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In laying out the grill section, I realized that it would be a bear to
measure. Being off a 1/16th could have disastrous results. To minimize this chance of
error, I ripped a scrap piece of MDF to the exact width of one small piece that was
installed. Remember, I cut the small pieces all 4" in length, but once shaped, the
distance between the pieces in place is a bit less that that. It is this distance that I
cut the MDF to. Then, with the side marked, I could clamp the first grill pieces in place.
The blocks also were cut square so they could be used to align the small pieces.
By the way, I started out this way but quickly found that the tightening of
the screws wanted to move the shaped pieces out of alignment.
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This is the setup that worked. I used
the special vise-grips are a part of the Kreg Jig system to align the two pieces. The
adjustable clamp behind holds the pieces together.
Note, that I couldn't use the pocket hole screw that is meant for the
process. The 1 1/4" length would go through the narrow horizontal member. Instead, I
used a pan head sheet metal screw #6 X 1". It worked fine for fastening to the narrow
members.
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After dry fitting, including
adding the screws, I dismantled the one joint, brushed on glue and refastened the joint.
While this might seem like extra work, the wet glue makes if difficult to
align the shaped pieces without first running a screw through the pocket hole. Once glued,
it was a simple matter to rejoin the pieces, with the alignment accomplished by the
earlier screw holes.
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A few hours later, the
"grill-work" is done and I am test fitting a piece of 1/4" beaded oak that
I will cut to surround the mirror.
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The only white oak long enough for this
detail was a 3/4" board which I cut in half at the band saw. As you have seen me use
it before, the Grip-Tite magnetic push block keeps good, uniform pressure on the stock,
making the task of feeding the stock very easy.
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I ran the boards through the thickness
sander to reduce the dimension to the width of the beading cutter and to remove the resaw
marks, of course.
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I didn't have the right size beading
bit but one of the multi-profile bits has a beading section that is just right.
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With the fence and router height
adjusted to reveal just the bead section, I ran the oak stock through the router. The
feather board kept uniform pressure on the stock so that the resulting edge was smooth and
required no sanding.
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With some careful mitering, the pieces
get glued and tacked into place. All that is left is to cut a piece of ply to fit the
mirror position. It will be nice to have it in place for shipping and will be used as the
backer once the mirror is installed.
And—the finishing. My plan is to stain this quite dark, as is typical of
the Mission style, and it will fit my son and daughter-in-laws decor.
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Well, I said I was going to stain it
quite dark. What I did was to first stain the front and back with a dark oak stain. After
rubbing the excess off, it was about as light as the "highlight" area at the
upper right—ok for a base but not the final shade. I then used a dark walnut wiping
gel and after a few minutes, wiped it off quite selectively. I left dark spots in the
corners sort of "antiquing" it. Today I applied three coats of polyurethane
clear gloss.
Two days from now, I will rub it out with 00000 steel wool and wax. I want a
low luster when done.
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This is the
mirror in its new location at son and daughter-in-law's home in San Francisco. It looks
very handsome in its new abode.
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