Getting Started

I’ve chosen black walnut for this project, but feel free to use your favorite hardwood. Mill your stock to the appropriate thicknesses per the Material List, then cut all the individual workpieces to size, with the exception of the 5/8″-thick work-piece for the mirror frame. When cutting the box ends, make an extra one or two for some test cuts in a later step.

When cutting a strip of 5/8″-thick walnut to its 3/4″ width for the mirror frame, don’t cut the individual pieces to length yet. It’s more efficient — and safer — to first mill the frame’s rabbet with the workpiece as long as possible.

Then mitercut the individual pieces to length. Follow the steps shown in the photos for cutting, then taping and gluing the frame pieces together.

After applying the final tape, check your frame assembly for square and allow it to dry on a flat surface.

When the frame is dry, let’s strengthen those miter joints with thin splines. Secure the frame in a workbench vise (or clamp it to the edge of a worktable), and cut an angled slot in each corner with a handsaw (1/4″ deep is plenty).

Now, glue a thin (about 1/16″) piece of walnut in each slot. Wipe off the glue squeeze-out, and once the spline has fully dried, trim it off and sand the corners smooth. You’ll barely see these in the finished frame.

Go ahead and set the 3/4″ headless brads — they’re keepers for the glass and mirror backing — now to prevent scratching the finish later. Tap them in just enough to set the holes.

Building the Box

Box construction here consists of rabbet joinery, although dovetails are also appropriate. With a dado blade in your table saw (or rabbeting bit in your router table), set at a height of 1/4″, cut 3/8″-wide by 1/4″-deep rabbets on the ends of the two box sides. Now install a 3/16″ straight bit in your router table, set at a height of 3/16″, to create the dadoes for the box dividers on the inside faces of the end workpieces.

These dadoes are pretty straightforward, but take your time with the setup to ensure the cuts are perfect. I’ve clamped stops on my router table’s sliding fence to control the size and location of the cuts. Since the dividers are 1-3/8″ high, you only want the workpiece to travel 1-3/8″ into the router bit. You can see where I’ve clamped a poplar table stop to control the forward travel of the fence to exactly 1-3/8″ into the router bit.

You can also see that I’ve clamped a walnut end stop onto the fence to position the workpiece exactly 1-1/4″ from the router bit: the dadoes for the dividers are 1-1/4″ from each end of the workpieces. To keep everything straight, I’ve taped an arrow on the outside face of the workpiece denoting the correct orientation for each cut.

Rest the workpiece against the end stop with the inside face downward. Turn on the router and slide the workpiece into the router bit until it reaches the table stop, then pull it back. Set the workpiece aside and make the same cut on the other workpiece. Now, turn off the router and reposition the fence stop (the walnut one here) so it’s 1-1/4″ to the other side of the router bit and clamp it in place. Repeat the cuts as before, making sure to mind the direction of the taped-on arrows.

Recall that earlier I recommended you make some extra end pieces? Do yourself a favor and make practice cuts on one of these extras first, to ensure your setup is right.

Assemble the box by first dabbing glue into the rabbets on the side pieces, then clamp the box sides and ends together. Check the assembly for square, and allow it to dry.

The dadoes we routed in the box ends for the dividers have rounded ends, so round the top edge of the dividers to match. These dividers are thin, so the easiest way is to do the rounding on a sheet of 150-grit sandpaper on a flat surface. Be sure both dividers are flush with the box bottom. You can fine tune this once you’ve completed the roundover on the tops by inserting both dividers into the box, turning it right side up and sliding the whole thing over the sandpaper.

From Top to Bottom

Both the box lid and base have rounded edges; the base takes a half roundover on just the top edge, while the lid edges are fully rounded. Install a 3/16″-radius roundover bit into your router table, and round all four top edges of the box base. For the lid, first round over all four top edges, then flip it over and do the four bottom edges.

The lid is divided into two sections, which you create by making a cut 6″ from one end. The 6″ portion becomes the back of the lid, while the 3″ portion is the front.

Since the hinges essentially rejoin the lid we just cut, it’s most efficient to merely fold the two lid pieces over on themselves and cut both mortises at the same time on the router table with a 3/4″ straight bit set 1/16″ high. Make sure to orient the workpieces for a continuous grain pattern before you proceed. Clamp a stop block onto your router table’s miter gauge or sliding fence exactly 1-1/4″ from the bit edge. Place the lid halves together against the stop block with the cut edges down, and run both over the bit at the same time to cut one complete hinge mortise. Still keeping the two halves together, flip them around side-for-side and repeat to cut the other hinge mortise.

While you have the 3/4″ bit installed in the router table, raise the height to 1/8″. Now, with the stop block still in place on the fence, create deeper mortises in the top/rear edge of the main box for two more hinges. With the same stop block setup, these will also position the mortises 1-1/4″ from the box edges.

Why double the mortise depth? Well, for the two-part lid we wanted the hinge centered between the two lid halves. For the hinges on the underside of the lid at the rear, however, we won’t cut mortises — they mount flush — and the deeper mortises in the box keep the lid from raising the full thickness of the hinge.

