A Mirror

[George Beck]

Hi all

I have not posted in a bit. I consider myself mostly a woodworker. I have long been intrigued by the laser as a way to mark wood. Since I started this laser gig, I have made plaque (woods on wood), engravings (graphics on wood) and 3d carvings. I wondered what combining all with traditional woodworking might accomplish. This is my first attempt at this. This is a frame for a mirror (the mirror is removed so I don't take pictures of myself). It combined pinned mortice and tenon joinery, an arched top, laser engraving, a Psalm and a couple of little 3d graphics. Pardon my poor photography. I am really not set up to take photos of this size. The photographs really do not do it justice. The 3d carvings are not as dark as shown in the photographs. I just can't seem to get the lighting right (yet). Anyway, let me know what you think.

Thanks for looking

George

[Dee Gallo]

What a beautiful combination of your skills, George!

~ dee

[dave hensley]

Hey George,

I really like that! I hope to make some mirrors myself soon - some with the mirror etched and some with the wood engraved similiar to what you've done.

Out of curiousity, have you tried inverting the 3d carvings? I was wondering if how they would turn out if you did.

Dave

[Mike Null]

George,

Nice joinery and tasteful engraving. Where are the pins?

Thanks for posting.

[George Beck]

Thanks for looking everyone and your kind comments. I am still not completely happy with the 3d carvings but it is a work in progress.
Dee- Thank you
Dave- I have never tried to invert the carvings. I have just had no need. I have flipped them. The first time I used the little humming bird was as corner blocks and I thought it looked weird to have them facing the same direction.
Mike- Thanks. Good catch on the pins. They can only be seen from the back. The hole stops about 1/8 from the surface. I worried that if the pins ran into the engraving the end grain of the dowel would take the "burn" differently. I ran a small test piece and determined that the engraving was about 1/64" deep. I still worried about "cutting through". The frame is about 13/16 thick. The mortices are 3/8 thick. The mirror is 1/4 plate.
A neat use of the laser is using it to make 1/4 plywood templates. I made a template of the arch and cut to the template so I was sure the font would flow over the arch.

Thanks all

George

[Dan Hintz]

I am still not completely happy with the 3d carvings but it is a work in progress.
George,

That was the only "I would work on this piece" I was going to mention. The carvings are a nice touch, but the low contrast takes away from the design. See if you can lightly sandblast the engravings and bring back some of the original wood tone. They're pretty dark right now, so you lose the art in the shadows.

[George Beck]

Thanks Dan! I would worry that sandblast could wipe out some of the detail. The graphics do look better live than my poor photography. Here are some lighted extream closeups (pardon the lint), that look a little more like the contrast on the piece, although still dark.

[Dan Hintz]

Okay, I would probably be happy with those... good job :)

[Chris DeGerolamo]

Thanks Dan! I would worry that sandblast could wipe out some of the detail. The graphics do look better live than my poor photography. Here are some lighted extream closeups (pardon the lint), that look a little more like the contrast on the piece, although still dark.

Have you tried to remove any excess resin with brush and some simple green or fast orange?

[Mike Null]

Good idea Chris. If that doesn't work I'd be happy with them.

[Edi Royer]

Beautiful work! And the close-ups of the 3-D engravings look great!

[Hannu Rinne]

Beautiful and exhilataring work !

- Hannu

[AL Ursich]

WOW.... Add a Reverse Engraved Color Filled Mirror and WOW.....

AL