Du-Bro Tubing Bender

I love the rush of giddy excitement when I find a new tool and it works just like it is suppose to do! :D If you’ve ever worked with brass or aluminum tubing, you know bending it without a proper tool is pretty much a game of frustration.

Enter the Du-Bro Tubing Bender! =hooray and flourish=

I purchased mine at a local hobby shop called Ad-Venture Hobbies. There are two sizes and this is the smaller of the two — for 1/8″ brass and aluminum tubing. It comes with a few pieces of brass so you can get the hang of it. You insert the tubing into the tool.

Then bend the tool – love the easy work of leverage!

You are left with a nice bend.

No kinks in the tubing. I did try to bend a piece closer to the end, but it pulled and didn’t work as well. So, there is some limitation to it, but I think it’s a wonderful tool.

You can bend it again in another direction.

You can bend it more than 90°, too.

I tried it on a scrap piece of 1/16″ aluminum, and it worked well for the 90° angle. It was a little unruly since it’s not a tight fit in the tool but works well enough with some finagling. There is a small amount of flattening in the bend, but it looks much better than trying to do it by hand.

Update: I’ve tried it now with aluminum tubing, and you have to be a little more careful since the metal is softer and easier to tear. It takes some practice, but you can get it to work on aluminum. I ended up making 3-4 small bends right next to one another to stretch it out a little before doing the final bend. It’s not as clean as the brass, but it does work.

Categories: Tools
June 18, 2012 | 0 comments

Heritage – bathroom finishing, part 4

Continuing work on the bathroom. I finished the beadboard trim I started over the weekend.

I cut a notch to accommodate the pipe running from the high tank to the loo.

I also added a water line with a shutoff valve to the tank just as I had done for the wall sink, though I didn’t think to take a better picture of it before I had the loo in place. Because the beadboard wall treatment adds some thickness, I had to glue the loo to the floor and the tank to the wall.

I shortened the chain that came with the kit, because it was nearly hitting the floor.

I figured the handle has been hitting the wall for years, so I dragged it across the beadboard to transfer some of the paint. :D

The new ceiling board for the bathroom has the required electrical channels already cut so it was ready to install.

Love this room!

I need only a few more accessories, and this room will be complete! :]

Update: After working on the back roof, I was able to finish up the bathroom wallpaper. I added one small strip of trim on the outer wall to disguise the tab and slot that had been showing in that area. I also added ceiling trim along the front wall to hide the slight gap there. I plan to add more trim around the outer wall here, but the height of the bathroom door makes it impossible to add the same trim to the inner wall. More on that to come.

Categories: The Haunted Heritage
June 11, 2012 | 0 comments

Heritage – bathroom finishing, part 3

Continuing work on the bathroom. I had applied the wallpaper on the interior wall quite awhile ago, and I fully admit to procrastinating on the other two walls. I had never wallpapered around off angles like the one created by the interior chimney extension.

I had cut plain paper templates previously, so I used those to work on a new template to fit around the chimney extension.

I had one long piece for the wall and one smaller piece for the chimney.

I first cut the long piece from the scrapbook paper – Cute Little Diamonds by The Paper Company – and applied it to the wall with Yes paste, leaving the small piece on the inner side of the chimney loose. (Note: I no longer recommend Yes paste – I use Wallpaper Mucilage instead. Yes paste has problems with longevity.)

I pasted the wallpaper onto the front wall and then glued the smaller piece to the chimney. Now, that’s a nice seam, don’t you think? :D I’m rather proud of it! I guess all those years of sewing come in handy for pattern matching.

I glued the small flap from the main wallpaper piece in place. It’s not a perfect fit there, but the entire wall is covered and this side won’t be seen.

I already knew there would be sizing issues around the ceiling tab and on the front wall, but I plan to add some trim around the ceiling to hide these gaps.

Once the wall treatments were complete, I installed the outer window. I added a thin strip of wood to finish the beadboard, painted to match.

Since the back of the bird and bee window transparency print is dull, I cut a piece of clear acetate to act as the outside surface. I dabbed Aleene’s Quick Dry glue around the edges just to hold the two pieces together. (Bird and bee image by Flora used with permission.)

I dabbed glue around the edge of the assembled films and centered the interior trim over the image.

To keep the window from shifting in case the glue fails, I added two thin strips of masking tape.

I then glued the window to the wall. Lovely. :D

This room is just about complete.

Here’s the window with the furniture and bathtub in place. :D

Categories: The Haunted Heritage
June 11, 2012 | 0 comments

Mackintosh dining room

Since I’ve taken the furnishings out of the Newport to pack away until the next modern build, I decided to play tonight. Another incentive is the wonderful modern mini contest over at Minismodernas. :D

So, I set up a high end contemporary dining room with the Mackintosh dining set I had never taken out of the boxes. The Mackintosh ceiling light and dining set are from The Dolls House Emporium.

The curtains are a Marimekko design printed on regular paper, folded and tacked to the sides of the window.

The orange dahlias on the table were made from a Bonnie Lavish kit and placed in a Manor House Minis vase, borrowed from Baxter Pointe Villa. The runner is a piece of real life silk wallpaper.

I stitched the needlepoint rug after adapting a real life rug design called Parasols by Thomas Paul. The flooring is borrowed from the Heritage bedroom.

The two autumn prints are Crimson Dusk and Today by Edward Raymes. I printed them on Art Canvas by The Crafty PC and made frames for them. I built the McQueenie miniatures plant stand from a kit some time ago.

The elephant was purchased at the Bishop Show from Patricia M. Wehmeier Miniatures. The turned brass box is by C.W. Lubin.

The sideboard is also a Mackintosh piece. The bird print is Plum Tree Panel III by Rodolfo Jimenez printed on Art Canvas.

The candlesticks are from Patricia M. Wehmeier Miniatures and the squirrel bottle is by Jane Graber, both purchased at the Bishop Show. The green vase is by C.W. Lubin. I made the books for the Heritage library.

I think this perspective looks like it was taken from atop a flight of stairs.

I loved setting up this scene. There will definitely be more modern minis in my future. :D

Categories: Roomboxes and Mini Scenes
May 29, 2012 | 0 comments

Jasper Inlet Light – it has a nice ring to it

The Woodline Victorian House kit is growing on me. After a night’s sleep and some thinking about the lighthouse, I think it would be a rather nice project. I had a look through my nautical image file, too.

I found so many great options for nautical decorating. Recreating this staircase would be a challenge, but it would be worth the effort, especially if it had a reading nook instead of a closet.

Yes, there would be a lot of bashing, but I can now see this…

…as this. More chimneys to make! :D

It’s still going to have to wait quite a long time, so who knows if it will ever come to fruition. But, from the looks of my inspiration photos, I’m going to need a five gallon bucket of white paint.

Categories: Jasper Inlet Light
May 25, 2012 | 0 comments