# Mirror, mirror on the wall ...



## Dimitri M (Oct 4, 2011)

Perhaps it is wrong to presume that every woodworker has had a go on this subject, but for me making mirror frames has been a very long story, from my adolescent days down to last November. Over the years I made several items, and I intend to show here as many as I can find, although a lot of them are gone as presents to friends.

In the meantime, any of you who can link to other threads here on this subject, are welcome to share the links as they provide various techniques and aesthetics for comparison.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

It's good to see you back here Doctor D. I look forward to the links or pictures. I hope you've had a good holiday season so far.


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## Dimitri M (Oct 4, 2011)

*First mirror in 2002*

_*..and a Very Happy New Year to you all...*_

Back to square one: In 2002 we finished building our house. As many of you know, at this stage most of us reach the poorest financial point, as all cash is given to make things as good as possible.

So, a big mirror is needed in the penthouse, dwelling point of my son. All I have is leftover cypress boards, roughly sawn, not two of them equal in any dimension. My tools: a power drill, a router with 1 - 2 bits and no experience (making the rabbet for the mirror made me laugh loud) and basic handtools. How can I join four boards to make a frame? I can't make a 45o cut by hand to fit a right angle joint, no matter what. I haveno band saw, no biscuit-cutter, no tenon facilities. The mirror needs to be a big one, apparently heavy, and the joints need to be sturdy enough to hold it adequately (Crete has common earthquakes and everything I build needs to be as safe as possible). 

I found that if two horizontal boards are joined in front of the crossing frame boards, and are screwed onto the frame from the back, the whole structure will be nice, sturdy and functional. The wardrobe is next to it, so the shelves had to be narrow to leave the wardrobe doors free. Obviously, it is very large (see me in front of it) but the large size is not limited at all by the structure need to be sturdy enough. All sawmarks and woodworm holes are left, a lot of sanding on top, and two coats of satin walnut-stained polyurethane do the finish. Here is the result of the first wall mirror I built. i am very happy that I solved the technical problems without a lot of machinery. It even looks like an interesting new style to me.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

That was a clever solution Dimitri. That is a very nice traditional design. It was common once for mirror frames to have the ledge like that, probably to hold hairbrush and comb and maybe razor and shaving creme.


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## Dimitri M (Oct 4, 2011)

*second mirror built: for the bathroom*

Thank you, Chuck !

(to go on with this story (that's why I started it, because it shows better than anything else, my development in woodworking, what needs and ideas made me create my own style, and what I have achieved with it)

Next in line, was the task to create two bathroom mirrors, identical in size, one for the WC next to the main entrance by the living room, and one for the penthouse bathroom. Here there was pine to use, 22mm thicknessed boards, much easier material to work with. The use of wider shelves created the need for shelf support, and triangular supports were added (I miss the real technical term for them, are they battens?) two for each shelf. The result pleased everybody.

[finally managed to upload pics]


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## Dimitri M (Oct 4, 2011)

*third mirror: mighty and beautiful*

By now, all screw fixations were replaced by through-and-through dowelling with glue, (10mm dowels), from back to front or from the unseen surface through to the visible.

The next task was to build a coat hanger and mirror in the little corridor in front of the WC by the living room.

I decided to make a long mirror, nearly 2.2 meters tall, with the two vertical columns screwed on to the wall, and touching the rim just over the floor. Cypress was to be used, the free edges left where they could have a decorative effect, especially in the triangular shelf supports; these would be made longer than needed, with a bottle-neck like end, where the wife could hang little decorative things she likes (it took me ages to find the appropriate bits, shape them and fix them properly, but she never hung anything there). As the columns would be rather narrow and thin, and cypress is very likely to warp, I decided to glue another strip (3x5 cm) along each column to prevent warping. It proved very effective, and pleasing to the eye. The top rail (under the top shelf) would have to be pretty wide, to accommodate coat hangers for days of many visitors. The bottom rail would also need to be wide, to allow for some substantial things to be placed on the bottom shelf without hiding much of the mirror. The top of this rail would have to be the "piece de resistance" with a spectacular free edge because this area catches the eye.

A closed shelf underneath was made to cover space that was otherwise to be left unused. I planned to make a nice box to go in there. I never made it, but I still have the plans somewhere :jester:

On the wall next to the mirror, a whole plank of cypress with antique coat hangers was placed, to be used by our visitors without obstucting the mirror. The door on the other side of the mirror leads to the WC mentioned above.

Well, this is the result. I am sorry I cannot photo the whole mirror with a flash gun as the reflection on the glass will ruin the photo.

please tell me your comments

D


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

You sure have proved that necessity really is the mother of invention Dimitri. Just imagine what you could produce with a fully equipped workshop! Keep those hands safe my friend.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Your skills certainly progressed over the years and I see you have added a few good tools along the way.


