caitejay

I don't really need one, but accidentally made one while laying out my masking tape and thought maybe a doubled-back connection would mean fewer failure points (though maybe it means more?) The accidental box I made was large, spanning from one end of the house to a second floor. If I need to make a T with the tape, doesn't it then become difficult to fold? Because I can only fold in one direction, and I probably don't want to be punching eyelets through all those layers of tape?

Is a box configuration of the tape wire okay (assuming I install the eyelets correctly)? I thought I read someone's post that it isn't okay, but I can't find anything in Cir-Kit's documentation or on the web that specifically addresses it.

Turns out hubby has such a tool, so I am in business!

These both are great ideas - both pre-taping with painters tape, and the multi tool saw. I'm going to employ both. I've got rooms that are going to have four light sources: a chandelier, sconces, and a lit fireplace, so it quickly gets complicated, and I've been trying to figure out what the best path is to tape everything. The painters tape means I can screw up a bunch and not suffer for it. And then the saw makes it easy to jump floors - I wasn't thrilled about bringing tape out over the edges of the floors. It also means I can place my junction near the back of the house, instead of in the front. @Mid-life madness Looks like you were able to use the saw on MDF? That's what I'm working with, so it's great to see your picture.

I successfully made light today! (on my test MDF), so feel more confident moving forward. Now I just have to figure out how to lay all the tape out. I want as many fold-turns as possible (as opposed to cut-turns). I didn't think that planning out the tape would be so difficult!

Yes, troubleshooting was my other motivation - if I have a bad connection somewhere, at least not all the lights would be affected, and I could always maybe tap into that second circuit. Not sure if I'm thinking clearly on this though.

I am about to embark on my first wiring project (tape wiring the Grosvenor Hall), and am looking at putting a lot of lights in. I have two questions - have you ever wired a house where you later felt like you had too many lights in it? I may have 2-4 per room (15 rooms). Does that just make things too bright? Second question - I'm wondering if it makes sense to have two transformers. I'm thinking maybe that takes some of the pressure off the number of lights that I want, and maybe that might make it easier for wiring? I actually am not sure how it would make wiring easier, but I heard someone mention that in a tutorial somewhere and it's stuck with me.

I say forget the tea - pour yourself a big glass of wine, ignore the house for a few days, then come back and systematically test where possible, or re-tape and re-connect on surfaces that are exposed.

Oh my goodness, I wish I had some good advice for you!

Wow, you're building that from scratch? Very neat!!

I make jewelry as a side hobby, those skills came in handy with this chandelier!

Thanks for the advice - I definitely need to add trim to my door - haven't gotten around to that yet. I think you're right about lightening it up - the dark red isn't really working somehow. I'm a big fan of Old Town Alexandria, it does remind me of some of the streets down there!

I had the same problem with a dollhouse I'm currently renovating - it's a non-standard scale, and nothing fit right. I ended up enlarging the window openings and using the smallest standard windows I could find - they're enormous compared to the front door, but the overall effect works out allright. But you could make windows with various sizes of moulding and scrap wood, use transparency sheets for the glass - it would be a bit more tedious than force-fitting standard windows, but it could be done. I'm finding that with my renovation, I'm having to build more components / furniture than I'm buying ready-made, simply for the fact that the sizes are all off.

I made my own lighting for the first time last night - this is a chandelier for a non-electrified house, but it's not going to be difficult to add a hanging bulb for when I make these for my electrified Beacon Hill. Sorry for the bad picture quality, it was surprisingly difficult to photograph! The ceiling medallion is just a decorative wood thingie from Michael's that I gold-leafed.

wow, I'm impressed! Really one of the best homemade minis I've seen!!