coldworking mirror--like regular glass?

[Nina Falk]

I want to cut some mirror and cold work the edges. Anything I should know?

[Bert Weiss]

The glass is regular float. The backing is regular paint.

[Nina Falk]

I know that. will it behave any differently with wet belt/grinder?

[charlie]

no, except the silvering or paint may chip on the edges. use a very fine grit head on your grinder and belts.

[Nina Falk]

thanks. I will.

[Vonon]

Nina, I can hardly wait to see what you're doing with mirrors. I hope its nothing practical.

[Nina Falk]

let me reflect on a reply..

[Vonon]

Nina, you never disappoint!

[Buttercup]

Nina, if you're bonding it to other glass or a substrate make sure you use an appropriate bonding agent. Some eat the silvering. Sorry I can't come up with a North American brand name right now but someone will know. Jen

[Nina Falk]

it is far more humble..just for a base for my glass. I just want to customize the size/shape of the mirror.

[Mark Hall]

FYI, scratching out a design on the backside of a mirror then slumping into shape produces interesting results. Often the paint comes off leaving the silver layer intact (my favorite tool for this is a razor blade). Modern day electro-plated mirrors react differently than old-time poured silver w/ bituminus applied paint. Fired mirror results often varies in color; pink, yellow, black - and I haven't been able to control that.

[Nina Falk]

thanks for sharing your experiments, Mark!

[Buttercup]

Carefully controlled sandblasting will remove the paint if you can stop before removing the 'silvering'.

Mark, would there be any toxic fumes from the heated silvering? I just looked it up and the modern coating seems to be aluminum. How safe is that? Jen

[Mark Hall]

Safe? I'm more concerned about all the aluminum used in most deoderants, or cooking in aluminum pans than backs of mirrors!

[Buttercup]

The undisturbed aluminum on the items you mention won't enter your lungs. I'm not an expert, don't even have anything to base my question on other than evidence of the damage that other normally-inert substances can do if heated and inhaled. Being curious I Googled 'neurotoxicity of aluminum fumes'. Try it. Jen

[Mark Hall]

I guess we're a bit off topic discussing warm working mirror instead of cold working, but it's all relevant to our trade. I did google toxicity of aluminum and there is some evidence it may be harmful but the jury is still out on this. However, I suspect many substrates we apply to glass then fire may be harmful to some degree. Burning off copper-plated backing or any kind of organic paint can't be good to breathe. I would certainly not want my kiln near my living quarters such as in the basement or attached garage. If in doubt, I'll start the program at the end of the day leaving the spiders to deal with the fumes. It's not something done regularly so it's not too different than all the other dangers we face every day.