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Wide Frame Wall Mirror[8/4 Wide · 2ft · 5-Pack]
One pack. One build. All 5 boards used. • Makes 1 wall mirror
Shop Black Walnut 8/4 Wide · 2ft Pack Shop All Speciesselect 2' Lengths / 6-8"
How it goes together
Black Walnut
Hard Maple
Cherry
White Oak
Red Oak
Ash
Hickory
Ambrosia Maple
Sapele*
Padauk*
Purpleheart*
*Exotic — not available for shipment to US customers.
A chunky square wall mirror with a 5½" wide, 1¾" thick hardwood frame — the kind of piece that makes an entry or a bathroom. Four boards become the mitred rails, doweled at every corner. The fifth board rips at 45° into a French cleat that holds the mirror tight to the wall. A glass shop cuts the mirror to fit.
Quick Build — for experienced woodworkers
| Part | Qty | From | S2S size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frame rails, mitred 45° both ends | 4 | Boards 1–4 | 22" outside × 5½" × 1¾" |
| Cleat blank, ripped at 45° | 1 | Board 5 | 22" × 5½" × 1¾" |
| Wall cleat | 1 | Board 5, one half | 22" × about 2 11/16" × 1¾" |
| Frame cleat | 1 | Board 5, other half | 17¾" × about 2 11/16" × 1¾" |
| Spacer blocks | 2 | Ends of the frame cleat | 2" × about 2 11/16" × 1¾" |
| Mirror glass and hardboard back | 1 each | Glass shop | 11⅝" square |
Frame: four 22" rails mitred 45° both ends (22" outside, 11" inside). Two ⅜" × 2" dowels per corner, glued in the holes, plus a thin coat of glue on the mitre.
Rabbet: ⅜" wide × ½" deep on the back inside edge, routed after glue-up, corners squared with a chisel.
Glass: ⅛" or 3/16" mirror, 11⅝" square (⅛" under the 11¾" rabbet opening), over a hardboard back, held with mirror clips.
Hanging: board 5 ripped at 45° into a French cleat pair — 22" wall cleat into 2 studs, 17¾" frame cleat on the top rail, two 2" spacers at the bottom.
Finished size: 22" × 22" outside × 1¾" thick, 11" × 11" mirror showing. Stands 1¾" off the wall on the cleat. About 18 lb in walnut with glass.
Before You Start
Shopping List
- 1 lumber pack — 8/4 Wide · 2ft (6–8" wide, S2S)
- Wood glue (Titebond II or III)
- 8 × ⅜" × 2" fluted dowel pins
- 1 mirror, ⅛" or 3/16", 11⅝" square with seamed edges (any glass shop)
- 1 piece ⅛" hardboard, 11⅝" square
- 8 mirror clips with #6 screws
- 4 × #8 × 1¼" screws (frame cleat) and 4 × #8 × 1¼" (spacers)
- 4 × #10 × 3½" screws (wall cleat into 2 studs)
- Sandpaper 120 / 180 / 220
- Finish: wipe-on oil, hardwax oil or water-based poly
Tools
- Saw for crosscuts (mitre saw or circular saw with a speed square) — accurate at 45°
- Table saw with tilting blade (for the 45° rip) and push sticks
- Jointer, straight-line rip jig or hand plane
- Dowel jig with ⅜" bit and depth stop
- Band clamp or 4 corner clamps
- Router with ⅜" bearing-guided rabbeting bit
- Sharp ¾" chisel
- Drill/driver, countersink bit, pilot bits
- Stud finder and level
- Random-orbit sander or sanding block
Why S2S only? The 6–8" wide 8/4 boards come S2S: both faces planed, edges rough. Plan on losing about ¼" per edge when you straighten them.
Our sizing assumptions: ⅛" per saw cut · 6–8" wide 8/4 S2S boards trimmed ½" each end and ¼" off each rough edge (5½" clean at the narrowest), planned at 1¾" thick · sizes drawn for the narrowest board in the pack. Wider boards give you a bigger offcut or a wider part — never a shortage.
Step-by-Step
S2S Lumber Pack (6–8" wide)
Surfaced 2 sides — straighten edges first
- 1 Prep the boards. Trim ½" off each end to remove any end checks. Joint one edge straight, then rip the other edge parallel (¼" off each rough edge is our planning allowance).
- 2 Match the rail widths. All four rails must be the same width or the mitres won't meet. Rip boards 1–4 to the width of the narrowest one — 5½" at the least. Joint the inside edges straight; they show around the glass.
