Well,
this is the last project for the new addition. I wanted to design and make a mirror that
is a little different than the usual. I don't know if it is "Cape Cod," but I
plan to make one with a Chippendale Mirror outline on the top. [I refer to Thomas
Chippendale, not the male dancers.]
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The idea of the
Chippendale style mirror frame is one I copied from an on-line friend. If copying is the
sincerest form of flattery, then "Thanks a bunch C. John."
The idea came from him, but I have, amongst my many templates, two outlines
of Chippendale mirrors I have made over the last 40 years. I copied them both from the
Williamsburg catalog. The one in my hand is one that I first made for my wife in 1965
— can you believe that I could be that old. The fancier one I made when I got the
Excalibur scroll saw. I wanted to really test that jewel of a machine on Birdseye Maple
with that more intricate design. It did great.
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I have cut a
piece of 1/2" Baltic birch to the width I want. The arrow is at the mid-point. You
can see that the line representing the mid-point of the mirror is a long way away. I will
have to "stretch" the shape quite a bit.
I do know that I want the top corners to be pretty much the same as in the
real mirror.
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I also want to keep
the center section pretty much the same.
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To connect the two
areas, I tried a number of things including doubling up a couple of the swirls, but I
finally opted to keep it simple and simply run a gentle curve between the two original
elements.
With one side done, I will make a paper template and flip it to do the mirror
image of it on the right hand side.
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I am starting the cut. I
have installed the "coping blade" in the saber saw. It is narrow and has 11
teeth per inch. It is designed for fine scrollwork like this.
And more importantly, it gives me a pretty good cut. I am taking my time and
either staying on the line or a little outside of it.
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I did one half with
the saber saw. On the mirror image, I set up the scroll saw with a new blade and used it.
The Excalibur 30" scroll saw is a marvelous machine, but if you don't
have a scroll saw, you can make these cuts with the saber saw, just as I did the first
half.
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I had to do about 5
minutes more rasping and sanding on the saber saw side, but all in all, both methods
worked fine.
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The way I mounted the
mirror was to use a tube of mirror adhesive. I applied "blobs" to the back of
the mirror and positioned it on the wall. I used mirror clips to hold the glass in
position until the adhesive had set.
Twenty-four hours later, I removed the clips and fastened the frame material
around the glass. The scrolled top slid into dados I had cut in the upper section of the
moldings.
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On the Chippendale
mirrors I have made, I have always shaped the mahogany or maple frame stock with a series
of router profile cuts. For this mirror, I couldn't resist using a piece of
"decorative molding" that was at Home Depot — about $10 gave me enough for
this mirror. It has a lot of nice detail that really helps the overall look.
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One last comment about this
project — under the heading of "What I would do different next time."
Look closely at the drawer pulls. They fit the top and bottom drawers very well, but are a
little high for the center raised panel. I think that in the future, I will get the
hardware early in the planning stages so that I do not make this minor error again.
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This "scrapbook
view" really didn't work. There were just too many lines to unsquiggle, but I was
trying to give you an overall view of the area. I couldn't back up enough, so this is the
best I could do.
The total bathroom project was a great undertaking and at times I really wish
that I had let the professionals finish it — particularly in the tiling of the floor
— but with Sal's help, we got it all done and looks much better than this composite
shows. Now, back to the shop.
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