Sounds very heavy. To start, I'm not sure your D rings w/be sturdy enough to hold that much weight. I buy them from a glass company - the ones w/metal strips down them for holding heavy mirrors. The hangers require three screws each. I usually put them about 2" down and about 18" apart. My placement is pure eyeballing, not scientific. I've never had anything to fall. My PV Project was so heavy, I could barely lift it onto the hooks. Put the hangers on BEFORE you mosaic. In my haste to start a project, sometimes I don't do that. Believe me, you'll be glad you did. You w/smooth the edges of your grout on your outside border along the edge of the MDF by hand w/a teensy bit of moisture. Just dip your GLOVED hand in water and smooth it out. Hope this helps, and welcome to the forum. Pictures of your WIP are always appreciated.

Slow told you everything just right. I do not mosaic right up to the edge on anything, I generally leave about 1/8" so I can grout between the edge pieces and then smooth out the sides, this leaves a small angle of grout that wont break off or chip. I think you would want to mosaic and grout the "frame" for your mirror and then glue your mirror on. You could do it the other way and cover your mirror while working on the outside. This is what I have done as I have only done old mirrors and never done a new one from scratch. Hope this helps.

thank you guys. well, i bought the D-rings from a painting-framing-shop, so the guys was pretty sure two rings with 2 screws each would bwe more than enough... let's hope so :)
should i put.... 4 D-rings? two on each side very close to each other? would that help? well... they were pretty cheap and i bought 6. i can always buy more. today i should get started... really excited. been focused on this for MONTHS!

well... this is my mirror design
http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2873293510104010362xRhZwG

and another one - to be hung like this(the second one i'm gonna start when the mirror is finished)
http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2470706800104010362ePijXX

the mirror will be done in vitreous glass and the eye in some kind of smalti, but thin and square shaped.

well... gonna start work this evening!!!
YUPPY!

calin

Ooooooohh - I LOVE your designs. This w/be very interesting to watch. Keep us posted on your progress.

thanks slow, means a lot coming from you. checked all your art. u seem to have mosaicked pretty much everything you could!!!
love some of your stuff!!!
i hope to become good at it. today when i go home... in about an hour,. i will start !!!
first i will lay the yellow and orange and red tiles to see if i've got enough. cause i have made some changes to the way i place them on the frame!!!
took me a while to figure out WIP means work in progress... LOL
not my mother tongue so i have to figure things out... LOL
byeee

Ohhh, am excited to see these!!!! Go Go Go!!!

We're here rooting for you! Go! Go! Go!

done the "suns", done the green "leaves" ... now i am at the blue background. so in 1-2 days i will post pics with all the steps. and will be asking u a few questions...

hehehe

Now, is that nice, I ask you? You KNOW how impatient we are when someone teases us w/promises of pictures. HUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYY!!!

hahaha.... well u slow me down!!!

hehehe

ok. here it is. finished it last nite.

[URL=http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2680877360104010362OQUNpR][IMG]http://thumb2.webshots.net/t/62/762/8/77/36/2680877360104010362OQUNpR_th.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

the whole album where u can see details and steps of this WIP:
http://community.webshots.com/album/572285028BjDtbJ

I HAVE AN URGENT QUESTION: (or maybe a few...)
WHAT COLOR should the grout be for this?
i'm thinking grey. but ... light, medium, dark?
would black work?
what about brown? - i know this is for warm colors so i got plenty red orange and yellow. but not sure i like brown grout.
HELP!
don't wanna ruin it now.

and as the mirror is glued... how do i avoid putting grout on it? or it doesn't matter, it comes off?

THANKS!

i know there is a time difference... but i am planning to go shopping for the grout when i am off work. i really wanna finish it soon so i can hang it on the wall. don't have the nails in the wall yet... my brother will do that I HOPE!

calin

i guess i can't post thumbnails in this forum. if the pic link doesn't work... just go to the album and it's there.
or here it is... the pic itself:

Here is a link that might be useful: my morror

Well, if you don't beat ALL. This little beauty makes me want to hang it UP - scuz the pun, but I mean, REALLY - it makes me wanna quit mosaicing. You call yourself a beginner. Don't believe a word of it. THIS, my dear, is a professional jobber! Talk about perfection!!!!!!!! I don't like to advise on grout color, cuz if you don't like the results, you'd blame me. I use charcoal for everything, by mixing half gray and half black. This decision is yours. You shouldn't have a problem deciding - you're the pro, girlie. Spectacular job - gallery quality.

hey... i am a ... man :) well... a guy, anyway. Calin is my name. common romanian name for... boys LOL

slowmedown... u have no idea how great i feel reading your reply.
i am truly a beginner... first one.. i swear!
as much as i appreciate what you've said, i'm still bothered about this last part... the grouting.
thinking of gray for sure... but not sure light/medium/dark. i guess you use dark...as u mix it with black.
is it for outdoors stuff or even such things as mirrors...
would all these light colors yellow,orange,red,light blue look ok with dark gray???
hmmm...

anyway... i will still wait till tomorrow and see what others have to say. been writing emails to people with experience, sites, shops... to get a clue.

THANKS !!!
:)
Calin the Guy

Hey Calin the Guy! You have done such a beautiful job on this that it does look professional. It is absolutely beautiful. I love the colors and the way they all go together. I have to agree with Slow and tell you to use charcoal or a dark grey. This color will let those colors continue to POP. Cover your mirror with brown paper and masking tape so as not to get the grout on it. It will come off, but may scratch the mirror. Just to be safe, cover it. Keep up the good work and start something else so we can see it too. Love the eye candy.
Carol

THANKS CAROL.... i am also on a romanian gardening site...and they went... what? dark gray? black? nooo.... but i think i'd like that idea...

don't worry. not gonna stop now!!!

eye candy? what would that BEEEE ???

