About Copper Mirrors
A Bright Copper mirror is as pink as the polished metal itself, not brown like old copper.
Copper mirrors can be frustrating to make because they can spontaneously peel off the glass as the mirror is forming. This happens much less often on rough textures such as sandblasted or glue chipped glass or the Pilkington Chinchilla glass used for the mosaic on the right.
The mirror will not peel once the chemicals have been poured off. We know what causes the problem (hydrogen builds up between the metal and the glass), but we have not yet found a sure way to prevent it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Copper mirrors
- Require two sensitizers - Tin for Gold and Palladium Sensitizer
- The Palladium Sensitizer can be replaced with a layer of gold to create a bright peach or sunrise mirror
- If you replace the Palladium with a thin "flashed" layer of silver you get a pale pink mirror
- Copper looks dark red on sandblasted glass
When making a copper mirror
- Mix the chemicals in clean glass containers. Do not use paper or plastic.
- Do not allow the copper to deposit for any longer than it takes to get an almost opaque surface.
- Back your mirror with one of our backing paints. A shellac based paint will discolor the copper over time.
To Get Started with Copper Mirroring you will need one of these kits:
As well as this add-on kit:
Galvanic Copper is NOT the same as Bright Copper Chemicals
Galvanic Copper is another copper product we carry. You can see it here.
Galvanic Copper is a sacrificial metal layer. This means that it is applied to the back of silver mirrors and serves as a barrier between the backing paint and the silver. This was an essential step in years past; before the advent of new paint technologies. The copper protected the silver from tarnishing either from the elements or undesirable components of backing paint. Many companies, but not all, still use it today. Galvanic Copper is only intended for the back of silver mirrors and does not produce the bright copper finish on glass that our Bright Copper Chemicals do.
