Ladies hand mirrors

Post by **tmerrill** » Fri May 25, 2007 8:56 pm

Hi,
Made these for my grandkids and a niece. Didn't take long and they were a big hit. Mirrors are 3x5 inches so that gives you a feel for overall size.

I shaped and cut the mirror side first. Then made a pocket in scrap MDF and used that to hold the mirrors as the top was finished.

Only issue I'll pass on concern the mirrors. I bought them from Woodcraft and couldn't find out if the glass was tempered. Found a lot of other sources on the internet, but none specified tempered or safety glass. I warned the parents that glass may shatter if dropped, so the mirrors are more decorative now until the kids get older.

Tim

Post by **js11110** » Fri May 25, 2007 9:05 pm

Tim,

Very nice! I bet they were a big hit!! What kind of wood?

Jason

Post by **tmerrill** » Fri May 25, 2007 9:59 pm

Jason,

For two of them I laminated walnut and bird's eye maple, with the mirror side being the walnut. The middle one in the photo is cherry. After finishing them I personally liked the cherry one best.

Tim

Post by **Phil** » Sat May 26, 2007 12:37 am

Very nice.

Post by **AngelicDiablo** » Sat May 26, 2007 2:56 pm

The mirrors at Woodcraft are way to expensive. If you make any more, try checking out www.pennstateind.com. They have good prices and great mirrors. -AD

Post by **tmerrill** » Sat May 26, 2007 6:32 pm

AD,

I hadn't thought of PennState - thanks fior the tip. I get their catalogs but haven't looked through one for a while.
I agree with comment about price of mirrors at Woodcraft. Another problem with the mirrors was the size varied by as much as a 1/16". I stupidly measured one of them and pocketed for that size (plus a small tolerance). When it came to installing the mirrors I had one perfect fit, one too large and one too small. A good lesson learned for me, no matter where I get the mirrors next time.

Tim

Post by **TReischl** » Thu May 31, 2007 3:14 pm

Very nice work.

I have done a couple of larger oval mirrors. I cut a template for the local glass shop and everything came out perfect.

One thing I did learn was that mirror is not too expensive, until they bevel grind the edges. That may be why WoodCraft seems a bit expensive.

Really nice idea you had and well exectuted!

Post by **AngelicDiablo** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 1:11 am

Hey TM, here's an idea I'd like to share with you for your next mirrors. I make a couple hand mirror styles and usually put the initial of the person it's going to on it. I use the VCP pocket texturing technique to get the raised letter. Makes for a nice personalized gift. -AD

Post by **tmerrill** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 3:22 am

Very nice AD. I've added your .jpg's to my idea folder.

I haven't done much with the texturing feature - do you mind sharing the settings you used?

Thanks again, they look great.

Tim

Post by **DavidCousins** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 7:08 am

If you have a minute, how do you make the ourside rounded cuts? Is this done with vcarve, or manually? I think vcarve can do it, but I haven't tried yet.

Post by **tmerrill** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 11:52 am

David,

For mine, I planned to round one side and then flip to do the other. However, I found that shaping by hand on the router table was faster. Also decided to use a thumbnail bit with bearing which doesn't work well in a CNC machine.

I'm interested in how AD did his also.

Tim

Post by **AngelicDiablo** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 3:20 pm

Me too. I do it on my router table. I used to do these mirrors entirely by hand. I made a jig that i saw in an old Woodsmith magazine to help with all the circles parts. Would take me about 2 days to finish. With my CNC router, it takes me about 30 min start to finish. The wonders of modern technology!

-AD