:)

OH, Carol... THE EYE!!!
yes... not telling you, but it's my favorite of the 4 designs i have so far. gonna start that when i see this mirror hanging on the wall !
and also... different material. a kind of smalti. but regular shaped (squares) and thinner than smalti.
:)

Keep on keeping on, great work...show us your other designs. Are you creating the designs from your head? Eye candy is something to look at and DROOL! Yummy

hahaha... so carol wasn't referring to my other design way above??? there is an ... EYE.... got now the idea. candy for the eye. yummy indeed.
thanks flagtruck!

Welcome Calin to this fun site...personally I would do the grout in terra cotta, my fav! Your work is really nice...

Very gorgeous..I can tell you my first piece was not nearly as beautiful as this!!! Wonderful....Go dark grout....keep postings...can't wait to see the next piece..

That is just GREAT!! Just love it !! I can not beleave it is your first!!! GREAT work !

thanks guys!
think i'm gonna go for medium to dark gray... close to black. but not quite.
today latest tomorrow i will go to a store and buy the grout. any idea... how much i'd need?
we use meters and cms for measurements.
the mosaicked frame is 0.2 m wide. total size is 0,8x1 m. so 0,2 m mosaicked margin is total 0.56 m. converted it. looks like i have a bit over 6 sqft.

How do you go about when you figure out how much grout to get???

:)

AhHaaaa - that explains it - it's a guy thang. Reason I say that is: In the late '80s, while posted in Brazil, on Saturdays for over a year, I held an open house quilting class, and there were three guys in the class. I tell you, their quilts were so perfect, you wouldn't believe. Guys are such perfectionsists in these things. Where was I? I never measure; I just estimate, so can't help you on amounts, but glad you've chosen to go the darkish route. I use darkish for everything. Got tired of grout decisions, and I like the look I get from mixing half/half gray/black, so use it for inside and outside projects.

yes SMD. we guys are good at what we do... "yea, right" i can hear you...
LOL
yes.. dark. have had lots of pros and cons to dark grey/black.
so what... i feel i'm gonna love it with some dark in it.
in a couple of days i hope i can show u the final result...
and start on my next one :)

Calin- I am not good at converting our cups to your measurements but maybe you can do it. The ratio that works for me on grout is one cup dry grout for every square foot of area. This gets it pretty close...If you can convert that to your meters and centimeters go for it. One sq ft if 12" x 12" or 144 sq". Good luck From looking at the size of yours I would estimate about 4 cups of grout, get a 5 or 10 lb bag and you will have plenty

thanks flagtruck. also got about 3 or 4 lbs. for the whole.
so i figured 6 sqft. so... 6 cups. LOL... what cup?
tea? coffee? mug?
just kidding...
but then... another one... what's this sanded / unsanded grout???
which should i use?
no idea what our romanian store selection looks like... or even if this is mentioned on the packages... never done any grouting. well, did... on my tiles on the balcony. but that was JUST grout... didn't care what kind.
LOL

Most of us use sanded grout, CALIN.

THANK YOU.
won't bother u again... unless it's with pics of the finished work :)

WOW, this mirror is SUPERB! gorgeous work, I can't beleive you are a beginner at all! lol can't wait to see it finish

Bother us any time, CALIN. This is a helful group, and any time we can drag another one into our sickness, it pleases us.

Very Nice Calin!!! Good job! Pleasing to look at...That's Eye Candy!!! I am a BIG fan od Black grout! I am known here...(when I actually make stuff!lol) to usually use black grout, I buy it from a tile/flooring store as they usually have a better selection of grout and usually help me decide on how best to do some of my projects. I Always use sanded grout as the non sanded grout is very mucky and I get it everywhere. Sanded grout is more dense and I like the results better, and it is so much easier...for me...to work with. I LOVE the orange wall it will hang on!!! Lovely!! Inspiring!

That is lovely! I love the colors. What a work of art!

Welcome, Calin!
Love your mirror! Looking forward to seeing the grouted picture.

hello friends. yesterday we were off work. we celebrated the Pentecost (i guess this would be the english name, the romanian one is Rusalii) and well. it was a long weekend (in case you are wondering, we are mostly orthodox here and our church celebrates some holidays a week after or before the catholics)...

anyway. i what i mean is... i had plenty of time to have it finished and also start my second piece.

here is the mirror... with almost-black grout (the color was "granite")

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2805436090104010362RCQPki

you can see details on other pics in the album.

like it?

:)

Man, you sure nailed that one! Couldn't have picked a better grout color. You got it, CALIN. Congratulations on a superb project. Beginner hmmmmmm - let's see you top this one.

thanks...SMD.
started the new one... as i see it... i am getting better... but you guys tell me.
i will post pics when i have a few steps so you can see what i am "wasting" my evenings with.
LOL

Wash your mouth w/soap, young man!!! Mosaics - wasting time? N.O.T. My Mother thinks I've gone a little bit wacky w/mosaics, but I don't care. She just doesn't GET it - it's what we DO, and once we start, there's no turning back. It grabs you, and holds on for LIFE. What a way to live!!!

Excellent Job!! Love the grout color! Glad you joined/found us on this forum! Jane

That turned out so neet !!!!!!!!!!!!

thank you guys...
my second one is soo cool... just love it.
still a secret for you! hehehe...wanna finish it up to the grouting part... and will ask you again if the black grout will work again.

SMD... u know... the " ... " means i don't really mean it... for me it's def. not a waste of time. wish i had more. but sometimes other things come in between.

by this weekend i hope to finish the eye.

byeee