mirror/picture frame refinishing - Woodworking Talk

melaluca02 · 01-04-2009, 02:22 PM

I recently moved into a new home and discovered a 24x48 mirror in the basement. The mirror is in excellent shape, however the frame needs some work.
Everything is intact, it just needs to be sanded down and stained. The frame has several grooves which are extremely difficult to get into with regular sandpaper. Question...what can I use to make it easier to get in these grooves for sanding?

BHOFM · 01-04-2009, 02:30 PM

We demand pictures!

With out seeing it, it is hard to say.

melaluca02 · 01-04-2009, 02:47 PM

Shame on me for not posting pics, lol!!! Here they are...it's nearly impossible to sand these grooves by hand.

Rob · 01-04-2009, 03:02 PM

I would use anything you have around the house...different diameters of pvc, dowels, tubing...whatever you've got that will get close to the curves. I've used soup cans with the ends cut out.
To be honest, it doesn't look like anything that isn't quite do-able with some time and effort.
They sell flexible sanding sponges at the hardware store that might help also.

BHOFM · 01-04-2009, 03:17 PM

I think this calls for sticky sandpaper and some
paint sticks with some edge work on them.

Did I mention time?

melaluca02 · 01-04-2009, 04:44 PM

Thanks for the responses guys. Seems as if there is no easy way to do this, lol. I have about 1/2 of the sanding done already and will post pics when complete.

firehawkmph · 01-04-2009, 04:54 PM

Mel,
I think woodcraft and rocklers offer an assortment of sanding shapes. They are made out of a flexible material and you wrap your sandpaper of choice around them.
http://www.woodcraft.com/product.asp...FamilyID=20023
Mike Hawkins

Rob · 01-04-2009, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Seems as if there is no easy way to do this

Paint

frankp · 01-04-2009, 10:23 PM

Instead of buying different shapes, I use sponges and closed cell foam. Both flex around curves well and you can just put some peel and stick sandpaper on them whenever you need different shapes. Getting into the grooves will still take work, but that combined with some chemical stripper and you shouldn't have any real issue.

If you're against chemical strippers for some reason, you're going to have to try other alternatives such as popsicle sticks with slightly filed ends that have sandpaper stuck to them etc etc.

cabinetman · 01-05-2009, 12:49 PM

What works well are Scotch-Brite abrasive hand pads. They are flexible and are a self contained microfiber abrasive in different degrees of abrasiveness. They can fold and be pushed into any shape groove. There's a variety here.

AZ Termite · 01-05-2009, 09:07 PM

If you don't want to do it by had, and you have a little cash, you can get a profile sander. I have one and it works good for projects like that. It will take a lot of time and a lot of patience no matter how you go. I believe the profile sander is Dremel, it comes with quite a few different profiles and sandpaper in various grits.