More Paneling Progress...

The Opening Wall....

I Hope you will be happy to learn, as I was, Dear Readers, that my worries about the glue were premature. After several days of "not looking at it", when I removed the books and turned the studio upright, the panels were much better attached than I had thought! Only one short stile was needing to be re-glued. So I finished cutting the top rails and stiles and carefully glued them and the top row of panels in place.

 

Here you can see the pieces fitted before staining with an acrylic wash.

And here you can see them after the staining and the gluing.

Because the glue was "co-operating", 

I decided to tackle the paneling for the opening side wall

 using the same methods.

Here is a view through the opening for the arched doorway,

 showing the side wall doors(on the left side) in the closed position

 and the bottom rails fitted to the uneven (warped) floor.

 

It was much more difficult

 to construct the rails and stiles for these doors, Dear Readers, 

because the structure had to lie on its side so the doors were closed

 in order to be sure all the pieces were fitting correctly.

 I had to reach in to make measurements and fit pieces. 

Here the end stiles are being glued in place, 

weighted by my tape measure and a stack of stones!

And the panels needed to be carefully positioned

 to fit around the center door divide.

Here the stiles have been cut and are being tested for position

 in order to measure the central rail pieces.

Here most of the rails and stiles have been cut and stained.

 This view is through the small doorway,

 trying to test the alignment of the rails.

(They need adjusting!)

 

Here you can see that the end panels need to have a "split" 

down the middle to allow for the opening of the hinged side walls..... 

this was challenging to measure and cut!

I glued the end pieces in place before gluing the entire wall

 so nothing would shift by accident.

Same for the other end.

 The uncut panel piece is just there for temporary spacing.

Here the rest of the short stiles (for the lower panels)

 have been fitted. The alignment of the center rails is improved.

Once again, I carefully glued the lower panels,

and the stiles and rails in place. 

I used the wood glue and weighted the whole with books.

 (And didn't take pictures)

I left it for days!

But eventually I needed to remove the books and stand it up

 to see if the side wall doors would open properly!

(The upper panels on the door side are not yet glued)

The wall opens just as it should!

And the other side too! It works!

So now all I have to do is complete the

 upper half of the paneling for the opening wall!

 Well, that and all the other steps 

like sealing and painting and... 

you know how it goes!

But clearly, Dear Readers,

 I am making steady Progress

 with the Paneling for the opening wall

 of the Dollmaker's Studio!