Steampunk Wood Floor Progress Continues

Hi there fellow mini makers!

I hope all is well in your miniature world!  (and of course in your rl world too!)

I've continued to work on the Steampunk wood floor, and I have to say, other than all those things I find to find fault with (and I am REALLY good at that!), I am ecstatic about how it is turning out.  I WANT it in my own house!   Do you think it is too dramatic for a two story townhouse?  :0)

I find it amazing what a camera does.  In this case, it ain't cool!  When you view this floor in real life, none of those "gaps" are evident at all.  This is a case when I would really LOVE to be able to "blur reality"!  Sigh. 

Up close and personal, it is still pretty rough...I have a lot to do to bring it to its final glory.  I will have to fill or disguise those imperfections...and I have a lot of sanding and aging to do to finalize the look, but I think it is an acceptable foundation for what I want to accomplish in the room. 

I am especially happy with the wood along the curved sides and the touch of "copper" on the stair...they help to translate the Steampunk feel when viewing the room from the front.  

As you can see, I used a couple buttons from Hobby Lobby to fill in the centers of each circle, which finishes them off nicely.   I also added some findings to the edge detail.  This was a bit challenging to make happen, but I finally prevailed.  

Above you can see the easy part...:0)  I took the findings and cut off the end pieces in order to turn the findings into a circle.  I used a wire cutter to remove these. 

Please ignore all the embarrassing gaps!  They WILL be fixed!

I then drilled 3/8 in holes in the veneer pieces.  THIS was the challenge.  I used a paddle drill which was perfect....but if you have ever tried to drill into veneer...well...it ain't purty.  I went through so much wood...probably twice again what is in the edge pieces..because about half of the pieces broke in two around the paddle.  This necessitated re-cutting the pieces and trying again until I finally succeeded.  

In keeping with my goal of sharing the good, bad, and uglies of my process, I offer the following.  I am afraid I have MUCH to learn when it comes to "inlay".  I now appreciate those absolutely gorgeous inlaid jewelry boxes, art pieces, and floors so much more...  How DO they get things so precise?  It must take much more patience than I have hithertofore developed! 

A BAD case of Gaposis

It is a good thing I know how to disguise stuff.  :0)    When I am done, I promise..you will never know they were there. 

I'll close you off with a little glimpse of the future for this room.   I knew I wanted a piano up on the dais in the corner, and I found the perfect piano music box yesterday when I visited my mother.  I had forgotten she had it. She let me borrow it for a while. 

Alas..it is not mine to keep, so I must recreate it..but see how perfect?!!   I plan to adjust some of the details on the piano to go with my subtle underwater theme...but this is exactly what I had imagined, so it is great to find a model to work from.

With that, I will close off this post...and wish you all the best!  I'll continue to work on this floor and finish it up so that it has the atmosphere I am looking for...and meanwhile, in the back ground, I continue to work on the Grand Parlor ceiling.

Enjoy your day!

Doug S