The glass-tinner, standing towards one angle of his table, sweeps and wipes its surface with the greatest care, along the whole surface to be occupied by the mirror-plate; then taking a sheet of tin-foil adapted to his purpose, he spreads it on the table, and applies it closely with a brush, which removes any folds or wrinkles. The table being horizontal, he pours over the tin a small quantity of quicksilver, and spreads it with a roll of woollen stuff; so that the tin-foil is penetrated and apparently dissolved by the mercury. Placing now two rules, to the right and to the left, on the borders of the sheet, he pours on the middle a quantity of mercury sufficient to form every where a layer about the thickness of a crown piece; then removing with a linen rag the oxide or other impurities, he applies to it the edge of a sheet of paper, and advances it about half an inch. Meanwhile another workman is occupied in drying very nicely the surface of the glass that is to be silvered, and then hands it to the master workman, who, laying it flat, places its anterior edge first on the table, and then on the slip of paper; now pushing the glass forwards, he takes care to slide it along so that neither air nor any coat of oxide on the mercury can remain beneath the plate. When this has reached its position, he fixes it there by a weight applied on its side, and gives the table a gentle slope, to run off all the loose quicksilver by the gutter and spout. At the end of five minutes he covers the mirror with a piece of flannel, and loads it with a great many weights, which are left upon it for 24 hours, under a gradually increased inclination of the table. By this time the plate is ready to be taken off the marble table, and laid on a wooden one sloped like a reading desk, with its under edge resting on the ground, while the upper is raised successively to different elevations by means of a cord passing over a pulley in the ceiling of the room. Thus the mirror has its slope graduated from day to day, till it finally arrives at a vertical position. About a month is required for draining out the superfluous mercury from large mirrors; and from 18 to 20 days from those of moderate size. The sheets of tin-foil being always somewhat larger than the glass-plate, their edges must be pared smooth off, before the plate is lifted off the marble table.
Process for silvering concave mirrors.—Having prepared some very fine Paris plaster by passing it through a silk sieve, and some a little coarser passed through hair-cloth, the first is to be made into a creamy liquor with water, and after smearing the concave surface of the glass with a film of olive oil, the fine plaster is to be poured into it, and spread by turning about, till a layer of plaster be formed about a tenth of an inch thick. The second or coarse plaster, being now made into a thin paste, poured over the first, and moved about, readily incorporates with it, in its imperfectly hardened state. Thus an exact mould is obtained of the concave surface of the glass, which lies about three-quarters of an inch thick upon it, but is not allowed to rise above its outer edge.
The mould being perfectly dried, must be marked with a point of coincidence on the glass, in order to permit of its being exactly replaced in the same position, after it has been lifted out. The mould is now removed, and a round sheet of tin-foil is applied to it, so large that an inch of its edge may project beyond the plaster all round; this border being necessary for fixing the tin to the contour of the mould by pellets of white wax softened a little with some Venice turpentine. Before fixing the tin-foil, however, it must be properly spread over the mould, so as to remove every wrinkle; which the pliancy of the foil easily admits of, by uniform and well-directed pressure with the fingers.
The glass being placed in the hollow bed of a tight sack filled with fine sand, set in a well-jointed box capable of retaining quicksilver, its concave surface must be dusted with sifted wood-ashes, or Spanish white contained in a small cotton bag, and then well wiped with clean linen rags, to free it from all adhering impurity, and particularly the moisture of the breath. The concavity must be now filled with quicksilver to the very lip, and the mould being dipped a little way into it, is withdrawn, and the adhering mercury is spread over the tin with a soft flannel roll, so as to amalgamate and brighten its whole surface, taking every precaution against breathing on it. Whenever this brightening seems complete, the mould is to be immersed, not vertically, but one edge at first, and thus obliquely downwards till the centres coincide; the mercury meanwhile being slowly displaced, and the mark on the mould being brought finally into coincidence with the mark on the glass. The mould is now left to operate by its own weight, in expelling the superfluous mercury, which runs out upon the sand-bag and thence into a groove in the bottom of the box, whence it overflows by a spout into a leather bag of reception. After half an hour’s repose, the whole is cautiously inverted, to drain off the quicksilver more completely. For this purpose, a box like the first is provided with a central support rising an inch above its edges; the upper surface of the support being nearly equal in diameter to that of the mould. Two workmen are required to execute the following operation. Each steadies the mould with the one hand, and raises the box with the other, taking care not to let the mould be deranged, which they rest on the (convex) support of the second box. Before inverting the first apparatus, however, the reception bag must be removed, for fear of spilling its mercury. The redundant quicksilver now drains off; and if the weight of the sand-bag is not thought sufficient, supplementary weights are added at pleasure. The whole is left in this position for two or three days. Before separating the mirror from its mould, the border of tin-foil, fixed to it with wax, must be pared off with a knife. Then the weight and sand-bag being removed, the glass is lifted up with its interior coating of tin-amalgam.
