Help Framing a Trapezoidal Mirror

Mary Beth van der Horst

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Jan 28, 2020
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Myrtle Beach, SC
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Mary Beth's Custom Framing Studio
Got a request today to frame a trapezoid shaped mirror. I told them I'd think about it and reach out to see where it can be fabricated since I'm 100% 45 degree angles in house. At least it's just straight sides, but some funky angles. Where should I try and get a quote? Rian is all that's come to mind so far. Waiting on their drawing of the dimensions before I make any calls.
 
lol unimportant plot twist: It's a recycled double sided mirror from an old rear-projection tv! Haha, I guess it came with some stuff left in the house they just bought.
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What style of frame are they looking for?
My guess is that most vendors that have their moulding made elsewhere would be little help, but
most vendors that make their moulding in house, like Vermont Hardwoods, would be able to make you an odd angled frame.

I've made a few Triangles, a Pentagon (Superman Logo), and an irregular 20 sided frame (A hand of playing cards fanned out) a few years back.
 
Luckily for many of us, framers don't need to be examined and licensed because then such a simple probem woud be required as part of a minimal professional capacity ...
 
I had a wood worker friend of mine make them for me. I gave him the dimensions, he cut and assembled them, I stained and polyurathaned them.
 
What are you going to cut the moulding with?
It's a fairly simple solution using basic drafting and a sliding T bevel square.
It can be done on either a chopper or a power miter saw.
Avoid mouldings with repeated patterns if possible. They will be a bear to pattern match.
Oh, and free mirror doesn't mean cheap framing.
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Mary Beth, we could definitely fabricate that frame for you. If the two angles on the bottom are the same as well as the 2 on the top it should be pretty straight forward and easy working off your measurements. If they are different then the we would just need an accurate tracing to be sure what we create easily receives your mirror. If your are interested just send me an email with the specs and I can get you a price. rick@rianfabrication.com
 
What are you going to cut the moulding with?
It's a fairly simple solution using basic drafting and a sliding T bevel square.
It can be done on either a chopper or a power miter saw.
Avoid mouldings with repeated patterns if possible. They will be a bear to pattern match.
Oh, and free mirror doesn't mean cheap framing.
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I honestly don't want to try to do this on my own. Sure, I can figure out the angles super easy. I can't change the angle on my chopper super easy though. I don't want the slow-down when I'm 6 weeks away from maternity leave and racing to clear as many orders as possible. This is an outsource or turn-away project.
 
I honestly don't want to try to do this on my own. Sure, I can figure out the angles super easy. I can't change the angle on my chopper super easy though. I don't want the slow-down when I'm 6 weeks away from maternity leave and racing to clear as many orders as possible. This is an outsource or turn-away project.
If you were to want to do this yourself, I would not recommend using your daily frame cutting machine.
The frames I did were using a regular Mitre Saw that I use once or twice a year.
I totally agree that now is likely not the time for experimentation for you.
 
What is the weight of this mirror? This might be a project requiring the mirror to be glued with mastic to a plywood backing, to which the frame would be atteched and from which the whole thing would be hung. That way, the frame itself is not bearing the weight, but is just decorative.
:coffeedrinker2: Rick

P.S. As Wally said, ...free mirror doesn't mean cheap framing. On the contrary, this is a time-consuming custom project. I would make sure the customer understands this before putting too much time into planning.
 
I pride our company on doing the odd/unusual frames. BUT they ALL have to be rectangles.

Granted, maybe 30 years ago we did a batch of octagonals, but it was something like a couple hundred, so it was worth taking the time to get set up for it. We ended up using a radial arm saw to do the miters. Don't even have one of those anymore...
 
It's a fairly simple solution...
I say "no".

While technically that's true, in practicality it's not.

I know, personally, the brother of who who Did and then Wrote a book called "A Walk Across America" (I happened to read the book before I became acquainted with the brother of the author and only found out the connection later on).

Walking across America (by which I mean the contiguous states of the USA) is really simple. Especially today, when all you have to do is open your smartphone, go into your mapping program (I assume they all have the same options) and put in the starting and destination point, and select the guy with a walking icon. By that I mean, that very little brain power is required - that's what I take "simple" to mean.

However, if so chosen, you may find that "simple" and "easy" do not have a 1:1 ratio. Another example: Mount Kilimanjaro. From what I understand, it's a marked hiking path. Simple. Follow the signs. Easy? Read the reviews.
 
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Nice part about using a CNC for this type of project. All of the angles can be different, all of the sides can be different lengths, and the machine doesn't care. After the vector drawing is created it's no more difficult than cutting a rectangle. And if you are worried about the weight, we can alter the rabbet depth to receive a 1/2" thick ultralight mdf backer, cut to the exact same shape which can be used for supporting the mirror and attaching the z-bar.
 
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