Secure the two lid halves into your vise, mortise edges up. Center your hinges over the back-to-back mortises, mark and drill pilot holes, and screw the hinges into place.

Final Assembly

Place the lid upside down and center the main box on the upward-facing underside of the lid. With the box perfectly centered, trace the inside edges of the box onto the underside of the lid to indicate exactly where the open portion of the box will be once the lid is attached. Drill three countersunk screw holes in the top portion of the mirror frame: one through the center/top, and one on each side. The two side holes should be about 1/2″ from the hinged edge of the two-part lid. Be sure that all three holes are drilled in the solid portion of the frame, about 1/4″ from the outer edge, avoiding the rabbeted section where the mirror goes.

Before attaching the mirror frame to the lid, slip your screws into the holes so they are fully seated, then check the screw depth against the edge of the lid: you do not want those screws going through and coming out the top of the lid. If the screws are too long, use the next shorter size.

Center the mirror frame in the marks you made on the underside of the lid (you should have about 1/8″ clearance on the sides and a bit more at the ends) and screw the frame into place. This step is just to set the screw holes and check the clearance with the box sides. Once you’ve done that, you can remove the frame and set it aside. After adding a finish to the rest of the box, we’ll mount the glass and mirror backing, and permanently reattach it to the box lid.

Install hinges in the rear mortises we cut earlier with the knuckles to the rear, then place the inverted box atop the lid/mirror assembly, lining the box up with your outline marks from earlier. Mark the hinge locations on the underside of the lid and drill pilot holes for the hinge screws. As before, insert screws into the hinge leaves and double-check that they will not extend through the lid; 3/8″ screws, once paired with the thickness of the hinge leaves, should be right, but check this before installation.

Before attaching the box base, apply a finish to the inside of the box and dividers. Shellac was typical for items like this. I chose amber shellac to really bring out the color of walnut. Shellac the dividers and box interior separately, taking care not to get shellac on the bottom edge of the box where you’ll apply glue, then slip the dividers into place when the shellac dries.

Install the box base with a combination of glue and nails: at only 7″ wide, wood movement isn’t an issue here, so glue won’t present a problem. Apply glue to the bottom edge of the main box and center it on the box base, and clamp up the assembly till dry. Once the glue dries, reinforce the bottom with headless brads (3/4″ or 7/8″) or pin nails. Note in the photo that before gluing on the base, I traced an outline of the box on the underside of the base to act as a nailing guide —place nails only in the dead center of this outline.

Installing the Locking Post

Drill a pilot hole in the front edge of the box for a #6 x 1″ brass screw that will act as the locking post for the box lid. Place the hole exactly in the center of the box edge, centered from side to side. Drive the locking-post screw into this hole, but not too far. We need it there to mark for the locking-post hole in the lid and we’ll drive it to final depth once the lid is complete.

Attach the lid to the box via the rear-mounted hinges, and close the box so the underside of the front edge of the lid rests atop the locking-post screw. (Hold the lid flat while you do this.) Press the front of the lid down firmly onto the locking post screw to make an indentation in the underside of the lid.

Using the indentation as a guide, drill a 5/16″ hole exactly centered on the mark. Be sure to place scrap wood underneath while drilling to prevent the drill bit from causing tearout on the opposite side when it comes through. The lid should fully close now, with the locking-post screw passing neatly through the center of the hole. With this done, go ahead and apply finish to the rest of the project.

Adding the Final Hardware

There’s still the matter of keeping the box lid closed when your grooming tasks are finished. For that, it’s time to add the latch hook. Latch hooks really haven’t changed over the last couple hundred years. As long as you use one made of solid brass, rather than brass-plated, any commercially available latch hook is fine and will give your project a touch of high quality. I used a 1-1/4″ hook, but a 1″ hook would work just as well. Latch hooks typically come with a Phillips head screw, which is fine, but if you want to hold to period authenticity, replace it with a slotted screw instead.

With the lid closed, adjust the height of the locking-post screw to allow you to slip the latch hook beneath the head without binding too tightly. Hold the latch hook in place and make a centered mark on the lid through the hook’s top screw eye. Drill a pilot hole on your mark. Insert the latch hook’s mounting screw through the hook eye, slip a washer onto the screw beneath the hook, and fasten the hook to the lid. Adjust the latch screw so the hook twists easily, but without any extra play in the action. I used a #6 x 1/2″ screw to mount the latch hook, and although the lid is only 3/8″ thick the combined thicknesses of the hook and the brass washer underneath it were sufficient to make it just right. As with every other instance of driving screws through the lid of the box, check and double-check before driving the screw.

The final step is to reattach the mirror frame permanently to the underside of the lid with its three screws. Here, I’ll offer a bit of advice. Don’t yield to the temptation of gluing the mirror frame to the underside of the lid. If the mirror ever cracks, you’ll need to be able to easily remove the frame from the box lid in order to replace the glass.

Click Here to Download the Materials List and Drawings.

