Simple ash wood mirror frame

A few days ago I designed and sketched on a piece of paper (even though I usually use SketchUp to draw my designs) an entrance hallway furniture set. It is rather a special place consisting of a tall table (with two drawers and a shelf for shoes), a few hangers for scarves, hats and other accessories and a mirror with a matching wooden frame.

I had lying around a piece of mirror that was left from an Ikea mirror that was made out of four pieces, out of which only three could fit on the wall, since the overall height of the four pieces was 240 cm. The size of the remaining piece was 60 cm by 45 cm.

For the frame of this mirror I used 4 ash boards, 4 cm wide and 2 cm thick. I cut them to the desired length: two 70 cm long boards and two 55 cm long ones.

the ash boards of 4 cm width and 2 cm thickness needed for the frame of the mirror — The ash wood boards that I used to build the mirror frame

I used the router to cut a rabbet, 4.5 mm deep (the mirror is made out of 4 mm thick glass) and 2 cm wide, on the inside of the boards of the frame. This way, when gluing the mirror into the frame, there will be 2 cm left on every side of the mirror piece.

using the router, I cut a channel of 1.5 mm where the mirror will be glued with wood silicone — The rabbet made to fit the mirror on the frame

Before cutting the boards to their final lengths, I sanded them completely and beveled the edges. If I hadn’t done this at this time, it would’ve been much harder after gluing the frame.

the mirror frame boards were first sanded and then cut to a 45-degree to simplify the sanding operation — The boards of the frame were sanded before gluing

I cut the boards with the miter saw, at 45 degrees. This step is critical, as a bad angle can lead to a frame that doesn’t close completely. Before applying the glue, I did a final check that the frame closes completely and that the mirror fits in the frame.

before gluing the mirror frame with polyurethane adhesive, I checked that it matches the position — Checking the position of the mirror before gluing the frame

I glued the frame using polyurethane adhesive, since it is very strong. I used a strap to keep the pieces tight until the glue dried. Even though I double checked, it turned out the angles of the cuts were not perfect, but it was too late so I had to deal with it in the next steps.

the frame parts was stick each other using polyurethane adhesive — The wooden frame was glued with PU adhesive

for a secure tightening of the frame I used a strap, keeping in this way the right angles — The strap used to keep the angles square

To make sure that the frame won’t fall apart, I drilled a hole on each corner using an 8 mm drill bit. I then used dowels to increase the strength of each corner. Because I didn’t want the dowels to be seen, I drilled the holes through the short sides of the frame. Those were going to be the top and bottom of the frame, because they are not as visible as the sides.

the corners of the mirror frame have been reinforced with 8 mm wooden dowels — The wood dowels used to reinforce the corners

After the glue hardened completely, I sanded the assembled mirror frame once again. I used some water based varnish after the first coat of primer. Of course, I sanded between the layers to obtain a very smooth surface.

I sanded the joints of the boards and the corners where they were reinforced with wooden dowels — The wooden frame was sanded before applying the primer and the transparent varnish

When the finish was completely dry, I was able to turn the frame upside down. I spread a bead of sanitary silicone to glue the frame and then I carefully placed the mirror in the frame. I waited for the silicone to set, and then I cleaned the excess on the front, using a sharp chisel and an utility knife.

I stuck the mirror on the ash frame with transparent sanitary silicone — Fitting the mirror using transparent sanitary silicone

I then drilled two keyholes on either side, to make the frame able to sit flush on the wall. I could have used a router, but I didn’t have the proper collet so I used the bench drill instead, using it’s highest speed setting (way lower than a router, but it did the job)