For silvering a convex surface.—A concave plaster mould is made on the convex glass, and their points of coincidence are defined by marks. This mould is to be lined with tin-foil, with the precautions above described; and the tin surface being first brightened with a little mercury, the mould is then filled with the liquid metal. The glass is to be well cleaned, and immersed in the quicksilver bath, which will expel the greater part of the metal. A sand-bag is now to be laid on the glass, and the whole is to be inverted as in the former case on a support; when weights are to be applied to the mould, and the mercury is left to drain off for several days.
If the glass be of large dimensions, 30 or 40 inches, for example, another method is adopted. A circular frame or hollow ring of wood or iron is prepared, of twice the diameter of the mirror, supported on three feet. A circular piece of new linen cloth of close texture is cut out, of equal diameter to the ring, which is hemmed stoutly at the border, and furnished round the edge with a row of small holes, for lacing the cloth to the ring, so as to leave no folds in it, but without bracing it so tightly as to deprive it of the elasticity necessary for making it into a mould. This apparatus being set horizontally, a leaf of tin-foil is spread over it, of sufficient size to cover the surface of the glass; the tin is first brightened with mercury, and then as much of the liquid metal is poured on as a plane mirror requires. The convex glass, well cleaned, is now set down on the cloth, and its own weight, joined to some additional weights, gradually presses down the cloth, and causes it to assume the form of the glass which thus comes into close contact with the tin submersed under the quicksilver. The redundant quicksilver is afterwards drained off by inversion, as in common cases.
The following recipe has been given for silvering the inside of glass globes. Melt in an iron ladle or a crucible, equal parts of tin and lead, adding to the fused alloy one part of bruised bismuth. Stir the mixture well and pour into it as it cools two parts of dry mercury; agitating anew and skimming off the drossy film from the surface of the amalgam. The inside of the glass globe being freed from all adhering dust and humidity, is to be gently heated, while a little of the semi-fluid amalgam is introduced. The liquidity being increased by the slight degree of heat, the metallic coating is applied to all the points of the glass, by turning round the globe in every direction, but so slowly as to favour the adhesion of the alloy. This silvering is not so substantial as that of plane mirrors: but the form of the vessel, whether a globe, an ovoid, or a cylinder, conceals or palliates the defects by counter reflection from the opposite surfaces.
Coloured Glasses and Artificial Gems.—The general vitreous body preferred by Fontanieu in his treatise on this subject, which he calls the Mayence base, is prepared in the following manner. Eight ounces of pure rock-crystal or flint in powder, mixed with 24 ounces of salt of tartar, are baked and left to cool. This is afterwards poured into a basin of hot water, and treated with dilute nitric acid till it ceases to effervesce; when the frit is to be washed till the water comes off tasteless. The frit is now dried and mixed with 12 ounces of fine white lead, and the mixture is to be levigated and elutriated with a little distilled water. An ounce of calcined borax is to be added to about 12 ounces of the preceding mixture in a dry state, the whole rubbed together in a porcelain mortar, then melted in a clean crucible, and poured out into cold water. This vitreous matter must be dried, and melted a second and a third time, always in a new crucible, and after each melting poured into cold water as at first, taking care to separate the lead that may be revived. To the last glass ground to powder, five drachms of nitre are to be added, and the mixture being melted for the last time, a mass of crystal will be found in the crucible with a beautiful lustre. The diamond is well imitated by this Mayence base. Another very fine white crystal may be obtained, according to M. Fontanieu, from eight ounces of white lead, two ounces of powdered borax, half a grain of manganese, and three ounces of rock-crystal treated as above.
The colours of artificial gems are obtained from metallic oxides. The oriental topaz is prepared by adding oxide of antimony to the base; the amethyst from manganese with a little purple precipitate of Cassius; the beryl from antimony and a very little cobalt; yellow artificial diamond and opal, from horn-silver (chloride of silver); blue stone from cobalt. See [Pastes] and [Pigments Vitrifiable].
The following are recipes for making the different kinds of glass.