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OT: Gluing mirror to wood

GARY SLC

Aluminum
Joined
Oct 12, 2004
Location
SLC, UT
I have a repair to make for a friend's shadow box.
This is a wood frame with a mirror at back and
small shelves in front. About 2 foot by 1 and 1/2
foot. Made of some light and cheap wood although
older mfg. I need to do two repairs after it fell
off the wall. Need to re-attach two mirror strips
about 1 inch by 15 inch onto wood that has ridged
surface, paint and some thin silvered mirror
attached shards from where it broke off. What glue
to use? I do have hot glue gun but wonder if glue
would cool by the time I put several dabs on.
Second repair is to clamp and glue the frame in
two areas where the one section of frame split and
detached from corners. My question on this really
concerns the corners that were from factory, stapled together. Wondering if I can remove the
staples without damage? What would you suggest? If I can pry staples out w/o damage then I would
use small nails. If I cut staple ends and leave them in I may not have room for nails.
As you can probaly tell I am not a woodworker. I
would rather be machining - thanks for any advice.
 
The acetic acid in silicone caulk will destroy the "silver" on the back of the mirror. Go to any glass shop and get a tube of Palmer Mirro-Mastic. If the first glass shop says they use something else thats just as good, go to another glass shop and get it. This stuff is purpose made for mirrors, and nothing else even comes close.
 
Silicon is excellent for glass... make sure to get the good stuff. GE has a selection that is available at most local hardware stores. You want to make sure that you get the Silicon II *not* the Silicon I. Silicon II is moisture cure. It should smell like vinigar. If it smells like acetone then it is evaporative and is not the good stuff.

If you are building this thing to last, then the best glue that you can use for both the glass and the wood is a hide glue. It is available from most art supply shops. Ask for Rabbit Skin Glue. Painters use this to size thier canvases. It is great for just about everything except plastic. Bonds stronger than epoxy and is reversable. It is water based, so you'll need at least one surface that is poruse... but it sounds like you've got that.

Mix 1 table spoon dry glue with 1 table spoon water and 1/4 table spoon honey, and you will have a great super strong flexible glue. Heat the mixture up to 150 in a double boiler and stir until fully desovled. Add more water to get the consistancey you like.

Once you use this stuff, you'll never go back.

B

[ 03-10-2005, 11:15 PM: Message edited by: Billy Boy ]
 
i recently replaced a mirror my wife got in Washington that UPS couldnt ship ha ha.
if the surface where the mirror sits isnt flat and you have access to a milling machine mill it flat. then get some weather stripping and let the mirror sit against it and use corner clamps made out of thin sheet metal to clamp the mirror, use the weather stripping on the clamp side also...jim
 
I stuck a five foot by two foot mirror to the back of our bedroom door with a product called "No More Nails" It would mean destroying the door to get it off again.

Phil
 
A glass shop told me to use ONLY black silicone as
the other colors will lift the silver. Have used black several times with excellent results. Good luck.
 
I'd go with the mirror glue from a glass shop. It works great and isn't as thick as silicone making it easier to push the glass down flat.

I hate staples in wood, they seem to break easily. But, all the staples I've pulled on came out without a problem, if you can grip the staple without digging into the wood.
 
For the wood just about any glue will be better than nails or staples. Any carpenters glue will do. Elmers white glue is decent on wood. Gorrilla glue is really strong, but it can cause some cosmetic issues. Epoxy is fine. Whatever as long as it is thinner than grease.

The trick with glueing wood is that you need to have the long flats of the fibers in contact. A strong and simple corner joint for a picture frame can be done on a mill really nicely with an arbor saw.

Just cut a notch in the corner as deep as you can go across the joint and with the direction of grain. Then glue a dimetioned piece of wood in with the grain running across the joint. Trim the edges with a sharp chisle or on the mill and you are good to go.

B
 
If you have an expensive mirror, then I would follow metlmunchr's advice. Using anything less would result in screwing up the silver on the mirror. Silicone is great for glass, but I'd stick with the Mirro-mastic for mirrors.

Hope this helps..........
 








 
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