Fan mirror glue up jig

[john lucas]

What I call my fan mirrors have always been an incredibly difficult thing to glue up. What you basically have is a whole bunch of wedge shaped pieces. So when you put glue on and make it slippery all the pieces want to go every which way.
The veneer also acts like a spring which compounds the problem. What I did today was to prebend the veneer to match the shape of each section. I did this using curling iron and heat bent it. This made the whole thing fit together without the spring action pushing it apart.
Then I built this jig to push on each section. it's just angle iron welded together and tapped for the socket head screws. It worked even better than I hoped. Before snugging it up very far I was able to push the veneer down towards the bottom. Then when I cranked each screw it pushed the wedges down toward the bottom It was very easy and quite satisfying. Now all I have to do is turn the mirror.

 

[Odie]

I always find it extremely interesting to see special jigs and specially made shop fixtures.

Thanks for showing us, John......😎

This reminded me of my technique for gluing up waste blocks on seasoned roughed bowls. I use a spot of two sided industrial tape at the very edge of the joint. That way, the waste block has less tendency to slip, as I tighten the clamp........

ooc

 

[Charlie Knighton]

you make regular size mirrors, how big is this jig, please show finish form.......tooks good

 

[john lucas]

I'll probably have the mirror done some time today if the finish will cooperate. I'll post a photo of the final product. I use 4" glass. This is a 5 1/2" square so the jig is about 6 1/2" square. I had to cut longer threads on the cap screws. I wasn't sure I could get enough torque on flat head or philips screws which did have full length threads. With the right filler blocks inside I might be able to use this jig for other odd shaped items.

 

[Sean Boyle]

I always find it extremely interesting to see special jigs and specially made shop fixtures.

Thanks for showing us, John......😎

This reminded me of my technique for gluing up waste blocks on seasoned roughed bowls. I use a spot of two sided industrial tape at the very edge of the joint. That way, the waste block has less tendency to slip, as I tighten the clamp........

ooc

As a segmented turner I learned a technique to keep the ring from slip sliding as I was clamping a few grains of table salt on the outer edge. It's like have studded tires on ice. Also Odie a while back you were talking about a bowl thickness gauge do you recall who made it and where to buy one

 

[john lucas]

Sean Over the years I've tried a lot of techniques. I used to use a grain of sand like you used the salt. I've also tried CA glue on just one spot. The problem with this glue up is you actually have to slide the pieces into place because it's almost impossible to get them in the perfect position before clamping. Years ago I used to glue these up 2 pieces at a time and in that fashion you could use the salt or sometimes even tape to hold them while clamping with wedges or whatever. Of course that meant that I had a rediculous amount of time in building one of these and couldn't sell them for anywhere near what I had in the time to build them. With this method It takes just a little longer than twice what it takes to make a plain mirror. However in my local gallery I can only get about twice what I normally charge for the plain mirrors so I needed a way to make them faster.

 

[Dale Miner]

Fixtures rule!

At least for difficult and repetative tasks.

 

[Michael Poorman]

Nice clamping jig!

 

[Odie]

As a segmented turner I learned a technique to keep the ring from slip sliding as I was clamping a few grains of table salt on the outer edge. It's like have studded tires on ice. Also Odie a while back you were talking about a bowl thickness gauge do you recall who made it and where to buy one

Sorry, Sean......didn't notice your post until this morning.

Your salt idea sounds like it will work well......good idea!

I think you are talking about the Tompkins Gage "T" thickness gauge. This gauge is pricey, but IMHO is well worth the money to have it in the shop. It doesn't replace calipers, but when you need to know the thickness for a surface at various points, it's great!

Here is a link to it:

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/87/3730/Tompkins-Gage'T-Thickness-Gauge?term=gage t

ooc

 

[Charlie Knighton]

just saw your mirror picture, looks good John.....I have always been a chunk turner, but that segmented piece looks good