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Came up with a brilliant solution over the weekend...
Have an old Vitaloni trapezoid mirror in great shape but I can't use it because the gasket has dry rotted over the last 50+ years and only memory keeps the gasket from crumbling and the glass falling out. Over the weekend I decided to try something to repair the mirror so I could put it back into service. A replacement gasket doesn't seem to be readily available so I had to come up with something else. I sliced the remaining gasket apart with a razor blade to free the mirror. I then separated the mirror into its individual components so I could polished the three metal pieces, clean the glass and take stock of what I had to work with.
The glass and the stainless steel were in excellent condition only requiring cleaning and buffing. The pot metal parts were a little pitted but cleaned up nicely so i decide to re-use them as well. All of the plastic and internals of the mirror were in good shape and worked well holding the mirror in whatever position so nothing but cleaning was accomplished on those parts.
After polishing the metal and cleaning the glass, I measured the mirror at 3mm thick. I took a scribe and marked 3mm lines at several spots around the inside of the mirror housing. I then re-assembled the mirror housing to the arm because this has to be done before the glass is re-installed. Once the arm was reattached, I took a hot glue gun and put dots of hot glue at all of the marks I made in the mirror housing. Once the glue dried I set the glass in place and checked to see if the glass was level with the edge of the housing. It took a few tries and some removals of glue in somes place and additions of glue in others but I eventually got the glass sitting flush with the edge of the housing.
Once the glass was level with the edge of the frame I used four toothpicks, broken in half, to wedge the glass snugly and evenly in place all the way around. Satisfied that the glass was centered I took the hot glue gun and filling in the gap all the way around the mirror, liberally pilling the glue up as I went. Once the first application of glue had dried, I removed the toothpicks and filled the remaining gaps with hot glue. I let the glue dry and then took a new razor blade and trimmed the glue from around the edge, trimming it flush with the surface of the glass and the housing. I had to go back to a couple a spots and fill the gap with more glue and then trim it again but the results are spectacular! The glass is firmly affixed to the housing and the clear glue around the edge is nearly invisible. If the mirror ever needs to be removed, a razor blade and a steady hand is all that is required.
Have an old Vitaloni trapezoid mirror in great shape but I can't use it because the gasket has dry rotted over the last 50+ years and only memory keeps the gasket from crumbling and the glass falling out. Over the weekend I decided to try something to repair the mirror so I could put it back into service. A replacement gasket doesn't seem to be readily available so I had to come up with something else. I sliced the remaining gasket apart with a razor blade to free the mirror. I then separated the mirror into its individual components so I could polished the three metal pieces, clean the glass and take stock of what I had to work with.
The glass and the stainless steel were in excellent condition only requiring cleaning and buffing. The pot metal parts were a little pitted but cleaned up nicely so i decide to re-use them as well. All of the plastic and internals of the mirror were in good shape and worked well holding the mirror in whatever position so nothing but cleaning was accomplished on those parts.
After polishing the metal and cleaning the glass, I measured the mirror at 3mm thick. I took a scribe and marked 3mm lines at several spots around the inside of the mirror housing. I then re-assembled the mirror housing to the arm because this has to be done before the glass is re-installed. Once the arm was reattached, I took a hot glue gun and put dots of hot glue at all of the marks I made in the mirror housing. Once the glue dried I set the glass in place and checked to see if the glass was level with the edge of the housing. It took a few tries and some removals of glue in somes place and additions of glue in others but I eventually got the glass sitting flush with the edge of the housing.
Once the glass was level with the edge of the frame I used four toothpicks, broken in half, to wedge the glass snugly and evenly in place all the way around. Satisfied that the glass was centered I took the hot glue gun and filling in the gap all the way around the mirror, liberally pilling the glue up as I went. Once the first application of glue had dried, I removed the toothpicks and filled the remaining gaps with hot glue. I let the glue dry and then took a new razor blade and trimmed the glue from around the edge, trimming it flush with the surface of the glass and the housing. I had to go back to a couple a spots and fill the gap with more glue and then trim it again but the results are spectacular! The glass is firmly affixed to the housing and the clear glue around the edge is nearly invisible. If the mirror ever needs to be removed, a razor blade and a steady hand is all that is required.
