The silver solution is cautiously and completely cleared up by strong ammonia as in the Brashear process. The silver and reducing solutions are then mixed, the water covering the mirror poured quickly off, and the silvering solution immediately poured on. The mirror should then be gently rocked and the silver coating carefully watched as it forms.
As the operation is completed somewhat coarse black grains of sediment will form and when these begin to be in evidence the solution should be poured off, the mirror rinsed in running water, the edging removed while the mirror is still rinsing and finally the sediment very gently swabbed off with wet absorbent cotton. Then the mirror can be set up to dry.
The Lundin process uses a considerably weaker silver solution than the Brashear process, is a good deal more cleanly while in action, and is by experienced workers said to perform best at a materially lower temperature than the Brashear process, with the mirror, however, always slightly warmer than the solution. Some workers have had good results by omitting the tin chloride solution and cleaning up the surface by the more ordinary methods. In the Lundin process the solution is sufficiently clear for the density acquired by the silver coating to be roughly judged by holding an incandescent lamp under the mirror. A good coating should show at most only the faintest possible outline of the filament, even of a gas filled lamp.
Whichever process of silvering is employed, and both work well, the final burnishing of the mirror after it is thoroughly dry is performed in the same way, starting by tying up a very soft ball of absorbent cotton in the softest of chamois skin.
This burnisher is used at first without any addition, simply to smooth and condense the film by going over it with quick, short, and gentle circular strokes until the entire surface has been thoroughly cleaned and begins to show a tendency to take polish. Then a very little of the finest optical rouge should be put on to the same, or better another, rubber, and the mirror gone steadily over in a similar way until it comes to a brilliant polish.
A good deal of care should be taken in performing this operation to avoid the settling of dust upon the surface since scratches will inevitably result. Great pains should also be taken not to take any chance of breathing on the mirror or in any other way getting the surface in the slightest degree damp. Otherwise it will not come to a decent polish.
Numerous other directions for silvering will be found in the literature, and all of them have been successfully worked at one time or another. The fundamental basis of the whole process is less in the particular formula used than in the most scrupulous care in cleaning the mirror and keeping it clean until the silvering is completed. Also a good bit of experience is required to enable one to perform the operation so as to obtain a uniform and dense deposit.