Thread: cheval mirror tilt mechanism

I bought a pair from Timbecon, worked fine:

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Thanks for that Joez, maybe just the thing i'm looking for.
The mirror looks great to and also similar to my own plans but i wonder if you looked into making your own tilt from wood or if thats too much of a drama.

Originally Posted by romansnews

Thanks for that Joez, maybe just the thing i'm looking for.
The mirror looks great to and also similar to my own plans but i wonder if you looked into making your own tilt from wood or if thats too much of a drama.

Had the hinges about 2 years before i used them lol, never looked into making my own though cant help you there.

Post up some pics when you start the build.

joez

Originally Posted by romansnews

I am about to make a cheval mirror and am not yet sure about the mechanism for the tilting aspect of it. Any advise would be much appreciated.
Thanks

Hi romansnews, & welcome to the forum.

I just made a cheval mirror, & used a simple home-made support. Two solid brass knobs drilled & tapped for a length of 1/4" threaded rod. These go into two threaded brass inserts on the frame (which you can just see in the pic). Since the inserts are just a bit above the point of balance of the mirror, it takes very little pressure to lock it at any desired angle. I would have preferred a piece of brass rod tapped at either end so there are no threads in the middle to chew up the wood in the support - I will fix that later - this was a christmas present that only just made it under the tree!

The different colour of the mirror frame vs the support is because I used some old cedar from a window frame that came from the house where LOML lived when very young. FIL gave me this, plus some 'old' cedar he had from the Mt. Mee area where he grew up, so I combined them. The old stuff was a bit darker than the newer wood, but it really showed up when I started polishing. I should have stained the new wood, but time should tone it down, though I doubt it will ever be as dark as the old window frame.

Cheers,

Hi Ian
Thanks for the info mate some of that will be useful.
I'm just about to start this wee project in the next day or 2 but dont yet have any plans/designs etc. Was just wandering what your glass size was, i suspect about 300 x 1400 or there abouts.

Mirror looks great btw but surely its worth taking back the new wood and staining it.
Would be a crime not to in my opinion. Its too good to leave like that.

Thanks again
R

Originally Posted by romansnews

....... Was just wandering what your glass size was, i suspect about 300 x 1400 or there abouts.

Pretty close, the glass is actually 375 by 1250, in a 10mm rebate. With just a small amount of tilt, that's plenty enough to get a full-body image. In fact, LOML is quite small, so I could have made it smaller. Being RC, it needed to be a bit bulky for stiffness. The columns are turned from 55mm square section, & the feet are 45mm thick. I realised once I had finished it that I could have fined it down a bit without losing too much strength. Next time....

Originally Posted by romansnews

Mirror looks great btw but surely its worth taking back the new wood and staining it.
Would be a crime not to in my opinion. Its too good to leave like that.

This is one of those things that life throws up at you.... I would have stained it if I had realised how big a contrast was going to pop out when the shellac hit the old wood. However, trying to stain it now would mean a LOT of work cleaning off the finish. I have also had some rather unpleasant experiences staining - you really need to know what you're doing when trying to match up woods like this, & I don't! I will just let it go for a while & see - from previous experience, the darker wood will lighten up & the new wood will darken quite a lot over a year or so, in which case it will look fine (it looks worse in the pic than in reality, too!).

If not, it goes on the list of items that will need refinishing before I get too old & feeble.....

Cheers,

Hi

Okay Ian thanks again, i'm sure my measurements will be pretty close to that in the end.
I dont have a lathe though so wont be any turning for me. I am leaning towards an arts and crafts look.

With regards to the staining, i am certainly no expert but i dont think its that hard really. Four base colours of red ,yellow , green and black in either an oil or acrylic base will get you to just about any colour you like. Or just buy a ready mix at bunnies.
The only hard bit is getting off what you already put on but unless its laquor it should be easy enough with either meths or turps and maybe a bit of sanding. Anyhow, thanks again and best of luck with whatever comes next.

Ross

Originally Posted by romansnews

.............
With regards to the staining, i am certainly no expert but i dont think its that hard really. Four base colours of red ,yellow , green and black in either an oil or acrylic base will get you to just about any colour you like.

Ah yes, romansnews, simple for many, but I happen to be rather severely colour-blind! Makes for some interesting mixes.

But that aside, I have done quite a bit of staining over the years (usually with plenty of help from the colour-sighted), and on average, I have not had very satisfying results. I am happy to concede that it's largely my inexperience & defeatist attitude, but even the experts will tell you that wild-grained woods are a bear to stain. You can't see it in the pics, but the legs were cut from a piece near a branch, because I wanted to take advantage of the curving grain to follow the line of the legs. So there is quite a bit of swirl where the trunk & branch tissues meet, & this short & long grain alternation does not help staining - another reason (excuse!) to leave it be.

I also have an atipathy for stains because particulate stains, which is what you are describing, tend to "muddy" the grain & take away the wonderful depth you get with a good shellac finish on some woods. Dyes are usually better in this respect, & don't give that 'muddy' look, & are also much easier to use, as you can start with a more dilute solution & progress to stronger ones to sneak up on the effect you want. However, I can no longer buy the one dye stain I used to use with some success on Aust. red cedar. So I have come to the conclusion that I am better off avoiding stains, & waiting to see what will happen as nature takes its course.

A cedar sideboard I made some years ago had a similar problem. One board in a side looked a bit pale compared with the ones on either side & I agonised over whether or not to try & even it out with stain. In the end, I went ahead & just polished it, & then it really stood out, so I wished I had tried staining. But since that side was going to be against a wall & I was pushed for time (as always!) I left it as it was. Some years later, we moved house & the previously hidden side is now in full view. I can't even see the joins in the side any more - both the dark & light boards have mellowed to an even colour......

So sometimes the lazy way works!

Cheers,

PS. Shellac doesn't yield to turps, but is fairly easily taken off with alcohol & fine steel wool. That's fine & dandy when reconditioning an old finish, but you would need to be very severe on it to get the wood back to stainability, I would think.

hi

Well it sounds like i'm trying to teach my grandmother to suck eggs so i will bow to your superior knowledge on the subject.

cheers
R

I personally like the contrast.

Wood is wood and colour variations add to some things if not overdone.

This looks good with the lighter stand contrasting with the darker mirror frame.

If you stain it you can still get colour differences.