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It’s widespread for an entryway mirror to be accompanied by a small desk beneath it to gather keys, wallets, and telephones. This piece combines the 2 to take up much less house and preserve the ground clear. Grasp the mirror low and add a chair and it turns into a compact bed room vainness. The utility of the design veils the unique motivation for constructing it, as a possibility to experiment with geometrically attention-grabbing door panels. The small panels might be constructed from cutoffs. They are often stable wooden or veneer, pierced with holes or carvings. Consider them as a clean canvas to fill after finishing the easy conventional joinery of the venture.
Begin with the field
Mark out a satisfying dovetail sample, and minimize the tails within the sides. Switch that structure to the highest and backside, and minimize the pins. On the router desk, rout grooves within the prime and backside for the sliding doorways. Bear in mind to make the underside groove shallower than the highest groove. Rout a rabbet behind the field to simply accept the frame-and-panel again.
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Glue up the carcase
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After pre-finishing the inside, glue the edges to the highest and backside. A caul with a skinny copy of the tail structure utilized to it means that you can exert stress on the dovetails with out interfering with their match. Wax the caul to keep away from gluing it to the case.
Again body and panel
Measure the rabbeted opening behind the finished field and mill the again panel rails and stiles to measurement. On the desk noticed, minimize the bridle joints within the body elements and rout a groove to simply accept the panel.
The panel materials and graphics are as much as you, however make sure you observe the foundations of wooden motion. The panel can match the carcase materials, which helps it fade into the background, or it might complement the door panels.
On the router desk, increase the panel. Then dry-fit the body and panel. When assembled, it must be about 1⁄32 in. longer and wider than the rabbeted opening. Pre-finish the again panel and the interiors of the body members and glue it up. Then clear up the joinery, sand, and end the body. Match the again to its opening with a hand aircraft and glue it in place. Aircraft the again panel flush with the again of the field. Chamfer the sides of the field, sand to 320 grit, and end the outside with shellac.
Mirror body has two forms of joinery
Sort out the body’s bridle joints first. The bridle tenons are centered within the stiles, however as a result of the highest rail is thicker than the stile, the bridle mortise in it’s offset. To chop the bridles within the prime rail, first mark out the bridle tenons on the stiles and switch these marks to the rail. Be sure you reference off the again of all items. With bridle joints, reducing check items is crucial. When you’ve dialed within the check match, reducing the joints is straightforward.
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The bridle tenon is centered within the stile (drawing above left). However as a result of the highest rail is thicker than the stile, the bridle slot in it’s offset. Referencing off the again of the items, first lay out the tenon on the stile, then switch that structure to the rail. Sterns makes use of a tenoning jig on the desk noticed and a number of passes to chop the bridle slot (above center).
After reducing the cheeks on the desk noticed (prime left), take the stiles to the bandsaw and noticed off the waste, reducing near the shoulder line (prime proper). Head again to the desk noticed and minimize all of the shoulders (backside left). Lastly, again on the bandsaw, trim the tenons to width, being cautious to not overcut into the shoulders (backside proper).
Subsequent minimize the mortises within the stiles for the underside rail tenons. I exploit a router and a mortising field, a way I borrowed from “Fast and Correct Mortises” by Bob Van Dyke. Then, on the desk noticed, minimize the tenons on the underside rail. Chamfer the sides, sand, and pre-finish the inside surfaces.
When you’ve ready all of the elements, glue up the mirror body. When the glue is dry, rout a rabbet deep sufficient to match the thickness of the mirror, the backing plywood, and the French cleat. It ought to depart at the least a 1⁄8-in. lip on the entrance of the body. Chisel the corners of the rabbet sq.. Subsequent, rout away materials for the ends and the highest fringe of the French cleat, which prolong past the mirror to permit house for screws. Rout this second rabbet deep sufficient in order that after the mirror is put in the cleat will lie flat on the plywood backer. Go away the highest corners of the French cleat rabbet spherical, to keep away from eradicating an excessive amount of of the bridle joints. Clear up the joints and chamfer the highest and ends of the highest rail.
Dadoes and grooves
There’s extra to be accomplished on the mirror body: Rout dadoes to simply accept the field and grooves to simply accept the corbels.
I minimize the dadoes by organising fences on either side and driving the router in opposition to the fences. To make sure the router is totally supported, I minimize half the dado after which transfer the fence and minimize the opposite half.
