Re: [ATM] Silvering Woes

["James Lerch" <jlerch1@tampabay.rr.com>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donald R. Bates" <dbates3@houston.rr.com>


> Again, no silver clung to
> the mirror! After wasting two batches of Silver Nitrate, I gave up and sent
> the mirror off for aluminizing. Does anyone out there know what I might have
> done wrong?

Hi Don,

Since you didn't get any silver coating to evolve, odds are it was a problem 
with the reducer (in your case sucrose + citric acid + heat ).  Back in the day, 
I used Fructose from the grocery store health isle (as-is out of the box, no 
boiling or adding citric acid).

Also, I found I achieved substantially better results by sensitizing the optical 
surface with a solution of Stannous Chloride and rubbing alcohol.

Item #16 on my web-site details my approach to silvering, perhaps it will be 
helpful.

Take Care,
James Lerch
http://lerch.no-ip.com/atm (My telescope construction,testing, and coating site)
http://lerch.no-ip.com/ChangFa_Gen (My 15KW generator project)

"Anything that can happen, will happen" -Stephen Pollock from:
"Particle Physics for Non-Physicists: A Tour of the Microcosmos"

" Press on: nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. "
                                                           Calvin Coolidge

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