The Woodshop Shed

Avery's Carved Mirror

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


Hi:Today I completed a project I've been working on for the last 4 months. It is a carved mirror frame for my grand daughter Avery. She's 12 years old, and a fan of her “Grumps's carvings.Avery chose the images and sent them to me via email. These images were printed in color and used to produce a full sized pattern for the carving.Dimensions: 20 x 26 x 2
Wood: hard Red Birch
Paint: acrylic
Top Coat: Varathane Professional clear finish – satinTop left: Avery's name (of course). Yellow and violet are her favourite colors.Top Right: The family motor home, which is parked at a nearby lake resort.Right: A portrait of one of their Schnauzer puppy, and a Rubik's cube, because last year Avery has learned to solve the cube in 2 minutes. Her Dad taught her.Bottom right: The family outboard motor boat, parked in the marina.Bottom left: Portrait of Dad, Mom and Avery at the lake.Left: Avery's favourite bird, and of course maple leaves, cause they live in Canada.This is a complicated carving for a number of reasons:First, the panel needed to be assembled in two halves, and then the pattern was traced onto it. Then the centre of the panel was cut out on the bandsaw. The two sections were then glued together. A plunge router was used to set the depths throughout the carving. After that, everything was carved by hand.Second, the objects around the mirror sit on what I call a supporting background. This means some of the objects extend outside the background of the frame. This gets a little tricky as these parts of the carving are hard to get into, and they are often fragile.Third, all the objects are undercut to add to the illusion of shape and depth. This means working in awkward and difficult spaces, and a whole lot of bull-work.Fourth, the painting was time consuming and precise. And I'm slightly color blind, so my wife was invited to offer advice on colors.I really enjoyed carving this project. I am retired now and not under the restraints of time and income. So I could take my time and enjoy the process.God willing, this carving will become a life-long heirloom for Avery.BTW, I have one more grandchild to carve a mirror frame for. But he's only 6 years old, and will need to be a little older before he appreciates this type of thing.All the best,Bill

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