Thread: dollhouse stairs - any tips?

G'Day "ghostgirl",
I built a dolls house for my girls when they were little but no stairs, sorry.
You could use some "CCA" glue / super glue for quick results,
but there's no room for mistakes at all.
Maybe lay it all out and do a dry run to see how it goes together before you glue.
Personally I'd just use some good quality PVA glue and a clamp.
Also give yourself a good amount of time & space to do the fiddly jobs.
Hope that's some help.
Cheers, Crowie

PS - Maybe a photo from what your trying to do would help with more feedback!

Welcome to our little corner. While I have not built a dolls house yet. No granddaughters . ( Yet ).

Sometimes we are quick to adapt the latest model of everything when the tried and true will do the job perfectly well and cheaper. For what you are doing where there will be no stresses applied I would consider using just ordinary Contact cement. if you want it to glue quickly just apply to both contact points, move it around a bit and then pull it apart until it becomes tacky and then rejoin again.

Doing it this way you have a small amount of time to adjust. But to be safe if you have not done it before try it out on two pieces of wood roughly the same dimensions of what you are gluing. You want as few surprises and " OH Buggars " as possible.

As Crowie has said ordinary white PVC glue is more than suitable but you will need to clamp lightly to hold in position. The contact cement ( glue ) comes in a tube and I have found the ones in a Two dollar shop are more than suitable for what you need.

I always have some in my shed and I might only use it a few times a year but for $2.00 the shed budget can afford that. If you go the contact glue way make sure you have some Mineral Turps on hand to wipe off with a rag any excess that might squeeze out of the joint.

Pete

ps.

Re reading, I see it is from a kit form. perhaps you may be able to tell us what material the dolls house is made of. i am thinking it is MDF if so what Crowie and I said will be ok. If it is Masonite then I think the Contact glue way might be the go but try to do a test. Maybe their is some offcut in the kit to practice on. Sometimes the kits have direction saying what glue they recommend also.

I have messed a lot with doll houses and similar construction. For the most part, I use a yellow wood workers glue. No particular brand, just what I happen to pick up.

Clamping glued parts is sometimes a problem. I use a lot of plastic clothes pins. i use plastic so the glue does not stick to them. I also have a box of push pins--the things you stick items on a cork board with. Sometimes just sticking the two pieces together with the stick pin is enough. I always use construction adhesive for shingle roofs. Lots of time to adjust and the result is a very solid long lasting solution.

Do not forget other simple clamping methods, rubber bands and masking tape are two that come to mind.

Ghostgirl,
I've messed around with modelling for most of my time on this earth - not dolls houses though - but most other things at one time or another

Are the kits timber or plastic?

Whatever they are I'd steer away from a contact cement - to hard to clean up any squeeze out and it creates sticky "strings" that get on everything.

It really depends on how fiddly the bits are - are there separate treads or are they a bit more "macro" than that?

If it's plastic I'd be using the airfix cement you get from the local hobbyshop or maybe superglue but you only get one go with the latter - same goes for timber.

If it is timber I'd be using a white PVA glue like aquadhere which dries clear and is easy to clean up

Just my 2 cents worth


Ian

I used a PVA glue on the timber dolls houses I have made. The staircase is always fiddly
I guess you could use 5 minute Epoxy resin which gives you a little time to get things aligned before the glue sets. Problem with that is you have to make up very small quantities at a time otherwise it sets before you can use it. I have used the 5 minute Epoxy resin glue from the El-Cheapo store and found it to be excellent and much cheaper than some of the other brands.
Good luck with your project.

Thank you all of you, you've all been very helpful!

The stairs are timber, all separate treads and posts etc. You have all come up with plenty for me to go on, (fantastic tips!) and it's great to know that the cheapo glues etc work just as well - could be using lots of that.

Thanks again

Kathy

I even use a combination of glue for certain joints. I use the yellow or white glue and let it set till dry. Then I soak the joint with the instant glue. It soaks into the joint and dries, but seems to make a more solid joint than eith glue alone.

Hard to describe where I use the two, but I made some miniature chairs. They did not seem too stable just using the yellow glue, so after a while I soaked the joints with the instant type glue. In my own mind it made sense, may not to any one else.

Good tip Stolz.

I have done the same on occasions. But often forget about it too. Thanks for helping to keep it fresh in my mind.

ps

Welcome to our little Play school.