# Bella's Mirror Repair



## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Our grand daughter's little brother pulled a BAM-BAM on the mirror frame on her little vanity and it broke at the weakest point. :surprise: 

I am going to replace the broken piece with something new. Not sure yet. It has to be .62 inches thick. Since the broken piece is 13 inches wide, the replacement won't fit through my planer, so I will have to use the CNC to plane a new one to the correct thickness. And I am not sure what material I will use. The existing finish is smooth and white.

Got to get Blondie fixed up so she can use her vanity. :grin:

I have the replacement piece designed in VCarvePro and ready to carve.

Mike


----------



## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

MT Stringer said:


> Our grand daughter's little brother pulled a BAM-BAM on the mirror frame on her little vanity and it broke at the weakest point. :surprise:
> 
> I am going to replace the broken piece with something new. Not sure yet. It has to be .62 inches thick. Since the broken piece is 13 inches wide, the replacement won't fit through my planer, so I will have to use the CNC to plane a new one to the correct thickness. And I am not sure what material I will use. The existing finish is smooth and white.
> 
> ...


Mike, you might be able to make it in 4 pieces and mortise and tenon it together at the corners.
Herb


----------



## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Herb Stoops said:


> Mike, you might be able to make it in 4 pieces and mortise and tenon it together at the corners.
> Herb


Another idea is to pocket screw it together. like a face frame.
Herb


----------



## ggom (Apr 5, 2017)

Hello Mike!

Looks like a good replacement part.
No difficult assembly, no glue.
By the picture it looks like it was made in some sort of medium.

Regards


----------



## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Mike, you got him to break it so you could do another project on the CNC, didn't you? >

David


----------



## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

Any excuse to justify the cost of the CNC.


----------



## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

I'm guessing Mike wasn't looking for alternative solutions, although they were good ones. Like David and John said, got the CNC, might as well use it.


----------



## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Hope to make the first test this weekend. I am going to use 3/4 inch Baltic Birch, plane a little off the back, then run the files to reproduce the broken part. Will it work? I won't know until I try. Even if I take off the outside layer of the plywood, the rest will still be stronger than the original.

More coming soon.


----------



## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Worked on the new frame today. And VOILA! Success!

I assigned part of the work to my shop helper (my CNC) and let him do the work. I admit, I did stand around and watch him to make sure he was doing it correctly.

I used 3/4 inch Baltic Birch and planed it to .605 inch, which is the same thickness as the existing frame. A 3/4 inch router bit did the planing job. You might have noticed the blue painters tape under the work piece. I tried a method a You Tube video describes of using the tape and super glue to hold the work piece in place. It worked great!!! :smile: I provided a link to the video below.

Then it was time to cut the frame.

The first file run was the one that drilled some mounting holes in the mirror cut out and the four corners of the work piece. I screwed the pieces in place and then continued with the rest of the cutting.

The next file cut out the waste area where the mirror will be visible and then continued with the next file which cut the dadoes for the mirror and the backing. When that job was done, I placed the mirror and the backing in their respective dadoes and they fit nicely. Kudos to the designer!:grin::grin::grin:

After the dry fit, I ran the cutout file and the job was complete.

After removing the frame from the work piece, I used the band saw to cut the tabs off and then trimmed the remaining part of the tabs with a flush trim bit mounted in the router in the router table. A little sanding and it is ready to finish.


----------



## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Good repair job, Mike!

David


----------



## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

A little more time for the paint to cure and the mirror will be ready to re-assemble. It looks pretty dang nice, I tell ya.


----------



## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

You need to change your name to MT Stringer, Pro!

David


----------



## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

difalkner said:


> You need to change your name to MT Stringer, Pro!
> 
> David


"Lucky" would probably be a better fit! :surprise:


----------



## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

A great repair job, Mike, and perfect example of how a cnc can be used in woodworking.


----------



## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

And now for an update. This repair is complete!

Today we assembled the mirror, took it across town, and installed it. Now Blondie can get back to business. The finish on the frame is almost identical to the original finish. Everything fit perfectly. I'm happy, and they are happy.


----------



## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Great job, Mike and Pat! And looks like a very satisfied 'customer', too. :wink:

David


----------