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I should also mention it’s mahogany, a beautiful species of wood that deserves to be buffed up, polished and shown off. With structural bones like that, this coffee table was ideal for recycling, repurposing, rebuilding and repainting.

The idea was to clean up the mahogany drawers, give it a two-step distressed paint finish and build our own backrest and arms. I’m no fine woodworker, but these are basic techniques and within anyone’s grasp. Besides, by reusing a piece of furniture, this was an affordable makeover.

Reinvention Begins

The coffee table had been languishing for decades in a garage. The finish was worn. There were a couple of dings and dents. A family of mice made a condo out of the drawers. But there was no water damage or warping. So it was a good starting base.

The first step was to clean up the surfaces for painting. This was a relatively easy sanding job since they needed only to be residue-free and smooth. A palm sander and 120-grit paper did the trick.

Sanding the mahogany drawer fronts was a little more intensive. It took three passes with 80-, 120- and 220-grit sandpaper to remove the old varnish and prepare them for a new finish facelift.

The interior drawer bottoms were another story. Their condition ranged from “OK” to “disgusting.” Some sort of unidentified gummy-gluey-gobs were stuck on the surface — and probably had been since the Reagan administration.

Thank goodness for a cabinet scraper. It was the tool for getting into those narrow drawers to scrape out the gunk.

The last step on the drawers was dealing with those chewed-up sides. A good 1/2″ to 3/4″ was completely missing thanks to some toothy little mouse. The solution? Clean up and cut down all the drawer side profiles so they’d match.

To do that, I clamped a pair of drawers face to face and drilled two holes at their intersection for jigsaw access. I marked for the 3/4″ cut and clamped a straightedge to guide the saw’s base plate. Just a quick note about that: I can’t be trusted to cut a clean, straight line without some help. The guide was the perfect solution.

All the drawers were reshaped, with the result that each drawer side now has a shallow, U-shaped profile on its top edge. Somewhere in rodent world, a mouse is laughing at the extra work his drawer-chewing caused.

Coffee and Tea to an Almost-Settee

Of course, the most transformative part of this project was to build a back and arms.

I used 3/4″ plywood for the back panel and got some help cutting it to size. That’s because the table saw is a power tool I still find unnerving. Plus, big old honkin’ sheets of plywood are awkward. So it’s nice to have extra hands for this. Next, I measured for and cut angled corners. Here, a shop-made fence was secured to help make an accurate cut.

The angled corners were the beginning of filling out some design details on this piece. 1 x 4 pine was cut to “picture-frame” the five exposed edges of the back. To soften the hard lines and angles, I gave a little bevel to the edges using a sharp block plane. Then they were glued and pinned in place, which set the stage for the centerpiece: mahogany slats. Talk about a miser’s dream! I used 1/4″-thick lauan mahogany plywood, which only costs $12 a sheet. The slats were ripped to four-inch widths and cut to length.

The arm assemblies were constructed from 1 x 2 pine pieces (see the Drawings) and screwed together as a simple box. They got a decorative kiss with some angle-cut 1 x 4 armrests.

Painting and Staining

The seat, back and arms were already sanded to accept the two-step paint finish — a black undercoat topped by a basil green color. The green complements the mahogany’s red tones, so it’s a nice contrast for the wood. It also has a muted, neutral quality to it. That means it should be able to withstand the shifting winds of color trends over the years.

With a two-step distressed finish, you don’t have to knock yourself out painting the undercoat over the entire structure. Only hints of it will be revealed. So the base coat painting focused on areas where the natural wear patterns would be: edges and corners.

For the drawer fronts and slats, I went with a mahogany colored stain. That rich, ruddy color is also beautiful. The stain was flooded on and wiped off. The job was finished with a topcoat of spray of shellac followed by sprayed lacquer.

Staining and finishing before assembly is a good practice. You know darn well that fluctuations in humidity mean wood expands and contracts.

By coloring and finishing all the pieces, you won’t see any telltale bare-wood lines when the wood shrinks. Leave the tan line to that kid in the old Coppertone® ads.

Putting it Together

Mahogany plywood might be affordable and nice-looking, but it’s a bit flimsy. Face-nailing the slats onto the back panel wouldn’t look great, so securing the slats with glue was the only reasonable option.

I played around with the spacing — opting for a penny’s width separation or so between each one — then glued them in place with yellow glue. To get good adhesion, a 2 x 4 was laid over the top of the slats with a brick or two on top of it working as a “clamp.” Once the glue was dry, I secured the subassemblies to the base. The picture frame detailed backrest was held back 1″ so it could sit on top of the coffee table base and locate the plywood accurately. A few countersunk screws driven in from the backside of the piece definitely turned this former table into a bench.

Securing the arms provided rock-solid stability. Even though it was awkward to do, the armrest’s screws were driven in from the underside, to hide the fasteners.

Final Flourishes and an Almost-flop

That just left the final decorative touches: hardware, a comfy cushion and distressing the finish. I chose round, hammered iron knobs to echo the undercoat color.

