Chippendale mirror

[wtnhighlander]

That looks great, @h3nry! How to youmanage to hold such an odd shape while carving?

[h3nry]

On 2/4/2026 at 4:51 AM, wtnhighlander said:

That looks great, @h3nry! How to youmanage to hold such an odd shape while carving?

I left the tenon at the feet deliberately long, and clamped down on it hard with a holdfast, and then butted the head or wing against a bench dog to push against while carving. It wasn't held completely immobile, but it was mostly quite light cuts, and worked well enough.

[h3nry]

One more piece of wood needs cutting before finishing ... a piece of 1/4 plywood for the mirror backing.

[fcschoenthal]

At least you won't have to do any carving on it.

[h3nry]

On 2/5/2026 at 3:30 PM, fcschoenthal said:

At least you won't have to do any carving on it.

Lol, it's the only piece of wood in the project that gets to remain flat and square.

[h3nry]

Nearly there now ...

The phoenix is going to get guilded ...

The wood surface needs to be sealed first. I don't know if there is anything special about this guilding primer, but it is the recommended stuff, and I don't want to ruin my first attempt at guilding with poor surface prep.

After two coats of primer, sanded as best as possible to 600, the adhesive size goes on. It dries clear, and has to be left overnight to tack up properly...

For the guilding process itself I am completely out of my depth and have no clue what I'm doing ... so I also prepared a flat piece of wood to practise on ... I also had an offcut from the back of the carving blank, which I quickly carved out some low-relief detail in, so that I could practise guilding on something with relief...

For the practise piece I used an imitation gold brass alloy which is cheap and not a worry If I waste any. On the wood blank I also tried some aluminium (imitation silver) and a bit of the genuine 23k gold. The real gold leaf is much more delicate and tricky to handle than the brass ... but after this practise I was ready to give it a go ...

well it wasn't as simple as the youtube videos make it look ... but eventually I got there, but probably used about twice as much gold as necessary ... good job I bought this gold before the recent gold price increases.

The practise bird will probably decorate the shop somewhere ... we'll see how fast it tarnishes, because I haven't sealed it ... The real gold shouldn't need sealing.

[wtnhighlander]

Your gilding looks really good. I tried that (with not-so-precious metal leaf) on a carved bowl, and made a real mess of it. I'm impressed that you made it lie so smoothly over that carving.

[Mark J]

It looks like there is a green-ish tinge on the wings.  Is that real, or an optical illusion? 

[h3nry]

On 2/7/2026 at 6:28 AM, Mark J said:

It looks like there is a green-ish tinge on the wings.  Is that real, or an optical illusion? 

I think that's just a reflection. If you zoom in, there are a few small spots where the red still shows, but I got to a point where I was just wasting gold trying to cover them.

[h3nry]

Finish applied and glass installed. It's been a fun project.

[Coop]

Absolutely beautiful! Great job and thanks for the ride! 

[wtnhighlander]

Beautiful, @h3nry! I love tht the khaya has a little more grain pattern than traditional mahogany. It lends a touch more character to the piece, IMO.

[curlyoak]

Magnificent!  Maestro! Well done and a pleasure to watch. This work must be signed and date!!!

[Von]

Well done and thank you for sharing! You've inspired me to look into carving.

[Mark J]

What they ^ said!

[h3nry]

Thanks guys. Following plans (as brief as they were) took a lot of stress out of the build, since there was little worry about whether the design was good, or if I was doing it right.

I find it interesting that the wood with horizontally aligned grain looks do much darker than when the grain is vertical ... all parts were cut from the same board at the same time, with the same processes and same finish applied, so it is just the way the light reflects off the grain.