instructables
Deep Hole in a Small Box, a Different Take on the Infinity Mirror.
by Stevens Workshop
First o I must give credit for the inspiration to these
two Reddit posts, this is the rst one I saw and this is
the one that inspired that rst one.
Having seen these I knew it was something I wanted
to make. I hope this Instructable inspires you to pick
up the tools and give it a go.
I completely messed up my rst attempt by trying to
use some beach and ash o cuts that I unsuccessfully
jointed, this is version 2 and so much better.
The nal product is impressive, even if I do say so
myself.
Supplies:
Most of the supplies will depend on the size of the
Deep Hole in a Small Box, a Different Take on the Infinity Mirror.: Page 1
box you're planning to make.
I used some really nice B/BB plywood, this is such a
great material and so di erent from the 'normal'
plywood you get from the big box stores. Very few (if
any) voids and with the B grade face it's pretty much
blemish free. It's a little heavier and quite a bit more
expensive, I would say it's worth it for any 'public'
facing project.
The size of the box I made was determined by the
mirror that my wife was throwing out, this was used
as the bottom mirror.
You'll need enough wood (ply) to make the four side
of the box to a height of about 325 mm (13 inches).
I decided to go for a bulkhead light for the inside of
the box as I thought this was in keeping with a mine
shaft. You'll also need a length of mains cable.
The bottom mirror is a standard mirror but the top is
where the 'magic' happens.
1. Glass topped coffee table
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3
2
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1. Parts for the ladder 1. Safety gear

2. Wood for the internal cladding 2. Bulkhead light for inside the box

3. Plywood for the box

Step 1: The Bottom Mirror

To reinforce the bottom mirror I mounted it to a piece of 4 mm plywood using some double-sided carpet tape.
This gave a total thickness of 8 mm, you'll need to remember this measurement for later as this is the size of the
router bit you'll need for the rabbet.

1. Double-sided carpet tape

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Step 2: Make Your Ladder

I had originally planned to get an old ladder and chop hammer and painted it black to add to the mine shaft
one of the rungs o . After searching Gumtree, authenticity.
Facebook marketplace and local skips I didn't manage
to nd anything cheap enough (free). The height of you ladder will be determined by the
space between your two mirrors, you want to make
I wasted so much time looking around, it actually took sure the ladder is tight up against the top mirror as
me less time to make a quick single rung ladder. any large gap will ruin the illusion. You also want to
make sure the rung is in the middle for the same
Using a couple of 70 x 50 mm pine o cuts and an old reason.
broom handle I knocked up a little single rung ladder.
I distressed the pine by knocking it about with a

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1. Wood glued into place

1. Broom handle

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1. Black to add a little authenticity

Step 3: Making the Box Sides

As I do with most projects I drew up the basic plan
rst. I've attached the Sketchup le of the plywood
layout.
For added strength I decided to join the sides using
super sized nger joints, to do this I made a quick jig,
this allowed me to make multiple blade passes on my
table saw, these were also at an exact 90º.
I started by measuring the end of the long sides and
dividing it by 5 to get the size of the ngers. These
were then marked out on both ends of the two longer
sides. Once I had made the cuts to make the ngers I
then used the cutouts to mark up the corresponding
ngers on the short side pieces.
Using the cutouts to mark up the second pieces
ensures that the ngers line up.
I dry tted the box together to ensure a good t
before the glue up.

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3 4
2

1. 2002 mm long 1. 18 mm birch ply

2. 325 mm height
3. 555 mm long sides
4. 473 mm short sides

1. Super sized finger joint jig

1. Beautiful plywood with almost no voids

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1. Super sized finger joint jig 1. Finger joints laid out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWbyh-kcgMo&feature=youtu.be

1. Always mark out the area to be removed

1. Matched corners

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1. Marking out the other piece 1. Mark up

1. First layup

1. Tight corners

Deep Hole in a Small Box, a Different Take on the Infinity Mirror.: Page 8
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1. Mallet to 'persuade' pieces into place 1. Full dry fit

View in 3D Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FXT/FDJQ/KGQJXAPW/FXTFDJQKGQJXAPW.skp

Step 4: Routing the Slot for Top and Bottom Mirrors

Using an 8 mm router bit mounted into my router
table I routed a slot for the bottom mirror around the
bottom of each of the four sides. In the shorter sides
this slot was stopped before the edge, so I was not
visible from the outside.
In one of the short sides I cut a 50 mm hole, this is
centred around the bottom mirror slot, it's to allow
the mains cable to pass past the mirror, through to
the light.
Again, another dry t, this time with the mirror in
place.
I then routed a slot all around the top edge of each
side, this slot was 4.5 mm deep as I was planning to
use a 4 mm top mirror. The slot was cut to half the
width of the sides, this gives the top mirror enough
area to rest on.
All the top slots were stopped to line up with the
corresponding slot on the joined piece.

