trying to give an old mirror life again, saved it from the garbage truck, I hope

allen levine

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new york city burbs
hope to save this old mirror. It was hanging on my knee wall in the attic for 25 years, took it down 2 years ago and its been sitting behind my buffet unit, just waiting for me to toss it, but I forgot about it.
so I decided to get some ply, build a frame, and tile the frame, then put a cherry hardwood border around outside and inside.
I figured someone in my family could use a huge 3x4 foot mirror, larger with the tile and wood frame.(36x54)
who knows.
I don't own a tile saw, so I had to buy tiles that not only were inexpensive, but exactly square then figure out without cutting tiles, get it to exact size with only cutting the mesh back. Heres where I am so far. Will hopefully get some grout on tomorrow.

thought Id get to it all today, but I had to go pick up my sons flooring and then deliver it to him so he didn't have to pay for shipping.
and ofcourse, while at his house, I got a huge project drawn up for a September start.
And on the way home, from his house, my lovely wife had me running all over the place, michaels, joanns, looking for a light box for tracing designs on fabric.(the woman has officially become addicted to quilting)
cheapest one we found was 109 dollars. What! she wanted something today to start working with, and it was too hot to work out there at 4 pm.
For just one project now?when I got home, went behind my shed, I had a whole bunch of glass shelving from my old store, something else I salvaged for future projects which I never got too. (sititng outside for 5 years)this is a temp build, eventually I will purchase a better light and make a nice box for her.
Took some pieces of ply, most of it extra leftover cut offs, and in 15 minutes, I came up with a box with a light, and she says it works perfectly. Saved 120 dollars with 15 minutes of work.
I guess I was thinking outside the box, or maybe inside the box, or just about the box?

not sure how much further I will get on the mirror in the near future, my son has to redo laminate flooring the entire basement, and do some wall repairs, moldings, all of which I will assist him.
He keeps me busy.
 

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yes, thanx don, Ive made 2 makeup vanities using those HD compact lights, but this was a last second just something for her to use today.
when I make a permanent version, I will use fluorescent lighting and make the box a bit less bulky and more shallow.
this was not planned, drawn, nada, just a brad gun, some scrap plywood and an old piece of glass shelving. A one day disposable use kind of thing.
 
The mirror frame is looking good, Allen. I like the tile you chose.

I made a light box for my sister many, many years ago. She is now retired, but she used that box for years in her work as a draftsperson and photographer. I'm sure you'll come up with a great one for your wife. :thimb:
 
after grouting, I had uneven edges, corners, so I decided to fit each outside and inside corner individually.
fit one piece, use a piece of plywood cut down to same size as cherry frame and fit the next side, and so on and so on.
Inside corners were cut same way.
Nothing was cut more than 1/2 or 3/4 of a degree either side of 45 degrees.
To cover any uneven gaps from tile/grout, I cut the cherry framing with a small rabbet so 1/4 inch covered the top to hide anything.
Mitres are and have always been my nightmares if I have to fit it to something.
Making a frame, no problem, framing something, seems my word is never exactly square, even when I check every step of the way....whatever.

Since mitres weren't 100% perfect, (I believe close enough no one would notice), I added some black coloring to a small amount of cherry stain that I used to stain the cherry, and touched up any spots where cuts were made to make them less noticeable. (The cherry frame was stained and polyed before I installed it)
I remember when my kitchen guy cut the prefinished moldings for my kitchen, if any mitre or cut was off even a tiny amount, raw wood would show, so the cabinet company included a tube of stain that was a bit darker to touch up areas and make them unnoticeable, that's where I got the idea.

the pics here are before I painted the stain onto the mitred inside and outside corners.
And I have not done a final sanding of the second coat of poly, made wiping off excess stain easier or so I figured.
the pieces is 57 inches by 37 inches.
 

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my modified mirror clips, 4 might not be enough, so I need to get another pack of 4.
Sanded down poly, basically finished, just needed to be cleaned and shined, but I noticed since I trimmed off around a 1/16 off the back edge of the inside molding(better to cut a bit wider than needed, than to be too narrow and have to start over), when looking in the mirror, you can see the raw wood, lighter. So I stained the back of the inside molding again, just so it wont be discrepancy of color.
And tomorrow Ill hang it. (got a 200lb metal cleat hanger)
 

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Hi Allen.

I think that the mirror is an excuse you are using to show us your sawstop TS and your Dewalt thicknesser and your lathe and lathe tools as if it they shouldn't be noticed and them appearing on the pics was purely accidental LOL:rofl::p
 
hey, jon, I dropped almost 15 lbs since youre party, and I finally got my sugar under control, its amazing with this heat the amount of energy I have lately, almost scary for me. didn't realize the diabetes was really torturing me. ofcourse, lately, since I stopped my infusions, my eyes are not doing well, but that's a different bridge, anyway......(just brought it up as health issues are always my barrier to woodworking lately)

the mirror is hung. I spoke with my daughter, she wants it 100%, and I told her if she moves into a house or condo, I will let her have it.
I also requested when she has time, that she paint something, maybe flowers, a scene, on one corner of the mirror(she is a decent artist)
I can take it down in a second, and take the mirror out when she is ready.
If I get an offer of 800 dollars from anyone, Ill deliver it locally to them with, hanging bracket included, and my daughter will be out of luck.
Since I don't think anyone is going to part with 800 dollars for a mirror,(I wouldn't take a penny less, but Im not cutting off my ear anytime soon either), Im sure it will hang there until I figure out what else to put there in its place.

I cleaned up the wood frame, I wasn't sure what to use on the tiles, so Im waiting for the warden to get home from work to give me proper instructions on how to clean the tiles.
the hanging cleat needs around 1/4 inch so I attached a piece of 1/4 ply, a strip along the bottom of the mirror so it hangs even top to bottom and doesn't tilt in.
 

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If I get an offer of 800 dollars from anyone, Ill deliver it locally to them with, hanging bracket included, and my daughter will be out of luck.

Well Allen I don't know if your price is within the market but at least it gives me an idea about what price should I put on my pieces LOL:D

On the other hand, I'm glad that you lost some weight and feeling better, it is not until one drops whatever burden is carrying ( weight, emotional or other) than one realises how bad/sick one was feeling.
 
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