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## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

That's one of those things a guy can point at and say, "I did that." Nice work.

I'm knee deep in a remodel of our house, which included knocking out a wall between the tiny kitchen and a bedroom to make a reasonable sized dine-kitchen combination. This is one of the things on the agenda, just to the left of the double French doors. Of course, that's only after all the cabinets are done (which followed plumbing changes, that followed electrical changes and additions, that followed.......).


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Very nicely done Dimitri. I think you would agree, that within every original design, there is a part of us


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## Dimitri M (Oct 4, 2011)

Dear Chuck, thank you for the term "ledge"; many of these terms I understand when I see them, but when it comes to reproduce them I can't say which is what. The triangular supports I mentioned in the bathroom mirrors, are they "battens"? I did a quick google search and found that battens are the straight pieces of wood that hold parallel columns or rows by being fixed perpendicular to them.Thank you for reading and commenting on my threads as well, you are very kind.

Dear Harry, you know me more than anyone else here in RF,and I am sure you appreciate that what makes my woodwork interesting (to me that is) is the total amalgamation of need, ecology, few technical equipment, stubbornness not to buy tools endlessly, and no rush to finish. It is obvious that with a fine table saw, an ability to cut dovetails with eponymous British blades, and and electronic sander to calculate thinning to 0.1mm, I would make different things. In the Greek syntax, IF and [past tense] make the non-existing, the unreal. So,if I had ... etc ...etc. Finally, I like to torture myself with joining unequal thickness boards, and the result pleases me. Some masochism? No, I just prove to myself that it is not vital to convert most of the wood to sawdust so that all bits fit mathematically. After all, this is useful only to industry, where the cost of reproduction needs to be kept low.And (hope to God) I look after my hands like everyone should, but being an amateur of some age, I don't have to rush to deliver something and I don't work tired, abstract minded οr upset, while pros are all-weather working.

Dear Kelly thank you for your comment. Being in your situation I 'd love to, but all my house is furnished by now. I am sure you will enjoy it a lot and I wish you all the best. My advice: when looking for ideas, I google the item (e.g. buffet) and look at the hundreds of pics that appear automatically; what a lovely free showroom and library!!!

Dear Bill, thank you for being a good friend here at RF; I totally agree with you, each piece we make has a piece of our soul in its structure. This takes my thought to other levels: when I see an old piece of furniture I think of the fellow who crafted it, what satisfaction he got out of it, what he did with the money he got from it, did he wonder if the customers would see on the piece his agony and his ecstasy? Then I run my fingers on its edges, surfaces, joints, and think that he did that many times, until the wood got the smoothness he desired. It is common sense that smoothness turns a board to furniture, and I use this principle very often.

Well ,there a few other things to show you but for now I need some sleep. Have a good time all of you, thank you for keeping me company.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Dimitri, do you introduce yourself as an out of work woodworker slumming as a Dr.? 

All nice projects you cam be proud of. I think the proper name for your triangular braces would be gussets.


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Hi, Dimitri.

Nice mirror collection.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Nicely done Dimitri.


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## Dimitri M (Oct 4, 2011)

Mike, you are absolutely right !!! Am I "an out of work woodworker slumming as a Dr" or an overworked Dr slumming as an out of work woodworker? A professor of Psychiatry, in my student years, said that "it is not always easy to say if a case is a neurotic psychosis or a psychotic neurosis - tha margins are not clear !!!"

Gussets it will be, only the dictionary says the term is used for metal and textile reinforcements. (Very impessive use in Armours!!!). Unless ofcourse, there is some other woodworking term there we do not know about.

Alexis in Venezuela and Ross in Queensland, thank you for your kind remarks.


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## Dimitri M (Oct 4, 2011)

*last chapter of the saga (so far, so good ....)*

To skip the various intermediate chapters, here is the last specimen of this series:
A very good friend asked for a bathroom mirror, much like the one shown here earlier, but with as much free edge boards as possible, measuring 70 x 70 cm. He also wanted an inscription on the top beam, a verse from a greek song we both like very much:
Διονύσης Σαββόπουλος - Μπάλλος - YouTube at 06:40 minutes.

So I learned how to carve with the router (freehand with a 60o lance) and added three more signs on the lower beam: my initials on the left (DPM), the year (2013), and a cypress cone, for the material used. The varnish again proved horrible, although it is supposed to be of a very good german brand (obviously not authentic). Finally, while photographing the end product, I got the artist (!) trapped in the mirror.

Best wishes to you all, and many thanks for all your kind remarks


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

My first response would have been gusset also but maybe bracket is more accurate? 

You would be no better off here Dimitri, all of our doctors (and nurses) complain about being overworked too and they are in great shortage almost everywhere. The psychiatric doctor of a woman on a TV show I was watching here retired and she was on a minimum 2 year wait list to get another.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

That big ole smiles says it all !!!! 

Life is good Dimitri


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