I Couldn't Wait

One Thing Leads To Another

Once the Idea of a Dumb Waiter in the Doll House had occurred, I simply COULDN'T wait to get started! But before I show you what I have done so far.... let me show you the Facade of the Cupboard House in more Natural morning light. As I mentioned in my last post, this is a difficult color to photograph... primarily because it is Two colors overlaid in stipple effect... in order to try to duplicate the color of the natural stone. The stone itself has a range of variation.... but it generally is a reddish brownish color which changes depending on the light. So this picture below shows you the clear morning light.... it has a grayer tone to the reddish brown .... hard to describe!

And now on to the Main Event..... the Dumb Waiter project!
I began by constructing a smooth metal channel for the box to slide in. I used common aluminum roof flashing and creased it to fit the opening beside the hearth. This was harder to do than I had imagined as the flashing was HARD to crease evenly.... and I HOPE I have managed to do a good enough job of it! At least it fits the space just beautifully ..... as I didn't want to waste any space in this already small corner! Here you can see the shiny aluminum inside the closet door opening....

I needed to make the entire chute in one piece so there would be no seams between floors.....

Which meant thinking UPWARD to the TOP floor of this house.... a floor I hadn't even CONSTRUCTED yet!!

Which actually was a GOOD thing..... because otherwise I probably WOULDN'T have built it until much later after I had done much of the other interior floors.... Much better to get the rough carpentry done now before the delicate parts are added! So I constructed the frame of the Attic floor. This will be where the Nursery and Children's Rooms are, and even though I have ALWAYS imagined this Cupboard House with an Attic built on top...... it is taking some getting used to now that I have built it! It just makes the house look so TALL! It will be a Mansard Roof, possibly even with a Roof Walk and a Tower on top! For now it is just the rough framework.....
but Necessary for attaching the pulley mechanism at the top!

Now that I had the exact dimensions of the opening, I could build the box...... I started simple with some basswood from the craft store.... lightweight and not too thick. I attached a chain at the top.... the kind of chain used in old fashioned pull-chain lights...... it is small, sturdy and flexible and smooth at the same time...... and comes in any length you want them to cut it at the hardware store!

I added one of the end fasteners to hold it in place.... but that hung down too far... so I taped it to the top and then added an inner ceiling to the box, trapping the fastener in place.... hope it works!

Then I added more to the front sides of the box.... the goal is to make it as smooth as possible on all it's surfaces so nothing obstructs the movement in the channel......

This is a close-up view of the box before I stained and sealed it. I left the inside walls the lighter wood so you could SEE inside the box.......

And of COURSE I had to test fit the box in the channel a few times....... it slides just SOOOO nicely!

See, when it goes up you can see the aluminum channel below it......

So we HAVE to test run some DISHES to make sure they fit........(WHEW... they do!)

And close that door with it's TINY little hinges.......

And pull on that chain ........ while trying to take a picture at the same time........

SEE, it is GOING UP!

And UP!......... Yes, I will have to build the front wall all the way up too!

But for now you can see it going up......

And Up......

And UP!......

All the way to the TOP! And here you can see the VERY simple pulley rig I have made..... so far..... I will have to figure out all the fastenings and guide channels etc. as I go........
But first I need to decide whether the chain will be accessible from the SIDE or the FRONT of the house.......! DECISIONS!

But for NOW, it is enough that it Goes UP AND DOWN........

The Aluminum channel walls will hold their shape better once the surrounding structures are built...... but they work SO Smoothly! I think this really will work!

I HAD to show you!

I Just Couldn't Wait