You’d think finding fabric for a cushion would be rote, routine and dull as unbuttered
toast. But it had to be carefully chosen. I considered the design (traditional), the colors (basil green and red wood tones) and the design elements (mahogany as the star attraction). A muted paisley-patterned corduroy was the solution.

The last step was to distress the finish so hints of the black undercoat would show. The protocol called for steel wool and denatured alcohol to gently take down the topcoat. My first attempt didn’t go well. The topcoat seemed resistant to the alcohol. So I slathered on more and rubbed harder. When the topcoat finally began to dissolve, it did so without grace. Blotchy, skunky chunks of green paint came off. It even got down to bare wood.

I’ll blame it on a combination of poor technique and the wrong applicator, because when I switched to a Scotch-Brite abrasive pad, the results were much more controllable and attractive. It enabled me to get that gently distressed finish that I’d envisioned from the beginning of the project.

So at the end of the day, here’s how this coffee table transformation stacked up: It took about three days to complete. The cost of supplies and materials was under $100. And as a solution to a problem area, it’s pretty and practical. Best of all, a beautiful piece of mahogany craftsmanship was rescued, recycled and given new life. I hope it inspires you to find an old piece of furniture and use your skills to give it a second chance. It’s fun, practical and affordable. You can’t beat that!

Click Here to download a PDF of the related drawings and Materials List.

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While you could pay to have your mirror glass specially cut at a glass shop, you could also purchase an inexpensive full-length mirror at a department store: use the mirror glass, discard the frame.

I happened to have an old wall mirror in need of a better frame. Whatever your source of mirror glass, be sure to adjust the Material List dimensions for the mirror frame rails and stiles, as well as the length of the stretcher, if your glass differs in size from the 14″ x 54″ mirror (piece 1) we specify here.

Building the Mirror Frame

Since the mirror frame rails and stiles (pieces 2 and 3) will be in full view every time someone looks in this mirror, select this stock by prioritizing consistent grain pattern and color, with no visible defects. Rip and crosscut straight blanks for the parts, then lay out 1/4″-wide, 3/4″-long mortises on the rails.

Position them 3/8″ in from the part ends. Hog out the waste to a depth of 1-1/4″ with a mortising machine and a hollow-chisel bit, or with a drill press and 1/4″ Forstner bit. Flip the rail workpieces end-for-end once the mortises are roughed in, and make a second round of passes to center the mortises exactly on part thickness.

Square up the ends of the mortises and clean up their walls, if necessary, before you head to the table saw to cut matching tenons on the ends of the stiles. These tenons have 3/8″-wide shoulders on their ends and 1/4″ shoulders on their broad faces. After they’re cut to shape, check their fit in the mortises to make sure the joints close fully and the frame remains flat and square. If everything registers properly, glue the pieces together. Drill and install four short dowel pins (pieces 4) to lock these corner joints. We used walnut dowels throughout this project to add dashes of punctuating contrast to the figured maple.

You could form the gentle curves on the ends of the frame one at a time, laying them out with a flexible batten, but a template will guarantee uniformity. Draw a grid on a piece of scrap that’s a few inches wider and longer than the frame rails, and trace the arch by bending a batten of thin plywood or Masonite®. Cut the template to shape, and smooth its curved edge carefully on a sander. Now use your template to draw the arches: position it so the curves will leave 1-1/2″ of stock on the ends of the rails. Cut the curves with a jigsaw, sawing about 1/16″ outside your layout lines. Then clamp the template to each rail so it is aligned with the layout line, and use a bearing-guided flush-trim or pattern bit to refine the curves to their final form.

All that’s left to do on the frame for now is to rout a 3/8″ x 3/8″ rabbet around the inside back edge to make room for the mirror glass and back panel. Rout this recess in two or three deepening passes to minimize tearout, and chisel the corners square.

Making the Two Leg Sets

With four long, narrow legs like these, making them perfectly uniform not only prevents construction challenges but also ensures that the leg shapes will look great: you’d be surprised how little the deviation on a curve needs to be before your eyes can pick up the inconsistency! So, make a full-size leg template from void-free plywood or MDF, following the gridded drawing. Sand it carefully to fair the broad curves, and make sure you’re happy with its shape before you proceed.

Trace four leg shapes (pieces 5) onto your stock, laying out their locations so the grain pattern on each pair of legs will harmonize across the joint when you assemble the legs. In this regard, it’s ideal if you can at least make each pair of legs from the same piece of consistently grained wood; even better, make all four legs from one board. Then cut the legs out slightly oversize. If your stock allows for it, leave an inch or two of extra material along the top narrow edges of the legs for now. The excess material here will make handling the legs safer while you’re routing the spline slots in the next big step. Fix the leg template to each leg with double-sided tape. Template-rout the legs to shape up to, but stopping at, the (for now) extra-wide top ends. Remove the template.

