Pine rustic hall mirror refurb issue.

[dbhost]

So my sister in law, in all her thrift store maniac glory, decided along with my wife, that I needed another project and that is to refurbish this rustic pine hall mirror.

It's not a bad item per se, but it is...

You see the main panel the mirror is set in, more or less the main body of the thing is bowed, and the platform itself as I show in the attached pic, is not cut straight. The construction is simply sunk finish nails, I seriously doubt much if any glue was used at all.

My question is.

How can I get the bow out of the main board / panel?

I really don't have the ability to steam bend / press anything this big. I mean beyond putting it in the bathroom with the shower on full blast for a half hour...

I am thinking pulling it apart , removing the nails, drilling for dowels, and gluing up / allowing the clamps / glue to pull it together anchoring to the dowels.

There is a "Makers Mark" of sorts on the back behind the mirror called "The Handcrafters" and gives an address in Dallas TX, which from Google Maps shows up as a house. I am assuming this was a craft show item and whomever made this was just knocking these things out in his garage workshop. I am good with that obviously, but sure wish he / she had gone just a little bit further to insure a quality product.

I guess I am just OCD on using dowels for joints like this. Kind of a floating tenon arrangement without knocking my brains out...

[LCHIEN]

I can see a gap.

Is it the item on top or on the bottom we are talking about? or both?

Not sure what is the reference here or what is real bow or camera lens distortion.

if its the top just run it over a edge jointer.or put a couple of foot pads under each end.

[dbhost]

I can see a gap.

Is it the item on top or on the bottom we are talking about? or both?

Not sure what is the reference here or what is real bow or camera lens distortion.

if its the top just run it over a edge jointer.or put a couple of foot pads under each end.

It's both. It doesn't show up well in the photos, but the bottom piece curves inward about 2mm from sides to middle, and then the shelf piece itself wasn't cut flat.

The to heck with it part of me says to just pop the shelf off, insure no metal, run it through the jointer on edge until it is flat, reasemble using a wood screw in the center to pull it together, dowel and glue it, sand and refinish it, call it done.

The backer for the mirror is basically press cardboard. That MUST be fixed as well. Considering rabbeting the mirror cutout and using proper glazing clips.

[capncarl]

Pine is just doing what pine does. From your photo it looks to be Plain sawn and will warp regardless what you do. If you disassembled it and planed it flat and thin and laminate it to something stable, you still have an old mirror.

[leehljp]

On the back use two or three 1 1/2 to 2 inch screws screwed into the middle line of the shelf to pull the back board flat. Use a screw driver for pine. And use course threaded screws.

I had added in to make saw kerfs on the back but realized there is a mirror in it! DOH!

[dbhost]

No loss if I butcher it. Coarse thread screws it is!

[Black walnut]

What about scribing the shelf and fit it to the cupped panel. Then use screws. Adding stress by trying to flatten a board with a mirror attached may break the mirrror.

[dbhost]

What about scribing the shelf and fit it to the cupped panel. Then use screws. Adding stress by trying to flatten a board with a mirror attached may break the mirrror.

The mirror floats and is securec, as I mentioned above, by basically a heavy cardboard panel. This thing really is a POS. If I break it, no loss.