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1. 8 mm router bit

1. Stopped rabbet

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1. Dry test fit with mirror in place

1. Hole cut out for mains cable to pass through

1. Stop mark on router table fence

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1. Stopped rabbet cut around the top edges

Step 5: The Top Mirror

Once I had routed the slot around the inside top edge
I was able to measure up to get the top piece of glass.
I went to my local glass / mirror centre, having given
them the measurements and told them what it was
for, they strongly recommended I got toughened
glass. This is a service they o er but there was a week
delay.
It took two attempts as I completely messed up the
rst one, I hadn't cleaned the glass well enough and
managed to stick the mirror lm to itself and crease it.
I decided not to lm my second attempt as I really
needed to concentrate.
I'm pleased to say the second attempt went much
better and I now had a serviceable top mirror.

Having collected my new piece of toughened glass it
was time to make the top mirror.
Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures / video of me
making the actual top mirror.
Please take the time to watch the video, even if it's
just for the trick on how to remove the mirror lm
backing.

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1. Soapy water spray bottle

2. Sticky tape
3. Card for pushing out water
4. Mirror film

https://youtu.be/92fILDmSH-o

Step 6: Glue Up

All the sides had now been nished it was time to glue As shown in the second picture I made two corner
up the box. blocks to allow me to put some clamping pressure
across the box to square it up.
DON'T FORGET TO PUT IN THE BOTTOM MIRROR. If
you do you won't be able to add it in later. I also put The box was then left for the glue to set.
the top mirror in place to make sure the box was
square around it. The following day I sanded all the outside faces.

I used Titebond 2 wood glue but any PVA wood glue To the outside faces I applied 3 coats of Danish oil,
would work ne. Make sure you cover all the mating sanding lightly between coats.
surfaces, if like me you're using plywood, make sure
you use enough glue as the ply is thirst and you don't
want a dry joint.

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1. Squaring block

1. Never have enough clamps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e_mOVz6z04&feature=youtu.be

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1. Tight corners

Step 7: Fitting Out the Inside

Again to maintain the illusion of the mine shaft I clad
the inside of the box with some un nished shiplap.
This was a great nd because it was out of the bin at
the timber merchants.
After this I hot glued the bottom of the ladder into
position on the bottom mirror. I also ran a bead of hot
glue down the back of each leg to hold it to the side.
On the opposite side to the ladder I passed the wire
through the hole up to the bulkhead light. This was
wired and screwed to the side, a 6 watt LED was
installed and the top put on.

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1. Shiplap inside the box

2. Distressed home made ladder

1. Bult head light

2. Power cable pass through

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Step 8: Feet

To lift the box o the oor I added some feet, these were made from some plywood o cuts.

The main reason was to allow the mains cable to pass out of the box without being squashed and damaged.

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Step 9: Finished Results
The end result was superb and exactly what I was
hoping to achieve.
It must be convincing because I showed one person
who proceeded to look under the box to see how this
'magic' was being done.
The 'magic' of this is how a 'one way' mirror works... As
it was explained to me by the guy in the mirror shop is
1. Mirror top
Deep Hole in a Small Box, a Different Take on the Infinity Mirror.: Page 18
that the refection is always on the side of the mirror
with the most light. This is why the police turn o the
light when they are observing the interview from
outside.
On the table when the light inside is o it just looks
like a mirrored top, when the light is on you get the
internal re ections, this is even more e ective when
the external light in the room is o too.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA4rn-hKDUo&feature=youtu.be

1. That's a deeeeeep hole

Step 10: Go for It

I hope this has inspired you to have a go too.

Awesome!

I really like how you did the inside of this table with the ladder and lamp :)

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