Victorian Shaving Mirror won't stop tilting

Hi All

i am new to your site so thanks for having me ! I have loved and collected antique furniture for years and recently bought a Victorian shaving mirror for a dresser . It is in good shape and just needs to be gently wiped down . All the veneer is nice and even the finials are intact .

The mirror , of course , was made to tilt for various heights but it does not lock in place anymore . In the back there are two tiny screws that were stuck when i bought it at auction . I put a little wd40 on them overnight and they move fine now . I can completely unscrew them but they do not go in any further . I took for granted that would be how the mirror would stop from tilting but in retrospect they are quite small screws . Is there something else i am missing or do the screws - or maybe i should say - should the screws go farther in and allow the mirror to be adjusted ? I have some pics attached , hope someone can help me out . Thanks , Hickory Jim ps the hickory is for hickory shafted golf clubs from pre 1930 - my other love

 

Welcome!
I would have ideas but wait for Brad.

 

The two screws are just to attach the metal assemblage to the frame. The thumb screws should tighten the plate against the shaft enough to keep it from swiveling. If it does not, there is enough wear inside the frame to keep it from providing enough friction. I would wrap something around the metal shaft to see if that will do the trick. You probably will not have enough room to wrap the entire shaft unless the rubber is very thin but a piece in between the shaft and the locking plate might be enough to do the trick. Be sure that everything is clean and dry. You don't want any of the oil you used to get in around the shaft and locking mechanism.

 

Hi verybrad

thanks for the quick answer and info . I miss spoke when i said i removed the screws - its was he thumb screws i removed . Your answer suggests i wrap something around the metal shaft - not sure how to get at that as it would need to be inside the assemblage where the thumb screw used to tighten down to .

My other thought was to simply put a small weight at the bottom on the back of the mirror to let gravity force it to stay down if i couldn't actually fix it - hope that is not blasphemy on this site lol I am a fan of playing golf with hickory shafted clubs from the pre 1930's era and adjusting the swing weight with little lead tape is a common practise - and necessity - to make them playable .

I would rather fix the problem with the mirror though . To remove the shaft do i need to remove the entire assemblage ? The back of the mirror has a wooden back that looks like it can be removed with just one screw - at the bottom . Any chance the shaft pops out from there ? thanks , Jim

 

Might help if you show the underside of the thumb screw assembly (removed from the frame), and how the frame looks with that assembly removed.

 

I have NO idea if this is the same issue I had with a like piece, but I "solved" it by putting a tiny wad of paper in the thumbscrew hole before replacing the thumbscrew (by which I mean putting the original thumbscrew back into the intended "hole").

It appeared that the screw was a tad short because the metal fitting had shifted/lifted over the decades............

 

I'd like to see a photo of the whole thing.

 

If you unscrew the thumb screw, it looks like the plate it is attached to should hinge up to release the shaft.

 

Hi All
thanks for the great advice and ideas . I will post few more pics and try a few options , jim