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| by:
Ken Tunnard
photos: Christopher Campbell
illustration: Len Churchill |
CHOPSTICK MIRROR |
| Build
this Asian-inspired design with wedged tenons |
The inspiration for this mirror came during my first year in
the Sheridan College furniture program, in southern Ontario,
back in 1995. I’d seen wedged mortise-and-tenon joints
in textbooks, and tried to incorporate them into a mirror. I
revisited that old design this past January, when I worked out
the details and built a new frame from cherry.
Cherry
is a straight-grained hardwood and one of my favourites. It
has a fine texture, it’s a breeze to work with and it
darkens naturally over time.
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| Create
a hint of Japanese style with this cherry mirror
made with wedged mortise-tenon joints |
|
Select
two-inch-thick stock for the mirror stiles, the sides of the
frame. This allows enough wood to rip the wedges—the chopsticks—from
the same pieces of wood as the neighbouring stiles, for an ideal
grain match. The wedge-shaped chopsticks’ final thickness
is about 1/4"; the stiles measure 15/16" x 1 1/4".
You can make the rails from one-inch-thick rough stock, milled
down to 13/16".
Plane the stiles and rails to
finished dimensions, then cut to size. Use scraps to test various
machine setups as you go. Machine the mortises in the stiles
using a handheld router fitted with an upcut spiral bit and
a fence. You can simply lay out the mortise locations on the
stiles in pencil, then clamp the two stiles together on your
bench and get to work.
Both rails have tenons on each
end. Cut these with a straight bit in a table-mounted router.
A backer board ensures a safe, square cut: it supports the back
edge of the rails as they slide over the bit. The extra wood
along the trailing edge of the cut also prevents tearout as
the bit exits the rail. I attached a raised grip to make my
backer board more comfortable.
Clean up the tenons using a file,
chisel and sandpaper. Don’t roundover the edges. Cut the
routed grooves for the mirror now. A 1/8"-dia. bit leaves
clearance for 3-mm glass.
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| Tight,
neat joinery is showcased in this project. You'll
create a cutsom mixture of finishes for it |
|
Dry-fit
the stiles and rails, then lay out the mortise locations for
the chopstick wedges. Cut these through the tenons on the ends
of the rails. Bore holes in the tenons using a drill- press,
and use a backer board to keep the holes clean where the drill
bit exits the wood. As you clean up the drilled holes, work
slowly with your chisel from both ends of the mortises toward
the middle. Give the lip of the mortises a slight chamfer so
the wedges don’t tear the wood as you tap them into place
and tighten them.
To shape the chopsticks, start
by cutting and planing wood to the thickness of the mortises
you cut in the tenons earlier. Leave the wedges longer than
necessary for now. Plane the required angle on the wedges by
hand, tapering them from 1/2"-wide to about 1/4"-wide.
To mark the layout lines for this angle, lay the wedges on each
side of the rail tenons, and mark the ideal taper with a pencil.
Make the wedges slightly too large so they pull the frame together
fully when they’re tapped home.
Dry-fit the wedges and mark their
final length. They should be 1/4" shorter than the stiles
at the top and bottom. Fashion a rounded arc on both ends of
each wedge.
Disassemble the mirror parts and
create a keyhole slot in the back for hanging. Chamfer all of
the edges.
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| CLICK
ABOVE TO ENLARGE |
|
Finish
by sanding all disassembled parts using 120- then 150- and finally
180-grit sandpaper. Remove dust, then wipe on a coat of oil-varnish
blend composed of equal parts varathane, boiled linseed oil
and mineral spirits. Strain them through a paint filter into
a common container. Let the finish remain wet on the wood surface
for at least five minutes, adding more liquid to any areas that
dry out during that time. Wipe off all excess finish before
it becomes tacky, and let the project sit overnight. Sand the
surface lightly with 400-grit sandpaper, then apply a second
coat of oil/varnish. Let the finish cure for 24 hours, then
assemble the frame with the mirror in place. Hang it up, and
there you are. |
| You
Will Need |
| Part |
Size |
Qty. |
| Stiles |
15/16"
x 1 1/4" x 18" |
2 |
| Rails |
13/16"
x 2" x 10" |
2 |
| Chopsticks |
1/4"-thick
x 1/2"-wide x 17" |
2 |
| Mirror |
3mm
x 6 9/16" x 13" (custom cut) |
1 |
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