Attaching a mirror to a frame

[Dave Anthony]

I need to make a mirror (actually 4 of them) to be used as doors to medicine cabinets. I was planning on making a frame out of 3/4" stock with a 1/2" rabbet in the back. I'd then put the mirror in place and secure it with 1/4" wood strips butt jointed & tacked in with brads. Is there a better way to do this?

[Todd Burch]

That's how I would do it - but with miters instead of butt joints. Tried and true. I'm not a fan of those plastic clips as all.

I have done it different ways, for instance, like below. I did this once to hide a not-so-good rabbet job, but you would have to have room inside the cabinet - with an insert door (as shown below, about 1/8"), the moulding might hit a shelf, but with an overlay door mounted to a face frame where the shelf was behind the face frame, it would work fine. The mini-mitered "L" moulding sits proud of the surface and the short "L" leg is what holds the mirror in.

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Todd

[Rich Engelhardt]

I'd use a stepped rabbet on the frame & place a 1/8" or 1/4" plywood backer on the inside to keep the back of the mirror from getting dinged up.

[Prashun Patel]

I've used the plastic clips, and they have been working fine. I did put a 1/8" hardboard backer behind the mirror too, so the rabbet needs to be deep enough to accomodate both the mirror and the backer.

[Todd Burch]

I'd use a stepped rabbet on the frame & place a 1/8" or 1/4" plywood backer on the inside to keep the back of the mirror from getting dinged up.

Good idea Rich, and in doing that, it could also be made decorative - much better than the silver of a mirror.

[Adrian Anguiano]

I recently just finished a mirror project for my half bath (I need to make a forum post for it).

The mirror I bought had a beveled edge. I didnt want to attach the mirror to the frame using a rabbit or id loose the pretty beveled edge. So what I did was I made a rabbit for a piece of 1/4" Hardwood. I think shot TONS of pin nails all the way around it into the rabbit; its not going anywhere. I didnt want to glue it in incase the mirror ever got broken I could just knock out the hardboard since its only pinned nailed. I then glued the mirror onto the hardboard as my final step. I made sure that the frame opening was the exact same size as my mirror so there was no gaps.
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