I'm just getting started making my first simple marionette and came across this forum looking for advice.

The marionette is rather small so I purchased 8" fan handles, but I'm stuck at how to attach them together in a cross. What would be the best hardware for this purpose? I'm thinking of drilling through and attaching a nut and bolt, but I'm afraid of exposed hardware since the marionette is for young children.

For the marionette parts I've attached miniature eyelets and I have waxed thread to attach to the control. Does anyone have advice for what knots to use to secure the thread?

Even the mini eyelets are long enough that they'd go straight through the fan handles, so I could use advice on how to attach the thread to the control as well.

Thanks in advance for any tips!

Wood glue should work fine for constructing your control. You can us small finishing nails if you want also but in all truthfulness it is the glue that is going to hold them together not the nails. If a nail is a bit to long then you can clip the end off and then file off the rough bit that sticks out. Actually I would use a thicker wood for the control myself. I use what they call screen molding.

A good solid square knot is sufficient. Once I have all my knots secure and where I want them I normally dab a bit of glue gun on them to make sure they don't come loose. I drill holes in my control and string through those then tie off the knot. No screw eyes really needed. That being said I have use them in some places on the control for different things and again if they happen to be too long you can clip of and file the ends once in. Just as a warning though... they wont work well on the fan wood. It is so thin that they would most likely split the wood when you insert them or over time. See if you can find something a little sturdier.

Thanks for the great information, Shawn! Just the answers I was looking for. I'm off to the hardware store tonight to have a look at screen molding; the fan handles do seem quite flimsy.