At last! With handles made from scrap rosewood smuggled back from a Costa Rican surf trip, the mirror box is easily mounted and ready to use. Its dimensions are: 43" wide, 42" tall, and 11" deep.
To see the progress of this project from the beginning, scroll back a mere 28 posts.

With the finishing complete, it's time for final assembly. Here I'm attaching the box frame within the notches of the runners. Later, the curvy supports that go below the box frame will attach to the frame and runners. The hook bar will then attach to the supports. Finally the mirror is attached to the runners as well.

A first coat of linseed oil for the mirror frames.

With all of the elements built, fitted, and sanded, it's down to finishing and assembly. Here the boxes get a coat.

With the mirror frames fitted and glued, the mirrors and backing boards need notches within which to rest. A great job for the router.

Transferring the joints from the vertical members of the mirror frames to the horizontal with a drafting pencil. Cuts are then made with table and bandsaws.

Giving the dovetails that hold the mirror frame together a bit of style.

No turning back now! With all mating surfaces covered in a thin coat of glue, I have to work fast before everything sets up permanently.

With all edges snug and correct, all that remains are the box bottoms as well as cutting the notches to accept them.

Finally, the moment of swears or satisfaction. Dry fitting (without glue) tells the tale of how accurate I have or haven't been. So far so good!

Just as with the tails, the pins require a very sharp chisel to clean the cuts and bring the edges right up to the lines from two pictures ago.

Cutting the shoulders for the pins calls for the Japanese pull saw. (It cuts on the pull and not the push.)

Transferring the cut lines from tails to pins is just a matter of drawing a thin line around the perimeter. This simple step requires focus: any imperfection here will be glaringly obvious when the piece comes together.

Some things are best done by hand: cleaning up the tails with chisels.

If you already know how to cut dovetails by hand does that mean you have to? The table saw makes quick and accurate work of the tail shoulders.

While leaving the glued and clamped cherry boards to dry over night, I've begun laying out my cut lines for the half-blind dovetails of the sliding box.