Mirror Engraving

[James Aldrich]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone knows what to use to seal the back of mirror after it has been laser engraved. I have seen (clear) marble and tile sealer at my local home improvement center, but I was not sure if that would work. I dont know if the silver will start to chip or peel off after it is engraved, so I thought I would put a sealer on it. I have heard that some chemicals and adhesives can destroy the silver on mirror. I would like something that is clear. Any information would be heplful. Thank you.

[Keith Outten]

James,

I have never sealed the back of a mirror after engraving. I doubt there will ever be a problem, I have several sample mirrors in my workshop that have extensive engraving on them that were done over 3 years ago, they all look just like the day they were engraved. I usually use a colored matt board behind the mirror to give the engraved areas some color and I know that some paint the engraved areas if multiple colors are necessary but it isn't done for sealing purposes as far as I know.

.

[Joe Pelonio]

I've used translucent (colored) vinyl on it, which looks really cool in the window. If you need it clear the Chromatic waterborne primer/topcoat by
One Shot works well without damaging the mirror. It's expensive though and has to be sprayed by gun. I'd guess that any water based clear that's in a rattle can would work.

[James A. Wolfe]

Not knowing any better, I did some mirrors and sprayed the back with lacquer to highlight the engraving. I never gave a thought to destroying the mirrors since they were all "practice pieces". They all seem to be fine so I guess you can add lacquer to the list.
Jim

[James Aldrich]

Thanks to all for responding. You have been very helpful.

[Dave Fifield]

Do you guys laser just through the mirror backing material/silver or do you engrave through the backing and right on into the glass?

Dave F.

[Joe Pelonio]

Do you guys laser just through the mirror backing material/silver or do you engrave through the backing and right on into the glass?

Dave F.
Normally just through the mirror backing, keeping the glass pretty clear. If you go farther it becomes etched glass.

[Dave Fifield]

That's what I thought you'd say. Thanks Joe! :)

[Frank Corker]

As an advice guide (happened to Muggins here) there are different types of coatings on mirrors, the safety mirrors have very thick rubberised paint on the back. I made the mistake of engraving what appeared on the back side to be a very nice engraving, when I flipped it over, I saw a lovely untouched mirror! Two more runs at the recommended speed resulted in a pretty poor result, another run and oops too much.

Three mirrors later, was when it dawned on me that each mirror I had used, was achieving either better or worse results that the cause was in the numbers of coatings on the back. As it turned out the three must have been from different batches which is why I couldn't get a consistent result. I contacted my man at Epilog and he mentioned the safety coating. I bought a regular mirror, thin and considerably lighter in weight, one run at much lower power settings and a fantastic result. Still, a learning curve is always the best one

[Michael McDuffie]

A quick note on engraving reflective surfaces.

At some point I must have hit something reflective with a lot of power. I've got a couple of small marks on the inside of my lid. Probably not a good thing.

Michael

[Bruce Volden]

I did this many years ago, it is reverse engraved and the glass is also etched. Now I only hope it posts??!!

Bruce