instructables

Modern Wood and LED Vanity Mirror

by dvilleneuve1

My wife was complaining about her (very) small mirror she used every day while doing makeup, and the bad
lighting. So I suggested to make her a modern vanity mirror with LED. I choose LED over bulb lights because our
console table is not very wide.

My main concern for this project was to choose the right LED strip in order to have the best lighting color and
intensity for makeup. Turns out it's nearly impossible to find hard facts on the subject. I searched for some high
quality vanity mirrors and they use a wide range of color temperatures: from 4000K to 7500K! On this beauty site,
the author recommend a neutral white (4000K), so I went for this. And according to the LED color temperature
chart above, it seems to be a decent choice.

The second challenge for me was making the frame with some woodworking to integrate the LED strip, as it was
my first wood project which needed precise cuts. And of course, I learnt some things the hard way..

Below is the material I used for this project:

200 x 30 cm Oak laminated shelf (you'll need only 1/3 of it)

60 x 45 x 3 cm mirror
100 x 50 x 0.3 cm white opaque plexiglass slab (I only used three 2cm-wide strips, plus some
failures)
5m neutral white (4000-4500K) LED strip (2m needed) (french store)
Wood finishing : hard coat and varnish
Wood biscuit joiner + glue

Tools:

Router
Circular saw
Handsaw
Clamps

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1. I used this one

Step 1: Planning

I like to start all my projects by doing a 3D model of it. It helps me visualize the final product.

Here is the SketchUp design.

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1. I used wood biscuit to assemble the frame

http://www.instructables.comhttps://app4.instructables.com:8080/files/orig/F9A/QDY7/J8EQWSSS/F9AQDY7J8EQWSSS.skp

https://cdn.instructables.com/static/3dviewer/index.html?svf=https://cdn.instructables.com/forge-derivs/F9AQDY7J8EQWSSS/1/vanity_mirror.svf

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Step 2: Cutting the Frame

I started by cutting 6cm wide planks with a circular saw, then cutting mitered corners with a handsaw and a guide.

If I had to make a second project like this, I think I'd buy a decent miter saw instead. The guide was helpful but
cutting precise mitered corners by hand is nearly impossible.. I spent a lot of times trying to fix every edges in
order to make all pieces to fit.

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Step 3: Routing the Frame

Once all frame pieces was cut, I used a router to As you can see on the pictures, I tried to fix my edges
carve some spaces for both LED strips and plexiglass with the router, which left some burn marks but
cover, on every one of them. On further consideration worked just fine.
I should have temporarily assemble the frame, then
route everything in a single pass for each depth. But I also cut 4mm-height grooves for wood biscuits with
the cuts was still pretty aligned, so it'll do for this one a groove router bit like this one. For the mirror
:) grooves, a simple 3mm straight router bit was perfect.

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1. First router pass for plexiglass

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1
1

1. Huge gap 1. Screw to wedge the planks

2. Gap too

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2

1. Don't forget to put numbers on adjacent pieces, especially if the mitered corners are not perfect :) 1. Nonslip rug. You HAVE to buy
one if you intend to use a router
2. Biscuit wood space

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1. Mirror groove
2. Router burn marks

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Step 4: Assemble Frame and Mirror

After verifying the mirror was fitting properly in the frame, I put painting tape on the mirror to protect it during wood
finishing step.

At this point, it was glue-time :)

Once the glue was dry, I drilled a hole for the power cord and used a mix of glue and this plank wood sawdust to
fill the remaining gaps on the frame. It's a good solution to quickly fix mistakes.

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1. 2-3mm overlap. Enough to prevent marking mirror with varnish, and still
be able to remove it

1. Strap with corners

1. Power cord hole

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Step 5: Wood Finishing

As it was my first time doing wood finishing, I didn't know how it'll render, so I did some test on a scrap wood
piece.

I started with two thin layers of wood sealer (Fondur) with little small-grit sanding before each application.

Finally a thin layer of brown mat varnish gave the perfect tint for my project.

1. One layer of wood sealer 1. Second layer of wood sealer

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1. Final layer of varnish

Step 6: Cutting Plexiglass

This part was the worst. Plexiglass is a pain in the a** circular saw with a 42-tooth blade and adding 1mm
to cut. on the cut width in case of issues. But I had to finish
the job somehow to make it fit. Turns out a knife
I tried using a jigsaw with a melamine blade but it (beware of not scratching the plexiglass) and lots of
kept going sideway, even with a fence. And the sanding (beware of not melting the plexiglass) was
plexiglass was melting sometimes.. the best way to do the job.

The best solution I found was simply by using a

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1. Sliver caused by the circular saw

Step 7: Electronics

This part was simple. I just cut and glued 4 LED strips at the proper length and used an old power cord to connect
them. The welding was so tiny, the electrical sheathing was starting to melt, but it was done quickly.

I still have to find a good-looking cord with a switch to replace the default one.

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1. First try with a single strip

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Step 8: Finish

And it's done.

This project was a very good way to learn woodworking. I think I'd make some things differently now, but it was
fun. Plus, my wife is very happy with it :)

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1. Not impressed cat

This is great, I want to do exactly this to my mirror! Could you post a link to the lights you used?

Sure. It was this one : https://www.top-24h.com/fr/rubans-led/523-nouveau-...

It's a french store but they should be able to deliver in everywhere :)
At worst, you'll find the specs of the led stripes

Awesome work!!

Very, very impressed!!

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 Thanks. It's motivating :)

Good work and well written, thanks.

Thanks for the feedback. I was wondering if I was clear enough.

This is really well done, I like it.

Good project, and good instructable too! :)

Thanks. I forgot to take pictures during plexiglass step though.

That's really pretty! I love the minimalist design :)

Thanks. I wanted something in wood, simple and with some white parts to lighten the room

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