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Subsequent, use a router and fence to chop grooves down the middle of the stiles to deal with the corbels (above left). Match the field into the dado within the actual place the place it is going to be glued, and switch the corbel grooves to the highest and backside of the field with a knife. Regulate your router fence and minimize the corresponding grooves (above proper).
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Form, sand, and end the corbels. They have to match gap-free within the grooves and match to the body and field grooves on the similar time. It can most likely take a number of tries at dry-fitting each earlier than they match properly. The field and corbels are hooked up to the mirror body in a single glue-up. Glue within the corbels first, then slide within the field and faucet it house.
As soon as the meeting is full and every little thing is cleaned up, the mirror might be put in.
Sliding doorways
The doorways carry out and in of the grooves within the field, and so they should slide simply with out rattling round. I make the doorways run on the underside of the groove, somewhat than having the shoulder on the backside of the door run on the floor of the field. This lets you match the gaps on the underside and prime of the doorways, and keep away from the door reducing a visual groove into the field over time.
Mill the door body members to remaining measurement. I set the width in order that when the doorways are closed the stiles within the middle overlap by the width of the stile. When figuring out the peak of the doorways, take the highest and backside tongues into consideration. Lower the bridle joints on the desk noticed, after which rout a groove on the within fringe of all door members to simply accept the panel. Sand and pre-finish the
inside edges of the door elements.
Now lay out and minimize the person panel items. For the lengthy horizontal panels I performed with the concept of separated vertical items that go from narrower to wider and again once more. On the desk noticed, minimize slots within the edges of the items to simply accept splines.
To simplify assembling the numerous small panel elements and splines into one broad panel, do the glue-up on a chunk of plywood lengthy sufficient to accommodate all of the items plus a cease block, two opposing wedges, and just a little further house for the wedges to do their magic.
Clamp one finish. As you apply glue, assemble all of the panel elements and splines on the jig with the 2 opposing wedges in opposition to the cease block (however not but tightened). Set a caul throughout the width of the items, and apply clamp stress on the finish of the caul farthest from the cease block.
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Interact the wedges. Faucet the wedges towards one another (left), filling up the additional house between them and the panel items. This pushes all of the stress towards the clamped finish. As soon as the items are all tight to one another, clamp the opposite finish of the caul to maintain the items flat whereas they’re drying (proper).
Glue the items collectively to create stable panels. Increase the panels by routing a tongue to suit grooves minimize within the body members. To keep away from chipping out wooden that isn’t backed up (the place items are related by splines), use a marking gauge or knife to chop the wooden fibers in these areas. Sand and pre-finish the panels, after which glue up the frame-and-panel doorways.
As soon as the glue is dry, clear up the joinery and minimize tongues on the tops and bottoms of the doorways to suit the field groove.
The pulls are indentations routed into the door stiles. I exploit a round-nose router bit to chop a groove on the router desk, then mix it with sandpaper.
Set up the mirror and French cleat
For something aside from a really small mirror, use 1⁄4-in.-thick glass. Too skinny, 1⁄8-in. glass flexes and distorts, and whereas 3⁄16-in. glass is typically out there, it tends to be more durable to search out and costlier.
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As soon as the mirror and plywood are in place, set up the stops and the French cleat. The cleat acts as a cease on the prime of the mirror, so stops are solely wanted on the edges and backside. Drill pilot holes and countersinks for all screws, ensuring the drilling angle is steep sufficient that the screws received’t contact the mirror. Safe the stops to the edges and backside, and connect the cleat to the highest. When put in, the French cleat must be flush with the again of the body, so its actual thickness is decided by the rabbet that has been routed for it. I exploit arduous maple for French cleats because it’s available and robust, however many different hardwoods, resembling oak, would additionally work.
To make the interlocking two-part French cleat, mill a chunk of wooden to actual thickness however twice its remaining width. Then rip it in half on the desk noticed with the blade tilted to 45°. Set up the cleat with screws.
Mill the cease strips similtaneously the French cleat as they would be the similar thickness. Rip them to a sq. profile, then chamfer one edge to simply accept screws. Nails are extra conventional for attaching stops, however I like screws for the convenience of removing if needed. Lower stops to size and set up.
—Joshua Sterns designs and makes furnishings in Fort Bragg, Calif.
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