American Chippendale Mirror - Woodworking Talk

Chiefwoodworker · 10-27-2009, 02:39 PM

If you are looking for a gift idea for the holidays you might want to consider this American Chippendale Mirror. It is easy to build and you can access free Google SketchUp plans on my Free Plans Page. Women especially will like receiving this as a gift. It is a reproduction of a 130 year old antique that has been in my wife's family all that time. A picture of the original is above left.

The overall dimensions of the mirror are 24" high by 17" wide by 7/8" deep. It would look great constructed totally of tiger maple or cherry or walnut. It would also look great with mixed materials such as cherry scrollwork and walnut picture frame or walnut scrollwork and tiger maple picture frame. The original mirror has been stained so dark it is tough to see the wood grain. I am not a fan of staining for just this very reason. That said, tiger maple does lend itself to some stains really well, though it looks great unstained also. A picture of the SketchUp model front view is above left.

The picture above left is an isometric view of the SketchUp model. Notice the picture of me taking a picture of the original has been used as a texture for the mirror. I posted a blog on my website which explains how I created the reproduction SketchUp drawings and also describes the history of this mirror. You can view it by clicking on the American Chippendale Mirror hyperlink above and you can download the plans by clicking on the Free Plans Page above. If you choose to craft this mirror I would appreciate a picture of your completed piece.

Happy Holidays.

Itchy Brother · 10-27-2009, 10:18 PM

Very nice looking!

Chiefwoodworker · 10-28-2009, 09:07 AM

Thanks Itchy Brother.