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Gluing a mirror to a plywood door

5/28/15       
Tom

Have a job coming up and the architect wants a recessed wooden medicine cabinet. If I glue the 1/4" mirror to a 3/4" plywood door blank will I have an unbalanced panel? I am using Blum concealed hinges on the door.
Thanks!

5/28/15       #3: Gluing a mirror to a plywood door ...
Keith Newton

You can get a mirror-safe mastic from your glass supplier, but most other will destroy a mirror.

You can get thick door hinges, which you will need once you get over 7/8" thick.

5/29/15       #4: Gluing a mirror to a plywood door ...
Scott W

I have only had good luck using 3/4 melamine 2 sided. Plywood will bow.

5/29/15       #5: Gluing a mirror to a plywood door ...
Geoff

I have had issues with gluing (mirror mastic) 1/8" mirror to 3/4" ply wood panel. This situation the panel was in a 1 3/4" thick stile and rail door. The door was cupping toward the ply wood side. This made me think the ply wood side of the panel was drier than the mirror side. I took the panel out of the door and the stiles went back to being flat.

This was a pocket door and it turns out when the door was open, or in the pocket, the ply wood side of the door was next to one side of the houses boiler chimney.

I replaced the ply wood panel with a particle core panel but the door bowed again but not as bad.

Live and learn!

5/30/15       #6: Gluing a mirror to a plywood door ...
Jerry M

I've had success using 1/2" ply and 1/4" mirror---with ply painted before glass installation (mastic) and standard Blum hinges--drill for hinges before mirror installation!

5/31/15       #7: Gluing a mirror to a plywood door ...
Kevin Jenness

A small medicine cabinet may be ok but a large door with mirror glued to one side is asking for trouble- speaking from experience. Clips are a safe alternative.

5/31/15       #8: Gluing a mirror to a plywood door ...
Gene Wengert-WoodDoc

There are many situations where the plywood will warp. I have seen mirrors crack. The more plies in the plywood, the more stable the product, but the heavier it will be.

If I had to do this, I would finish the plywood with a vapor resistant coating on all six sides. Then carefully clean off the coating on the spots where the mirror will be attached. Attach the mirror closer to the middle than at the edges...this will allow for a little movement without a failure. The coating means that any moisture change and wood movement will be slow and even, so warp will be unlikely.

8/2/15       #9: Gluing a mirror to a plywood door ...
Paul Keating

Website: http://www.designworkscompany.net

I just recently did this. We constructed the door out of 3/4" plywood, edgebanded with 1/2" stock (not relevant) and we then glued the mirror on with glass mastic (provided by my glass vendor) but they key is you need a rail at the bottom to support the mirror. The mastic alone is not enough to hold the mirror there over time. The mirror we got was beveled so they had aluminum stock that allowed the mirror to sit into it and the mastic just adheres the mirror to the plywood, but doesn't offer any shear strength over time.

6/22/20       #10: Gluing a mirror to a plywood door ...
vc

I'm thinking of copying a design I saw (photos attached). It seems they used 3/4" teak, but I want to use 1/2" plywood and 1/4" mirror. They seemed to just glue the mirror to the wood with no additional support. Their mirror dimensions were 22" h x 21" w, and mine would be about 25" h x 16" w.

Any thoughts?


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