Antiquing New Mirror?
- Thread starter Woodmolds
- Start date
Antiquity
Well-known member
I have several crates of old 1850's-ish glass. I took a piece to a mirror re-silvering company but told him not to coat the back of the mirror (to prevent tarnishing). I let it sit in sunlight for several weeks to tarnish the silver. Then I took a little of the silver stripper liquid (from the mirror stripper) and sprayed it sparingly on the silver. It disolved or removed some of the silver in random places. Lay the glass flat so there are no drips. Then I sprayed painted a flat black paint on the back of the mirror. When you look at it from the front side you will see the dark/black "holes" where the silver was removed. The old wavy glass adds to the age.
Dennis Bork
Antiquity Period Designs, Ltd.
Dennis Bork
Antiquity Period Designs, Ltd.
John Cashman
Well-known member
That sounds great Dennis. One problem I've always had was how to keep the mirror in the frame from behind. I've never seen the back of any originals. Any Idea how this was done?
Jeff Saylor
Well-known member
i've had pretty good success using older glass with just slight distortion and having it slivered. The guy I take it to for silvering puts the silver on thinner than normal so there's a slight translucency in areas of the miirror. I also had him not paint the back on the first batch as Dennis suggested to allow it to tarnish but I allowed it to go too long and the mirror became too dark, almost like a smoked glass mirror- so it had to be stripped and redone. Now, just the thinned silvering and then painted on back.
One thing I found about old glass- if it is really old and has a lot of distortion, don't use it for a mirror, it will look like carnival mirror with so much distortion. I prefer glass from the 30's -40's with only slight waviness that will give you slight- but noticeable distortion. Hope this helps.
One thing I found about old glass- if it is really old and has a lot of distortion, don't use it for a mirror, it will look like carnival mirror with so much distortion. I prefer glass from the 30's -40's with only slight waviness that will give you slight- but noticeable distortion. Hope this helps.