Re: ATM Painting sides of mirror...

["Albert Highe" <ahighe@ix.netcom.com>]

Pete,

It is really a matter of preference and how much you think it matters. The
sides of my secondary have quite a bit of silvering on them and I figured it
can't be good to have all that highly reflective surface potentially
reducing contrast. Painting it anything probably helps, but I figured flat
black paint would be quite a bit better than leaving as is. Flocking paper
might be the best solution. However, I painted the sides of my secondary.
You can see an image at:

http://pw2.netcom.com/~ahighe/4u12_5am.jpg

I would recommend practicing on something first. I don't know about you, but
my hand isn't that steady and even my small art brush never quite kept paint
where I wanted. Some paint inevitably got on the front surface. I used Kryon
ultra flat black paint. Once it dries, it comes off quite easily with
acetone. Since I had a lot of experience with this paint, I knew that going
over the edge wouldn't be a problem. After the paint dried, I used Q-tips
dipped in acetone to remove the paint off the front surface. Didn't make any
scratches and did not damage the coating.

Albert

----- Original Message -----
From: <Xakxak@aol.com>
To: <atm@shore.net>
Sent: Friday, October 20, 2000 3:17 PM
Subject: ATM Painting sides of mirror...


>
> Should I paint the side of the secondary flat or shiny?  Will it matter?
And
> how about the beveled edge and sides of the primary?  Should I just keep
away
> from the beveled edge?
>      I have a shiny black paint marker, says "Caution: contains Xylene."
I
> don't know what kind of paint is in it but it also says it's oil based and
> waterproof.  Will  the vapors hurt the coatings?
>      Should I just not take a chance, use a brush and flat black paint?
> -Pete
>