Woodworker's Journal 2004 Spring, страница 53

QREENE (JQREENE WALL MIRROR

By Mike McGlynn

Take your shop skills to the next level with this Arts & Crafts style mirror.

This large mahogany mirror is an adaptation of a design by Charles and Henry Greene. The original piece is now part of a collection at the David B. Gamble House, a home in Pasadena, California, which was designed by the Greene brothers in 1908. Apart from their woodworking talents, the Greenes were registered architects. Perhaps that explains why their work incorporates both solid aesthetic values and superb structural integrity.

The original mirror is vertical and embellished with wavy, secondary stiles that would be rather difficult to

reproduce. I kept that in mind when I built this reproduction, opting for a horizontal version with simple, straight stiles. The reproduction does, however, remain true to the original in most other aspects. For example, this mirror's design features identical mahogany stiles and rails, the Greenes' signature ebony plugs and aniline dye stain.

Honduras mahogany isn't difficult to find and is only slightly more expensive than red oak. If you don't want to pay for ebony, substitute maple for your plugs and stain them with black aniline dye.

Milling the Mahogany

I built this entire project from one plank of rough cut Honduras mahogany. To some degree, the three true mahoganies (African, Cuban and Honduras) are interchangeable, but each has some defining color characteristics. African and Cuban are a bit darker than Honduras; unfortunately, both are difficult to find, and what does come on the market is about twice as expensive as Honduras.

Honduras mahogany boards are generally quite flat, and it's not unusual to find them 24" wide and

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Spring 2004 Arts & Crafts Furniture