An 85-year old photo of my great-grandmother shows her in the family’s modest kitchen of their early-1900’s house. The picture speaks to me and I wanted to replicate it in a miniature “room box” / diorama. Everything inside and out, including the box and its wiring was shopmade (by me) from scratch, except for a few minor components. It has taken me nearly three years to make everything; but over half of that was spent designing, casting and machining the stove. There is substantial DMS content in this project ranging across numerous committee areas. I am so grateful for all the help that so many DMS members gave me throughout this project!
Inspiration:
Result:
ROOM BOX:
Box Exterior:
• The box is viewable from all angles. It simulates a vintage pasta tin from approximately the photograph era.
• I redrew a tiny, low-res image of a wrong-sized vintage tin to the correct size/aspect ratio and customized it.
• There is a small hole for the electrical jack (Jewelry disk cutter) (hand-wired from some Tanner’s parts!)
• ¼” plywood skinned with Dynasub aluminum panels (with custom dye-sublimated artwork). Jewelry guillotine cutter, Creative Arts Dye Sub equipment, table saw.
Box interior:
• Interior walls are individual 1/32” thick planks.
• Laser cut floor “tiles”
• Planks, baseboards, moldings, door, and functional window all shopmade. All door/window hardware shopmade except hinges.
• Backlit photos in door/window
• LED ceiling light; my first ever Fusion360 design. Shade was 3D-printed in resin by @themitch22. Brass components/knurled bolt on Taig lathe.
STOVE:
The stove/oven is the centerpiece of the scene, combining machined bronze castings and machined/turned brass parts. The stovepipes are 3D printed resin. It is comprised of 80 parts consisting of 45 unique part numbers. Several crucial skills were new to me so a lot of learning was involved; for instance, teaching myself Fusion 360.
• Resin printers
• Tanabe Kenden and J2R casting machines
• Sherline mill
• Taig lathe
The stove is described in detail in this Show & Tell Post.
A match holder on the wall held wooden matches – the stove predates pilot lights. A rope line held towels and other miscellaneous items to dry next to the warm oven.
• Laser cutter (Zing)
GRANDMA:
Grandma is hand-sculpted using polymer clay, painted with Genesis heat set paints and dressed with cotton lawn (I took a class to do all this). She’s a short, buxom, fat little old Italian granny complete with coarse “sausage fingers”, swollen granny ankles, and what I describe as “nun shoes”. She doesn’t look like my great-grandmother but is intended to evoke a similar impression. (I purchased the eyeglass frames and added lenses).
FURNITURE & ACCESSORIES:
This kitchen pre-dates built-in cabinetry. The modest belongings were stored in a single armoire-type cupboard.
My favorite accessory: a resin-printed juicer! This was my second-ever Fusion 360 design and was resin-printed by @Webdevel .
Cupboard:
• Cherry panels and moldings (miniature table saw, thickness sander, Cameron drill press, Dremel drill press/overhead router)
• Working (sliding) latch and knobs (Sherline mill, Taig lathe)
• Working doors with glass windows and purchased hinges
Chair:
• Cherry components and turnings (miniature table saw, thickness sander, Cameron drill press, Taig lathe and a whole lot of fixtures for all the compound/complex angles!
• Laser-cut pin routing fixtures for the curved back supports and the back
Sink and mirror:
• Hand-built glazed ceramic sink built over shopmade wooden sink mold (with brazing rod leg supports)
• Cast faucets
• Historically accurate copper “P-trap”
• Silvered microscope slide mirror, with shopmade moldings and hand-carved shell motif
PREP TABLE:
The photo shows Grandma cooking something on the stove. It was most likely pasta. She grew her own tomatoes and herbs and made sauce from scratch.
Enamel Pot:
• Wooden spoon (mystery wood, probably pear) – Taig lathe
• Copper pan – Taig lathe
• Water/pasta – resin and FIMO polymer clay
Table:
• Cherry panels, functional drawers (center slide bar), and turnings (miniature table saw, thickness sander, Cameron drill press, Taig lathe, Dremel drill press/overhead router)
• Aluminum handles and feet (Sherline mill, Taig lathe)
• All the accoutrements were handmade except the glass bowl, plastic spoon, and cheese grater (FIMO polymer clay, laser-cut paper leaves, Photoshop artwork,
photo-etched stainless steel knife blade with cold-riveted handle
• I also poured the resin blank for turning the olive oil bottle
Colander:
• Made from silver sheet on (small) Shapeoko (redrilled on Cameron drill press), and domed in Jewelry on dapping block.
• Soldered feet and handles
Laundry and cleaning supplies:
- Painted basswood shelf with self-drawn shelf paper (miniature table saw, thickness sander, Dremel drill press/overhead router
- Bleach and laundry bluing – Taig lathe
- Both are made from two-part resin blanks that simulate liquid inside the bottle
