Building the Wall Mirror

Once again, I have sifted through my stash of recycled timber to find suitable lengths from which to make the mirror.
It will be a simple affair with a touch of Greene and Greene in the design.
I found some lengths of well aged silky oak that had once been the frame of a cupboard door.
It was either originally made with unseasoned timber, or it was made none too carefully.
The lengths were neither straight nor evenly dimensioned.
They needed truing and squaring.

This piece had a hollow edge and had to be jointed before it could be ripped to width.
To help the number 8 plane remain at 90 degrees to the side during the cut, I used a Stanley jointer fence.  Because of the depth of this fence, the board had to be planed before ripping or it would foul on the vice on the way through.  Jointing before ripping also provides one true edge to run against the table saw fence.

Once ripped, the four sides are cut to length and the ripped edges are also jointed. Not as simple this time because the wood is too narrow for the jointer fence to pass the vice, so it must be removed.

Without the fence, it is important to continually check that the edge is square.

It is too easy to tilt the plane during the cut, creating a rise on one side.

All four boards need to be squared and trued in this way.

Some of the scars left over from the board's previous life.

The cupboard door had been assembled with dowelled joints - and just like tattoos, the marks are there forever.

These are unsightly and I will remove this section and fill it with a piece from a suitable offcut.

First step will be to cut the mortise.

Once the size of the mortise is established, then the appropriate sized filler piece can be cut to match..

This will be glued in place and planed back flush.

Before banging away with the mortise chisel, it is best to cut the sides with a paring chisel, so that the possibility of tear-out is minimised during the mortising operation.



This is an old Stanley - perfect for this job.

Righteeo - here we go.
The mortise chisel matches the width of the mortise for size.
Go at it and clean out that hole.

Next steps will be cutting the plug to size and gluing it home.

More next time.