Set up a 1/4″ straight or spiral bit in your router table to mill a 1/2″-deep, 12″-long spline slot along the flat inside edge of each leg. Start them 2″ down from the top curved ends of the legs. Mark the outer limits of your router bit on the router table so you know where to start and stop these slot cuts accurately. Mill them in a series of two or three deepening passes, flipping the workpieces from one face to the other each time to center the slots. Once the slots are done, square up their ends before trimming off the remaining waste material from the top ends of the legs and template-routing these final narrow areas to shape.

Now lay the leg pairs together with the slotted edges butted up. Do these edge joints form flat, “airtight” seams? If they don’t, run the splined edges over your jointer for a pass or two to flatten them completely. Next, plane a scrap piece of solid hardwood, about 1/4″-thick by 2-1/2″ wide and 16″ long, down to fit snugly in the spline slots. You want a good friction fit for these splines (pieces 6). Rip and crosscut the two splines to size, and carry out a dry fit of both leg pairs to be sure the joints close correctly. If they do, glue up two sets of legs, clamping the narrow top ends until the glue cures. In a couple of hours, scrape or sand the splined joints flush and smooth.

Follow the locations on the Drawings to locate and install six decorative dowels (pieces 7) near the top ends of each leg assembly. Use a self-centering doweling jig to align these holes evenly, and drill them with a sharp brad-point bit to avoid tearout around the rims of the holes. Dab glue into the holes, tap 1″-long dowels home and trim off the excess with a flush-cutting saw or a multi-tool. Sand the dowel areas smooth.

Machining the Arched Rails

The arched stand rails (pieces 8) that join the legs at the floor also deserve consistent curves, so take the time to make a template to establish the shape of these two curves. Then use it to help lay out two overly wide and long blanks that will become the rails. Notice that there are a couple of reasons for using oversized stock: first, it will allow you to bore a pair of large holes below the curves of the rails to make the final glue-up easier when installing the clamps. Plus, the four angled ends of the two rails may not turn out to be exact matches, depending on how the leg stock has reacted to machining and assembly thus far: the legs might have moved slightly, making the length of each rail specific to its leg pair. The best way to account for this is to lay each leg set on top of its long rail blank and trace along the bottom inside edges of the legs with a sharp pencil to mark the ends of the rails accurately. Label each rail and leg set to keep their pairing clear.

One of the distinctive and beautiful aspects of this full-length mirror are the six through tenons that join the sides of the mirror stand to the bottom stretcher. Your rails are nearly ready to cut out, but don’t do it before milling the three through mortises in each rail. They’ll be easiest to clamp in a jig while still rectilinear and overly long.

The mortising jig (see Drawing) I made for the task is simple in design: it’s just a plywood blank with three, 1-1/2″-long, 3/4″-wide slots cut through it and spaced 7/8″ apart (2-3/8″ from center to center). These slots will enable you to rout the actual mortises in both the rails and the ends of the stretcher using a 3/4″ O.D. rub collar and a 1/2″ spiral or straight bit in a plunge router. Trim the jig so the slots are exactly 3/4″ from one edge: this will position the rail mortises 7/8″ down from the tops of the rails. Screw a long, 1-1/4″-wide scrap fence to this edge of the jig: it will register the top edges of the rail workpieces during routing. One final note: you’ll also want the three slot sizes of the jig to match perfectly. I made a second template with just one slot, using a 3/4″ straight bit, and that became a “master” for flush-trimming the three jig slots to final, uniform shape. Sometimes it takes a template to make a template!

Clamp the final template to each rail, and rout the three through mortises in progressively deeper passes until the bit passes through each rail. When that’s done, cut and sand their angled ends up to the pencilled layout lines, and glue and clamp the rails between the legs. After the glue cures, drill and install the 12 long dowels (pieces 9) that reinforce these joints. Wrap up the leg pairs by rounding over their long outer edges with a 1/4″ bit and the inside edges with a 1/8″ bit. Bore a 5/16″ through hole, 1″ down from the top, for each pivot bolt.

Assembling the Stand

Rip-cut the stand’s stretcher (piece 10) to width, and cut it to length. Make sure to account for the overall width of your mirror frame, plus the thickness of the threaded inserts that protrude beyond the mirror frame for the pivot bolt hardware. Then grab the rail mortising template again and screw the end of a 3/4″-thick, 2-ft.-long scrap inside the template, flush against its fence. This way, you can clamp the template and the stretcher together in a vise vertically in order to mill three mortises on each of the stretcher’s ends. The “clamping board” also centers the mortises on the stretcher’s thickness. Rout them 1″ deep. Use a 3/8″-radius bit to round over the long edges of the stretcher.

Your careful efforts at template mortising pay off now: if you set the stretcher between the leg pairs, the rail and stretcher mortises should line up exactly. If they do, you’re ready to prepare some long, solid stock to make the floating tenons (pieces 11) that will fit those mortises. Surface it carefully so it will slide into the mortises like a piston. Rip-cut the tenon material into three “sticks” that are exactly 1-1/4″ wide, and ease their long edges with a 1/4″ roundover bit in the router table. Then, round over the six ends of these sticks with a file and sandpaper before crosscutting the six 2″-long tenons to length.

