We have a couple of mirrors around the house, one of which I built. However, I wanted to build a mirror for the entryway of our home. I found some plans in a Woodsmith magazine article. The plans called for making the mirror out of Red Oak, but I chose Cherry. I think Cherry is such an elegant wood. It is really beautiful. The grain is much more subtle than Oak, but if it is treated right, it can look great.
The plans called for a shelf in the mirror and several pieces of molding. I made the molding on the Router Table as usual. The plans also called for hooks below the shelf for people’s jackets. My wife did not like that idea, so I left the hooks off of the final design.
I have several observations about working with Cherry. It really has an elegant grain pattern. I have not used a lot of Cherry in the past, but that will change. Cherry works very nicely on power equipment, I had no issues at all. By the way, Cherry wood turns darker as it ages which might be a consideration in choosing your finish.
When you have finished your project, you have to decide on a finish. Some people just use Paste Wax. Sometimes people use Polyurethane. You can also stain Cherry, but I think that turns it too dark and muddles the grain. In the case of my mirror, I chose to just finish with a few coats of clear, semi-gloss Polyurethane from General Finishes.
This was a fun project from getting the Cherry wood to having a mirror made by a local glass company. It went together pretty well. Be sure to check out some photos of the project.
Doug
