'd be too fiddly adding the knobs once the doors are fitted properly. To fit, I will cut a similar groove from the door frame as done in the first & second step shown, and just apply a thin bit of E6000 glue to the hinge, put into the frame rebate and wait... it takes a while to dry so gives you more working time but this stuff is industrial strength and is much stronger than superglue, so make sure it doesnt get into the working bit of the hinge!!!

I have just had some replacement knobs delivered and am waiting for the paint to dry before fitting them ... and its teatime... and Im hungry, so will show you the final bit tomorrow.

As you would expect from anything thats mine, nothing is 'normal' and all my mini doors are an odd shape &/or size! so I've had no choice but to make my own. I had been collecting coffee stirrers believing they would do the trick but they were just the wrong scale, so following much inspiration from Nina (the tudor dollshouse project), Michelle (Michelles Mad World), and Janice (on being a mini mum) & their wonderful blogs offering advice, I took the plunge, ordered some 1/4" x 1/2" balsa and set to work :o)

Firstly, I drew around the door hole to get a guide, and then started cutting the balsa to size, using a razor saw as recommended by Janice.

I had no idea what a 'razor saw' actually was but was given an assortment of blades a few xmas's ago so made full use of it, experimented with all the ones with teeth, and found the perfect tool to cut with! I then scored the balsa with my modelling tool to get some deep weather grains into the 'wood' as I don't want them looking all new.

When all the pieces were cut to fit the pattern, I used Michelles tip of adding some brown paint to the PVA to colour it, as an added ageing thing; and glued all the pieces together. I had to add a coffee stirrer to each side as it wasnt quite wide enough to fit the door hole but its provided a 'frame' for the door so it worked out ok for me. The balsa didnt stick too easily so I taped it tight with lowtack tape and left it for a few hours for the PVA to dry.

I wanted my doors to look like they had iron studs on the door braces so made pilot holes using my 2mm drill bit and cut small bits of cocktail stick to dowel them together (I also glued them at the back just to be sure!) this sounded much less time consuming than cutting down real nails like Nina did!!!

Hinges.... here I nearly lost my sanity completely!!! the TINY screw/rivetty things they supply with hinges I swear are meant to drive you crazy trying to insert into the holes! LOL the balsa was simple to get them in but getting them into a coffee stirrer type strength of wood..... NO!
So, my 'Tip of the Day' is the same as yesterday's.... double sided tape again! worn over the finger tip worked a treat at keeping them where I wanted them ... which wasnt on the floor :o)

next, the brace studs got painted with black acrylic

After staining with a coat of satin walnut woodstain, I added a wash of grey acrylic and then dry brushed a bit of sap green on the edges of the doors to make it look a little mossy/mouldy like I imagine old doors to look.

Here are the finished doors for the front & upstairs back door.

adding mock strap hinges ... and a little moss to hide where the superglue leaked! and painting a little black acrylic over the TINY brass 'rivets' that I have learnt to despise more than I thought possible!

The finished door in place ... at last! & the upstairs of The Skool of Majick is now a little safer from the invasion of the dust monster.

I cannot do anymore to finish them properly yet, as I cant find my door knobs. I really, really want to finish it all :o( but I seem to have mislaid the smaller hinges that I bought as well and as you can see, the ones I have used on the other doors are just too big!!! (typical of me to now be officially un-hinged LOL) methinks I have put them in the same 'safe place' and lost them! if I cant find them, I may have to get the clay out and attempt to make some. I have the most amazing dragon door knocker to put on the front door too and cant wait to show it off :o)