Clamp the stretcher vertically to your workbench, and position a legset on top of it. Spread glue into the deep mortises, and insert the floating tenons. I used a bar clamp to push them all into place. Repeat the process for the second legset. Finally, drill three centered holes down through the tenons from the top edges of each rail, and peg the rails and tenons together with glued dowels (pieces 12) to complete the stand.

Finishing Up

Install two threaded inserts in the mirror frame, centered on its length, then soften the back and front edges of the frame with 1/4″ roundovers. Cut a back panel (piece 13) to size. Apply stain and finish. When it dries, install the mirror and back panel with glass retainers (pieces 14).

You’ll need to shorten the pivot bolts (pieces 15) with a hacksaw so the threaded portion is 1-1/2″ long. Slip the mirror frame into the stand, and thread in the pivot bolts to complete the project. Now you can check your daily wardrobe choice, and admire your craftsmanship, for many years to come.

Swivel Mirror Screws, Ant. Brass #31623
Glass Retainer Clips, Ant. Bronze #26884
1/4” Walnut Dowels, 36″ Long #20982

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List for This Project.

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The downside to traditional 14″ band saws with all cast-iron frames is that many are limited to about 6″ of resawing capacity. Today’s “next generation” of steel-framed band saws solve the problem: their box-style spines are tremendously rigid to withstand the high tension required for a wide resawing blade, and their frames are extended for tall resawing. Lately, the category of 14″ steel-framed saws is growing. Even better, they’re equipped with 11⁄2″ to 13⁄4″hp motors that run on 110 volts! No need to rewire your shop for 220 in order to resaw the really wide stuff. But, is sub-2hp and household current really enough? I rounded up six different 14″ models and put them to work on 12″-wide hard maple to find out. And the results? Very pleasing! Here’s how they tested.

General International 90-170B

General International 90-170B
Street Price: $1,594.99
Motor Size: 11⁄2hp / 12.5 Amp
Table Size: 16″W x 20″D
Weight: 293 lbs.
Resaw Capacity / Throat Width: 12″ / 131⁄2″ Blade Length, Width Range: 112″, 1/8″ to 3/4″ Web/Phone: www.general.ca / 888-949-1161

General International’s 90-170B, along with all six of these test saws, did a fine job of general rip- and curve-cutting with a 1/4″ blade. But, a saw made for tall resawing as well as general cutting needs to satisfy three main criteria for me: the blade guides should be easy to adjust (since you’ll want to switch back and forth between wide resaw or narrow blades); the rip fence and features should aid in resawing; and the motor must be gutsy enough to keep the blade spinning through wide stock.

In most of these respects, the 90-170B has a lot to offer. It sports a generous, 16″ x 20″ cast-iron table, and a sturdy upper blade guide post moves smoothly up and down on rack-and-pinion gears to adjust its cutting height. The table sits on a pair of double- walled trunnions that enable it to tilt and lock securely, and when tipped, the table is
reinforced by an extra support arm and lock knob in back.

This saw comes with an Excalibur T-square style fence that, thanks to bearings, rolls smoothly on its front rail for ripping or resawing. A curved resaw attachment bolts on to provide workpiece “steering,” for coping with any blade drift issues during resawing. I wish the accessory were taller than 31⁄2″, though: for the maple resawing test, I wanted taller backup support, so I used a shop-made resaw jig instead.

With the exception of Laguna, General and the other test saws come with ball-bearing upper and lower blade guides — a more heavy-duty solution than the “cool blocks” you’ll still find on some traditional 14″ band saws. Dual side bearings and a face-mounted thrust helped keep the 3/4″-wide resawing blade tracking straight on the 90-170B, and they adjust pretty easily too. The side bearings turn eccentrically with a screwdriver for fine adjustment, while either an Allen screw or a smallish thumbscrew locks them.

But, getting a wide blade into position in the first place is fussy work here. Blades load through a side slit on the table, then must be turned 90° in a small throatplate opening, while threading it in through a slit in the saw’s yellow upper blade guard and between the guide bearings. Once the blade is on the wheels, the lower left guide bearing is difficult to adjust without tipping the table up first. It’s all doable, of course, but it could be easier.

A cast-metal quick-release lever on top tensions the blade by twisting it down — and that will come in handy for de-tensioning between uses, too. Once powered up, this General’s 11⁄2hp motor helped it steam through hard maple, slicing six 24″-long veneer sheets with ease. Two 4″ dust ports in the bottom flywheel case kept dust to a minimum when connected to an 1,100 CFM dust collector. I also appreciate the foot brake that stops the cutting action in only about 1.2 seconds.

At nearly $1,600, this saw is amply featured, but it’s priced high relative to most of the test group. Blade-change fuss aside, it performed solidly.

