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.

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

With the notches complete, the outer edges of the runners get a small bevel or "chamfer" with the spokeshave.

All cherry elements attach to the wall via two maple vertical runners. Here they receive notches with the dado blade that the box frame will sit within.

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!

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.

Once rough-milled, the pieces are left overnight to release any internal tension as well as absorb/expel moisture from all surfaces evenly.

After labeling each piece and cutting it to an approximate length, the stock is rough-milled to obtain flat, clean and square edges. The first milling gets the wood close to its final dimensions while still allowing the internal tensions of each board to be released and, thus, stable after the finish mill.

Once I'm happy with the look and feel of my scale drawing (on the cork-board in the upper right) I make a list of each puzzle piece with exact dimensions. Then it's to the basement to select the rough stock. Each piece is selected with a careful eye for how the dusty plank will present as part of the finished piece.