converting a regular mirror to a first surface one

[dkumpula]

So I took a stab at this using some mirror tiles I had sitting around and 48 hours and two treatments of paint remover hasn't made a dent in whatever is on the back of the tiles. Yesterday I went hunting for other mirrors to try and ended up yanking out the full length mirror from the wife's closet while she was away. (We will have to see how long it takes before she notices.). :0

The paint came off the back easily enough and I completed most of the cleanup, although I have yet to cut or measure the reflectivity. I will get to this tomorrow and report back.

David

[ghosttrain]

No idea why the other mirrors didn't work, could be just using a paint remover for wrong type of paint, or presence of some extra coating to protect the paint as well. Anyway, I'm sure she'll understand. Maybe.

Keep us updated. I've been busy with work myself and yet to try it out.

[dnar]

Hard disk platters make a reasonable first surface mirror that does not degrade over time.

[dkumpula]

So I finished cleaning the paint from a cheap full length mirror this morning and started cutting:







I measured the reflectivity just now and I'm getting 82%. Not great, but not terrible either. I wouldn't use this method when quality bounce mirrors are required, but for some simple, temporary set-ups, the results might be good enough for most folks. For my higher quality, long-term needs I'll stick with GKPhotonics. He sells his 4"x4" mirrors for US$12, so that's a relatively cheap and easy alternative.

-David

[ghosttrain]

Thanks for sharing. I would put one outside for a week or two and measure it then to see if it has gotten worse.

By the way, even with ordinary mirrors quality might make difference. I'm not suggestion to try again with another mirror, just pointing that out.

[dkumpula]

By the way, even with ordinary mirrors quality might make difference. I'm not suggestion to try again with another mirror, just pointing that out.

Yup, that occurred to me too. I'm still trying to get the paint off the back of the mirror tile (the first layer finally came off), and I'll compare with that.

More to follow if I'm successful with that.

-David

[edison]

Thumbs up guys for the hard work and all the info. Maybe its already mentioned but is it possible to ad some kind of protective coating to it just like first surface mirrors have. Like a clear spray paint, or a foil ? Just brainstorming here....

[Bradfo69]

Yesterday I went hunting for other mirrors to try and ended up yanking out the full length mirror from the wife's closet while she was away. (We will have to see how long it takes before she notices.). :0

I'm sorry but, that's just frickin' funny.
.
So the excuse is..... "Well honey, while you were gone, I accidentally had the music in the home disco turned up a bit too loud and I heard a crash. It must have been the vibrations. I got it all cleaned up as best as I could, as you can see. No glass anywhere! But, I've been trying to find you a nicer mirror than that old thing and hadn't found anything worthy enough before you got home. We can go looking next weekend if you like. Can I get you a glass of wine?"

[ghosttrain]

Hard disk platters make a reasonable first surface mirror that does not degrade over time.

Interesting. Old/useless HDDs can be sourced for almost free. I did a bit of researched and it says these days they are made of either glass or aluminum and few layers of coating on top of them. Depending on what the coatings are it could make a lot of difference. And unless the glass ones are glass with aluminum coating on top, cutting them to some shape is going to be trickier. I'd try it out anyway.

[dnar]

Interesting. Old/useless HDDs can be sourced for almost free. I did a bit of researched and it says these days they are made of either glass or aluminum and few layers of coating on top of them. Depending on what the coatings are it could make a lot of difference. And unless the glass ones are glass with aluminum coating on top, cutting them to some shape is going to be trickier. I'd try it out anyway.

My first "projector" project used stepper motors with 1/32 micro-srepping controllers and mirrors made from HD platters. They worked amazingly well. Cutting without damaging the surfaces is tricky, but doable. Using domestic 3.5" PATA HDD donors. Cover the platters with masking tape an use a band saw with a fine blade.