I am not the original poster. Originally posted by u/RatQueen_x on r/fixit and r/kintsugi

Help me fix my mirror (info in comments) (27 Sept 2022)

OOP on r/fixit:

https://i.redd.it/th6yzcpsweq91.jpg

(photo of a beautiful, oblong 8 sided mirror in a black frame. There is a large oval of solid mirror in the center. Around the oval of mirror is mosaic work using mirror, grout, and stained glass to create a floral motive with pink flowers and green leaves. There are several large cracks through the mirror)

Bought this for a couple dollars at a garage sale but hadn’t found a spot to hang it yet. It was leaning up against the wall and fell over today and broke :( I know repairing glass is tough but this is such a unique beautiful mirror I can’t just throw it away. I’m kicking myself for not hanging it up sooner and letting it sit around. Is there anyway I can glue the glass back together? Ive even thought I could paint it/turn it into an art piece, just need the pieces to stay together. Appreciate any help

Relevant Comment on r/fixit: Kintsugi may be worth a look. Traditionally it would be gold in the cracks to beautify the mistakes of life byt you could pick a color matching the greens/pinks better.

Relevant Comment on r/kintsugi: Because it's a very large, thin flat plane, there will be quite a bit of flexing and most methods of kintsugi, traditional or not, won't be strong enough to keep the mirror together during and after repair. There's just not enough surface area along the edges for the glue to stick to.

If you're intent on doing a stylistically kintsugi type repair, my recommendation would be to carefully remove the pieces from the frame then glue the pieces down with mirror glue onto a thin but stiff backing material cut to the same shape as the mirror. I would recommend something like coroplast or gatorboard. Since it appears to be in a bathroom, make sure the material is moisture resistant.

Once the pieces are glued down, you can infill the gaps with a water based flexible paintable caulk. Apply the caulk liberally in the cracks, then using a squeegee, make sure the caulk has been fully pressed into all the cracks. Wipe the excess off with a damp towel then let dry. Make sure you're working with the mirror on a flat surface as you do this.

Once fully dry, paint over the joints with glass paint or for the most attractive kintsugi type effect, gold size and gold leaf.

Broken mirror update (7 Oct 2022)

OOP on r/kintsugi:

https://preview.redd.it/wuwqit79nfs91.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7129983548dae709c8b20eae316fd71c7707e458

https://preview.redd.it/nuhiks79nfs91.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8947fcd66e8355dc729a82ceda208f854f3a1683

(two photos of the mirror. One is a work in progress seeing it out of the frame, the other is a photo of it back in the frame, hanging on a wall. Both photos show that the cracks have been filled in with something dark/black. there are 2 silhouettes of birds positioned on top of the highest filled-in crack, creating the visual that the cracks are branches that the birds are resting on)

OOP has captioned the photos

Photo 1: Thank you to this sub for the help fixing my mirror! Used quick dry epoxy resin to mend the pieces and painted over it with black gold paint.

Photo 2: I used the thin plexiglass from a poster frame and cut it to fit in front of the mirror in the original frame to prevent any glass falling out if my mend doesn’t hold.

Reminder: I am not the original poster. Originally posted by u/RatQueen_x on r/fixit and r/kintsugi.