JET JWBS-14SF

JET JWBS-14SF Street Price: $1,899.99
Motor Size: 13⁄4hp / 15 Amp
Table Size: 16″W x 211⁄2″D
Weight: 356 lbs.
Resaw Capacity / Throat Width: 131⁄2″ / 131⁄2″ Blade Length, Width Range: 125″, 1/8″ to 3/4″ Web/Phone: www.jettools.com / 800-274-6848

For a penny under $1,900 street, JET’s saw will be a shock to the pocketbook of most hobbyists. But that’s my only criticism of the JWBS-14SF. It was in all regards a pleasure to set up and use. Here’s why. Back to my initial criteria, JET has done its homework to make both upper and lower blade guides simple to adjust. Large knurled knobs control eccentrically moving double bearings on top, so they set without tools. The lower guide bearings are also easy to adjust: there’s ample room under the table for both hands, and even the rear rim- oriented thrust bearing has a control knob in front where you can grab it.

Blades thread straight in through a front slit in the table — easier than saws with side-slit styles — and a hinged upper guard opens for wide blade access. Once a blade is threaded, the saw has a three-position quick-release lever in back for tensioning. Viewing windows in the upper flywheel case, plus a large tensioning scale, help you keep track of blade settings at a glance with the door closed.

JET equips the 14SF with a phenomenal rip fence. The base casting is hefty and locks with a large ratchet lever, and
a beefy, 6″-tall extrusion provides plenty of backing for tall resawing or flips down to a second low position when cutting thin stock. The fence’s micro-adjust control is another helpful asset here.

A large throatplate opening with milled aluminum insert, durable knurled door latches and oversized hand wheels are thoughtful, quality details. Even tilting the table is made easier, thanks to a geared crank lever and polished handle.

When I fired this machine up, I learned that it performs as well on the track as it sets up in the pit. There was plenty of power for resawing wide maple, while only about a tablespoon of dust was left inside the lower flywheel case afterward. Two long metal dust ports hook up to 4″ hoses for cleaner cutting.

While shelling out top dollar doesn’t always buy top quality,in this instance, I think JET’s JWBS-14SF will prove to be money very well spent.

Laguna 14-Twelve

Laguna 14-Twelve
Street Price: $1,097 w/o task light or mobility kit
Motor Size: 13⁄4hp / 14 Amp
Table Size: 16″W x 211⁄2″D
Weight: 258 lbs.
Resaw Capacity / Throat Width: 12″ / 135⁄8″
Blade Length, Width Range: 1143⁄4″-116″, 1/8″ to 3/4″ Web/Phone: www.lagunatools.com / 800-234-1976

Laguna has created an enticing package in this recently minted 14-Twelve band saw. Its 13⁄4hp motor and balanced, cast-iron flywheels drove the wide resawing blade through maple without bogging down under steady feed pressure. A single 4″ dust port in the bottom case kept dust to an absolute minimum. Heavy stock won’t shift the table off its tilt setting, either, thanks to two oversize trunnions that lend solid foundation below. This saw’s infrastructure seems made for heavy-duty cutting.
Laguna outfits the 14- Twelve with ceramic blade guides: four strips sandwich the blade at both guide locations, and two pucks provide rear support. Their aluminum housings slide along tracks in the guide mounting blocks for easier lateral adjustment, and plastic knobs lock them without tools. One gripe: the bottom blade guide area is cramped.
Despite its side-loading table, blades are still quite manageable to install, thanks to an oversized throatplate opening and a hinged top blade guard. A quick release flips up for blade tensioning, and you can check blade tracking and tension through
two viewing windows up top.

I like Laguna’s robust rip fence and the 51⁄2″-tall resaw facing for supporting wide boards. The fence can be adjusted for both parallelism and squareness if needed, although mine was spot-on from the factory. It has no micro-adjust provision like JET.

A “bare bones” 14-Twelve doesn’t include the halogen task light ($99) or wheel kit ($149) shown here, but they’re worth it. The light offers broad illumination of the cutting area, and Laguna provides a built-in receptacle to plug it in. That’s helpful! The three-wheel mobility system makes this saw pleasant to roll around.

All in all, the 14-Twelve is straightforward to set up, and it bests tough cutting jobs.

Oliver 4620

Oliver Machinery 4620
Street Price: $1,400
Motor Size: 11⁄2hp / 12 Amp
Table Size: 16″W x 20″D
Weight: 304 lbs.
Resaw Capacity / Throat Width: 13″ / 135⁄8″
Blade Length, Width Range: 1133⁄4″, 1/4″ to 1″ Web/Phone: www.olivermachinery.net / 800-559-5065

Side by side, it’s hard not to see some similarities between Oliver’s 4620 and General International’s machine: Their table systems, rip fences, blade guide components and tensioning provisions are virtually carbon copies, with the exception that Oliver outfits the upper guides with single, rather than double, bearings. Oliver’s frame is taller, too, by a couple of inches. This saw includes a full-size miter gauge, which is a convenient, useful feature. It has no foot brake. The slitted upper guard, small throatplate hole and side-loading table make blade changing finicky.

Given their common traits, I expected the 4620 to perform similar to General’s machine. But, when I pitted it against a chunk of 12″-wide maple, Oliver’s 11⁄2hp, 12-amp rated motor seemed to struggle to keep the blade spinning. I backed off to only gentle feed pressure, and I was able to slowly resaw six slices of veneer, but if I applied feed pressure consistent with the other saws’ resaw tests, the blade slowed to a stall again.

