Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
laminated mirror
John Lucas
>I've started working on mirrors again in between working on the 3 other major projects. This one is birdseye maple with layers of veneer. The veneer is 2 pieces of purple heart with maple inbetween. This one was challenging to build but I have a better idea that will make it easier. When I get it right I'll write something up.
Re: laminated mirror
David Eaves
>Hi there,
That looks really good I like how the lines flow. Nice Maple too, will be interested to read your method when you have perfected it.
David
Re: laminated mirror
Ron Sardo
>Beautiful John.
Can you give us some dimensions?
Re: laminated mirror
John Lucas
>Ron and David
The mirrors I use are 4" so this mirror body is about 5 1/4. I start with a 51/2" blank. For the simple mirrors I use my scroll saw to cut the arcs and then just put them back together with a piece of veneer in between each section. They are a nightmare to glue because each piece is wedge shaped and some veneer (like purple heart) doesn't want to bend. All these things make the parts want to slip and slide.
This new design has real problems with the veneer. The sandwich of veneer doesn't want to bend and the kerf wasn't wide enough to compensate for the thickness of the veneer. I'm going to try to do bent laminations of veneer so I don't have to force the bend. I'm going to try to use my bandsaw to cut the blank because it gives a wider kerf. Then maybe everything will go together easier.
The handle is about 9 inches. It gives me losts of skew experience.
Re: laminated mirror
Ron Sardo in PA
>This clock has an arc of about 6" and has 7 layers of cherry, walnut and maple. The problem was the cherry wanted to crack at about 12 o'clock. I soaked each lamination in the bath tub for about 20 minutes before the glueing them up. After this the bending went very easy.
Re: laminated mirror
Greg W. in NC
>John,
I saw this mirror when you did our Hickory, NC meeting demo, and it was definitely my favorite! (by the way, I hope to get my tips to you this week!)
Beautiful
John Cahall
>Nice job John as always.
Re: laminated mirror
Bill Grumbine, Kutztown PA
>Very nice John! Do yo laminate the mirror after it is roughed round, or do you laminate it while it is still square? I would think that leaving it square would help in keeping everything from sliding around.
Bill