[Boatanchors] Question for Metallurgically-Smart People

[hwhall at compuserve.com]

The Jan 2020 issue of Sky and Telescope had a DIY article on silvering mirrors. There's a commercial product to do it now that is rather easy to use, the hardest part was apparently ensuring the entire mirror surface was adequately clean. Should be a snap for something an inch square or so.

WayneWB4OGM

-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Peterson <kzerocx at rap.midco.net>
To: boatanchors at mailman.qth.net
Sent: Thu, May 21, 2020 9:19 am
Subject: [Boatanchors] Question for Metallurgically-Smart People

Back in my chemistry teaching days, there was a fairly urgent need for some half-silvered mirrors.  The ones that had been ordered were back-ordered.

I prepared some Tollens’ reagent (the Internet will give you details).  I added formaldehyde to the reagent and poured it on glass plates.  This caused metallic silver to be deposited on the glass.  By experimenting with diluting the reagent and measuring with a photographic light meter, I was able to make some usable half-silvered mirrors.  This method should work for depositing silver on a quartz crystal blank.  Unless you have access to a laboratory, it is a bit involved.  Also, any leftover reagent must be disposed of properly or it may become dangerous.      

However, now that I think of it, I have two products at my work bench that might work.  One is GC Silver Print.  It is a paint for repairing broken circuit board traces.  It contains metallic silver.  I also have a Techspray, Trace Technologies conductive pen, which also contains metallic silver.  These products are not inexpensive.

Gary
KzeroCX 



“Does anyone here know a way to deposit a metal coating on
the surface of a quartz crystal blank, without spending a gazillion
bucks on a Phazer-Atom-Smasher-Hellbore vacuum chamber furnace?
David Stinson”
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