Consultation with Oliver’s technical department helped me diagnose the problem: one of the lower drive belts that tensions the flywheel pulley was overly loose from the factory. It’s not an adjustment you’d expect to make on a new saw, and it wasn’t inordinately loose, but adding more tension fixed the glitch. Powered back up, the saw was able to resaw at a feed rate consistent with the others, helping Oliver finish my cutting tests with a good showing here.

RIKON 10-325

RIKON 10-325 Street Price: $999.99
Motor Size: 11⁄2hp / 14 Amp
Table Size: 16″W x 201⁄2″D
Weight: 251 lbs.
Resaw Capacity / Throat Width: 13″ / 135⁄8″ Blade Length, Width Range: 111″, 1/8″ to 3/4″ Web/Phone: www.rikontools.com / 877-884-5167

Seven years ago, RIKON’s 10-325 won our “Best Bet” honors among a group of 14″, mostly cast-iron framed band saws. Now, after testing this tool again, I recall why. It’s sensibly designed, capable and easy to use.
Its guide bearings — single side and rim-mounted thrust — move with knurled knobs and tighten down easily with Allen screws. The lower guide bearings, hiding in table shadows on some machines, are easy to see and reach here. I love that the thrust- bearing knob is forward facing on this saw. No need to tip the table to adjust these guides.

Blade installation is easy, thanks to a front-slitted table and hinged blade guard. A left-right moving quick- release lever in back provides blade tension, and viewing windows in the top case help you see what you’re doing.

RIKON provides a fat spring for upper flywheel tensioning — a good provision for withstanding wide, stiff resaw blades. The 10-325 also has a sturdy rip fence with a fairly short fence beam and resaw bar. So, in the tall resawing test, I opted for a much taller shop-made resawing guide instead.

Other amenities include a geared lever for tilting the table, a spacious storage compartment and shelf below the saw and a flexible task light to brighten the table.

In testing, the saw’s 11⁄2hp RIKON-built motor muscled through hard maple, and most of the dust was whisked away through a lower 4″ dust port. For just shy of $1,000, RIKON continues to provide a solid value for the money here.

Steel City 50155G

Steel City 50155G Hybrid Street Price: $699.99
Motor Size: 11⁄2hp / 14 Amp
Table Size: 16″W x 21″D
Weight: 291 lbs.
Resaw Capacity / Throat Width: 12″ / 131⁄2″
Blade Length, Width Range: 105″, 1/8″ to 3/4″ Web/Phone: steelcitytoolworks.com / 877-724-8665

Steel City calls this saw a “Hybrid,” and that’s because, in truth, it’s an evolution of sorts: the frame is elongated cast-iron, with the bottom half nestled in a steel cabinet that opens for lower flywheel access. The design allows
the saw’s 11⁄2hp motor to be moved down to the rolling base for more stability. And, the wheels/caster are a helpful standard feature for moving this machine around.

Steel City has been off of our tool review “radar” for a number of years, so I was anxious to try this saw and see what it would have in store.

The 50155G’s webbed framework is designed for 12″ of resaw capacity. Blade guidance was assisted by double side bearings and face-oriented thrust bearings that can be adjusted with knurled knobs and thumbscrews. It’s a good, tool-free design. The bottom guides are tucked in close to the trunnion casting and table, where I found the left bearing’s adjuster hard to reach. But, at least the guides don’t require squeezing a wrench or screwdriver into that space while you’re at it.

Steel City equips this Hybrid with a thick, granite table that’s dead flat and rust- proof. Blades load through a slit in its side and must be turned 90° at the throat opening. When installing wide resaw blades, you’ll also want to remove the two screw- mounted blade guards.

I like the saw’s 6″-tall steel resaw bar that mounts to the saw’s rip fence. I used the fence system with good success for the resawing test. And, after tensioning the wide blade with the machine’s quick-release lever, the 50155G chomped through wide maple in good stead.

A gooseneck light up top brightened the work area. The saw also comes with a circle-cutting attachment.

One concern about cutting: when visually following a pencil line, the red blade guard partially obscured my line-of-sight to the blade. A plastic window is there to peek through, but it created a distorted view of the line.

Dust collection through a 4″ port in the bottom kept this saw running clean throughout my cutting trials.
Coming in a tad under $700, Steel City’s Hybrid is quite long on features and easiest on the budget here.

“Best Bet” No Easy Pick

JET has a standout saw in the JWBS-14SF, but its pricing is steep. So, I think the “sweet spot” in this group centers on Laguna’s 14-Twelve and RIKON’s attractive 10-325. They ran a dead-even heat in terms of resawing capability, but my hat tips slightly in favor of Laguna. Its stout build quality testifies to Laguna’s long history of engineering industry-leading band saws. The tall fence, rugged trunnion assembly and pro quality blade guides are substantial and well designed. That said, RIKON’s 10-325 has real appeal: it is nicely equipped and an excellent, budget-conscious choice too.

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