- 3 Mitre the rails. Set the saw to 45° and cut one end of each rail. Clamp a stop block so the long edge measures 22", then mitre the other end. Each rail is 22" on the outside and 11" on the inside edge. Test the saw on scrap first — four pieces that are each off ½° leave a 2° gap. Dry-fit the four rails face down with a band clamp and check that the diagonals match and every mitre closes tight.
- 4 Drill for dowels. Use a dowel jig to drill two ⅜" holes in each mitre face, square to the cut, about 1" deep. Put them in the middle of the thickness, about 2" and 5" from the outside corner, so they stay clear of the rabbet.
- 5 Glue up. Glue goes in the dowel holes and a thin coat on the mitre faces. The mitre is end grain and won't hold on its own — the dowels carry the joint. Tap in ⅜" × 2" dowels, clamp all four corners, check the diagonals again and leave it overnight.
- 6 Rout the rabbet. Flip the frame face down. Rout a ⅜" wide × ½" deep rabbet around the back inside edge with a bearing-guided rabbeting bit, in two passes. Square the four round corners with a sharp chisel. The opening behind is now 11¾" square.
- 7 Make the cleats. Tilt the table-saw blade to 45° and rip board 5 down the middle, through its 1¾" thickness. One half is the wall cleat (22"). Crosscut the other half into a 17¾" frame cleat and two 2" spacer blocks.
- 8 Sand and finish. Sand 120 → 180 → 220, softening the outside edges. Wipe on 2–3 coats of oil or hardwax oil, front, back and the rabbet.
- 9 Fit the mirror. Order 11⅝" square mirror (⅛" or 3/16") with seamed edges and a matching ⅛" hardboard back. Drop the glass in, lay the hardboard on it and hold both with 8 mirror clips. Screw the frame cleat across the back of the top rail, bevel pointing down toward the wall, with 4 pre-drilled #8 × 1¼" screws. Screw a spacer block to each bottom corner so the frame hangs plumb.
- 10 Hang it. Find two studs. Screw the wall cleat level, bevel up and facing the wall, with two #10 × 3½" screws into each stud. Lift the mirror and hook its cleat over the wall cleat. It weighs about 18 lb in walnut with the glass.
Why dowels in the mitres? A mitre is end grain on both sides, and glue alone won't hold end grain for long. The dowels are long grain glued into their holes, so they carry the joint and keep the corners from sliding.
Why a French cleat? Two 45° strips lock together, so the mirror can't lift off or swing. The wall cleat spans two studs and you can hang the mirror alone, then slide it left or right to centre it.
Will the mitres open up? A 5½" wide rail swells and shrinks a little across its width through the year, so a hairline can show at a corner in dry winter air. Finishing every face, including the back and rabbet, slows that down.
Why pre-drill? Maple, oak and hickory split if you drive a screw without a pilot hole. Pre-drill every screw and countersink so the heads sit flush.
Make It Yours
- Bathroom: use hardwax oil or wipe-on poly on every face and keep it away from the shower spray.
- Splines: instead of dowels, cut a ¼" kerf across each outside corner and glue in a contrasting spline — it shows and looks great.
- Two-tone frame: walnut top and bottom rails with maple sides.
- Chalkboard or cork: put chalkboard-painted hardboard or cork in the rabbet instead of glass for a message board.
Safety and Care
- Wear eye and hearing protection. Use a push stick for every rip under 4" wide.
- Use push sticks and a feather board on the 45° rip, and keep your hands out of the blade's path — the bevel blade leans toward the fence side.
- Wear gloves when handling mirror glass and order it with seamed edges.
- Mount into wall studs (or rated anchors sized for the load). Check for wires and pipes before drilling.
- Pre-drill every screw — hardwoods split without a pilot hole.
Frequently Asked Questions
The 6–8" wide 8/4 pack comes S2S (faces planed, edges rough). Straighten the edges with a jointer, a table saw and a straight-line jig, a track saw, or a hand plane.
About 18 lb in walnut with ⅛" glass, a bit more with 3/16". Screw the wall cleat into two studs with #10 × 3½" screws and it holds several times that. No studs where you want it? Use anchors rated for at least 50 lb in total.
Any local glass or framing shop cuts mirror to size, often the same day. Measure the rabbet opening after routing and order ⅛" smaller each way, with seamed edges.
Only if all four are at least that wide. Rip all four rails to the same width, then work out the inside size: 22" minus two rail widths. Order the glass from your measured rabbet opening, not from this plan.
Planned offcuts only: about ⅞" off the end of each board, plus the four triangles cut away by the mitres (our yield counts the full blanks). Board 5 becomes the cleat pair and spacers. All 5 boards go into the mirror.
Yes. A 4ft wide pack makes a matching pair: crosscut every board in half first, then follow this plan twice — eight rails and two cleat blanks.
