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Small fiasco, almost cried.


~morningstar~

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So..I was doing the R&P portion of the prep work for my Garfield for the walls section of the beauty. I was scrubbing (sanding) the edges and accidentally broke off one of the supporting pieces. (a long slender piece) I panicked. I thought for a moment.. popsicle sticks, glue and wax paper.. and clamps of course, and we're on the mend. I'll have to leave it sit overnight but that's ok. I added a generous amount of glue but not too much to the two pieces. I held them together tightly for about 5 minutes, then wrapped the two pieces in wax paper enough that they'll hold with the two popsicle sticks on the outside. Wax paper will keep them from sticking to the wood dollhouse pieces. Then clamped everything in place. Hopefully by tomorrow, they'll be strong enough to hold up that part of the dollhouse where it's needed. *crosses fingers* I thought the popsicle sticks would help keep the two pieces straight and even. I still have a couple more sheets to R&P. Then I can begin putting the walls up to see how it's going to look, LOL. This is some kind of work, let me tell you. :D The Allison went together much simpler than this is. LOL. :D

What do you all usually do IF you break a piece?

~morning

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Thank you morgansmith. I wasn't real sure, just kinda trying to feel it out to see. I thought if worst came to worst, I could reinforce that part of the wall, on both sides with a bit of leftover scrap by adding some 'trim work' :) :)

~morning

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Thank you Stacey. Opal is beautiful!!!! OMGosh!!!! I will be working with gingerbread trim soon enough, with Le Coeur De La Maison (the Garfield), but I'm going to go slower when I get to that part I think, because I remember with the Allison, that it was a tedious task, the sanding and preparing.. I don't think I named the Allison though... :) Ahhh.. I should get back to work. A few more sheets to R&P. :)

~morning

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LOL, Perry!

I do some cursing, too, then proceed to figure the best way to repair. Yes, the glue comes out, but sometimes you have to think about the best approach (just cover with pieces that can become trim or to splint like MorningStar did or replace the entire piece or even eliminate the piece if possible). Good ideas and thoughts everyone. Perfect example of why this is such a great site/forum.

Good work, MorningStar, I'm sure it will be fine once you pull it off. If the break still shows after you pull it apart, sometimes you can cover something like that later with some type of trim.

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Thank you, CraftyMtnMom. I think both sides of this particular part will be covered with wall paper, then the edge will be covered with trim work so it *should* be ok. I don't think it's going to be in a position to be broken again, but we'll see. If I think it might be, I'll reinforce it with additional flat pieces of extra wood. If for no other reason than to just make sure it stays in place. Lesson learned I guess. :) If it's necessary to reinforce it I will... I could use a couple strips of plywood or even the popsicle sticks. I'll take a look at it tomorrow. In the mean time, more R&P waiting to be done. LOL

~morning

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What I do when a piece breaks? Slop glue on the break, gently cram the broken ends back together, coaxing the splits into place whilst I wipe off the excess glue, wrap a fod of waxed paper over both sides, splint it with scrapwood and clamp it until dry. Half the timbering and most of the window frames on the Glencroft pub were repaired that way, since the wood was brittle and flaky to start with. Uttering *magic* words helps.

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havanaholly, I think I'm in love with you. :) that's exactly how I did it. With the exception of magic words. Unless expletives can be considered? :D I wasn't sure whether it was going to work or not, but I had hope!

<3 <3 <3 <3

~morning

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havanaholly, I think I'm in love with you. :) that's exactly how I did it. With the exception of magic words. Unless expletives can be considered? :D I wasn't sure whether it was going to work or not, but I had hope!

<3 <3 <3 <3

~morning

You already said you love me in another post. There is a reason the word *magic* is posted in blue...

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The piece I had to repair yesterday seems to be mended today. She's weak but I think will hold. I am going to have to reinforce with both wallpaper and with trim. When I'm ready to put the walls up, I think I will see how she will hold (I think she is a load bearing type wall) the upper floor, hopefully it won't be one of the heavier ends. I can't tell yet. I set that piece aside, so she doesn't get snagged on something and broken again. I still have several pieces needing to be removed and prepared yet, so I will work on those today. My boychild is back and forth trying to make rosemary bread and instead of writing down the ingredients and instructions, he's running back and forth from his computer to the kitchen and driving me crazy, so I can't work, because he has to go through my work space..... So I'm killing time until he's finished. Ah.. laptop.. smart kid. He finally dug it out and is plugging it in so that he can finish what he's doing. Now I can get to work.

<3<3<3<3<3

~morning

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I break pieces all of the time but they are wood, so you can relax. They are totally fixable. I use tacky glue if the broken piece needs to be fine I she'd with paint and wood glue if its a piece that's hidden, like a foundation support. To keep the pieces straight and allow them to mend tightly, I use binder clamps to hold the broken area together until the glue dries. I usually leave the piece to dry over night. Glue dries very strongly so your piece will be fine.

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I've become an expert... maybe.. I've had three more pieces break, *two* were french doors!!! One of them even had some of the internal wood missing, so I added some putty, and glue and wrapped the wax paper, straightened it with the popsicle sticks, and clamped it.. Tomorrow, we shall see if it holds. The other wasn't missing any wood, so I followed normal procedure. The other piece was just a smaller version of what happened before. Kinda scary still but I'm getting the hang of it. I have all of the wall sections popped out and sanded, and prepared. Tomorrow, I can start the dry run. Maybe this means I can also put the primer on them... and then the tape wire? Maybe? that might allow me to mark where the wallpaper will go, and the outlets! Holysmokes!!! this means I'm a few steps closer to getting the walls up!!!!!

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

~morning

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For the French doors and other really skinny repairs, once they're dry and you're getting ready to prep, if they aren't stained (and if you didn't stain them before the break, the glue repair won't let you do it now) you miight want to rub a very thin bit of spackle over the edges and "top" surface of it and let it dry really well before you sand it. It might help strengthen the piece for gentle sanding (think acrylic nail board) and it will give you an incredibly smooth surface for priming and painting.

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