Barnwood Inspired Mirror: Take One

When my creative wheels were spinning I knew I had to have a larger than life mirror in the dining room.  I felt it would add more light into the space and make it feel larger.  I started to search out Craigs List and found a set of 2 6/12 x 3 foot mirrored closet doors.  Bingo – I hit the jackpot!  They were only $50.00 for the pair!  So now I could make not only one mirror for the kitchen but ANOTHER mirror in an area TBD. 

We cut the 2 1x8’s that we weathered into two 89.5 inch boards (at the tip of the angle) and two 48 inch boards (at the tip of the angle).  If the math from our 2 1x8’s isn’t adding up….well don’t be surprised.  We had to jaunt out to get 2 more 1x8’s due to a minor miscalculation.  We weathered the two additional boards exactly the way we weathered the first ones.  A Chop Saw was used to make the angled cuts on each board.    

Now the next part is tricky.  We used a dato blade on the table saw to cut grooves 3/8 inches deep and 1.5 inches wide from the edge of the board.  It took several passes to get 1.5 inches deep.      

Here is a picture of what the first several cuts looked like.  We made the groove extend all the way to the left hand side of the board. This is so our mirror would be inset into the wood and not sticking out of the back of the faux barn wood.  This technique would make the mirror flush with the back of the wood and inset into the frame for added strength. 

And then my dream died a little bit.  Well actually came crashing down.  To be clear both mirrors broke.  Yes both.  One there was a minor incident with placing it on sawhorses without any support and the other broke while fitting it into the frame.  Check back to find out what happens next with our mirror adventure!