How Are Mirrors Made Step By Step in Mirror Factory

Abstract

In life, we often use mirrors to examine ourselves. Almost every home has more than one mirror. Over the years, both wall mirrors and standing mirrors have facilitated our lives. Mirrors have been around for thousands of years. It was really useful and many people started to explore how are mirrors made. Take the wooden wall mirror as an example, today we will take a look at how are mirrors made from the mirror factory, from raw material to shipment.

What Are Mirrors Made Of

When someone mentions what are mirrors made of, that’s what mirror material is. Mirrors are divided into two categories: flat mirrors and curved mirrors. The ones we use to organize our grooming are flat mirrors. The following is a detailed description of how mirrors are made.

Then how are mirrors made? The mirror material is mainly glass. The reason why glass can reflect images is by surface processing. There are two methods: chemical silver plating and vacuum vapor deposition. The most commonly used method is chemical silver plating. Mirror made step by step:

• The chemical silver plating method is to dissolve silver nitrate in water. Then add ammonia and sodium hydroxide solution and dilute it into silver hydroxide ammonia compound salt to make a silver plating solution.
• Glass by cutting, grinding, cleaning, after sensitization with dilute solution of tin chloride, and then washed.
• Immerse the surface immediately with a mixture of silver plating solution and reducing solution. After the mirror surface is formed and washed, copper plating and protective paint can be applied subsequently.

Through the vacuum vapor deposition method to make mirrors:

• The glass is washed and placed in a vapor deposition device with a vacuum of 0.1 to 10-4 Pa.
• The spiral tungsten wire is energized and the resulting high temperature causes the aluminum alloy in the spiral to evaporate into a gaseous state, which is deposited on the glass surface to form a mirror surface. An electronic gun can also be used instead of tungsten heating.

This is what are mirrors made of you’re curious. However, this is only the most basic step in making a mirror. In addition to raw materials, there is also the design of the frame. Here’s an introduction to how are mirrors made in mirror factory.

How Are Mirrors Made in Mirror Factory

Liner

The first step of making a mirror is the liner. The wood used to make the frame needs to be dried in advance. Sometimes it is necessary to use a drying oven/room, and the wood moisture is between 8-14. Moisture is not higher than 14%. The humidity of the finished product is also in this ratio, but this data is affected by the weather. For example, in the season with high humidity in summer, it is basically difficult to achieve. Especially after all aspects of processing.

The wood types currently used are generally Paulownia, pine, and so on. The mirror factory sources specific wide and thick lumber from lumberyards. Use a pressure planer to form once, and determine the frame width and frame thickness. Some wide frame types require different line combinations to achieve the width we need.

The wood lines basically need to be spliced. After splicing with white latex, the machine is compacted and shaped. The main point of splicing is not to save costs, but to leave room for shrinkage and expansion of the wood. This prevents bending and deformation of the finished product. In recent years, some factories specializing in lines have used eucalyptus cores to process relatively narrow wooden frame strips. This is the first point of how are mirrors made.

Pasting

The second step of how are mirrors made is pasting. The raw material used for hanging slurry is gypsum slurry. It is used to smooth the frame surface for further surface treatment.

It is necessary to avoid the phenomenon of exposing the wood and foaming due to the uneven hanging of the pulp. In addition, improper proportioning will also cause the slurry layer to crack.

Drying is required after this program. Usually, it is naturally dry. It is worth mentioning that using a drying oven will not only increase the cost but also cause cracks on the frame surface due to the rapid absorption of moisture. Especially the glossy frame. This is the second step of how are mirrors made.

Knurling

Form the basic pattern and shading on the surface of the frame. And the printing should be continuous, and there should be no incomplete, blurred, or deformed.

Drying is required after this program. The drying requirements are the same as the sizing procedure.

Polish

This step is to remove the excess gypsum slurry during hanging and embossing. Thereby increasing the surface smoothness. However, it should not be polished too much during the process, which will cause exposed wood bottom or pattern wear.

Cutting

The fifth step of how are mirrors made is cutting. Cut out the length of the frame according to the required size. It is worth noting that the length and angle must be accurate. This requires the tool to be fast. Otherwise, the edges of the corners of the frame are not smooth enough, and the corners are prone to seams when the frame is closed.

The frame with solid wood grain without pulp has higher requirements for cutting corners. Because it cannot be repaired later.

Assembling

The corners of the frame are glued and nailed to the back of the frame. There must be no leakage of glue, exposed nails, missing nails, plane dislocation of frame corners, front and rear dislocation, and corner seams. Assembing is also how are mirrors made can not ignore the point.

Back Corner Protector

The back corner guards are generally MDF boards, which are used to prevent the frame corners from cracking. The distance between the nails and the corners should be uniform, and there should be no glue overflow. The MDF board cannot be too skewed. There can be no exposed nails, which can easily lead to paddling. The back triangle corner guard is usually used in frames above 5cm. The log frame without pulping is generally not used. Except for the white back frame, the other back triangles such as silver/black should be painted together.

Cleaning

Next point about how are mirrors made is cleaning. Repair the product after the frame. Use putty to fill in the flawed part. And use a high-pressure gun to clean up the powder under grinding and impurities in the gap.

Backboard

After the frame is closed, the size of the backplane can be determined and the backplane can be prepared. Some cheap frames come with a corrugated board. Depending on the MDF sheet specification, it may be necessary to consider the back panel of the large-sized frame, which may require splicing.

All MDF boards are E1 grades since 2019. Of course, individual customers will require E0 level. The cost of the E0-class backplane is higher.

Arc Digging

Some frame types have an arc of the frame surface, which requires arc digging, which is what we commonly call noodles. The arc angle of the whole frame should be symmetrical and smooth, the size should be consistent, and the position should be accurate. The digging arcs also need to be filled with putty and polished. This is the point of how are mirrors made.

Sticker Decoration

Generally, there are two kinds of gypsum flowers and polyresin flowers. Gypsum flowers need to be glued on. The resin flower is relatively heavy, so it needs to be screwed onto the frame strip and pasted with glue.

Gypsum decals cannot have warped edges, deformations, or defects. After the gypsum flower is finished, it needs to be dried. Polyresin flowers can not have chipped, defects.

Secondary Polishing

Polishing is still required after completing the previous process. The most basic requirement is that the wooden bottom should not be exposed, and the pattern should not be missing or damaged.

Painting

Spray paint includes spray primer and sprays glue. The spray paint needs to be uniform, and there should be no problems such as flowing paint and exposed bottom. Usually two bottoms and one side, or two bottoms and two sides. According to different sheen, it is divided into matt painting, lacquer painting, vanish painting.

Paste Foiling

Now, most of the gold stickers are replaced by gold spraying and silver spraying. This can reduce material and labor costs. Gold-plated workers need to use gloves to prevent the oxidation of gold and silver foil caused by sweat.

Color Finish

No matter what kind of aging effect, it should be uniform. It should not hurt the paint and not show the bottom.

Color effects are:

• Off White
• Wash White
• Ivory
• Craquelure
• Distress
• Copper
• Bronze
• Rusty
• Antique
• Scratch

Lens

This is the most important foot of how are mirrors made. The lens should be cleaned of dust, without spots, watermarks, scratches, and deformation. Usually, there are two kinds of silver mirrors and aluminum mirrors. The price of silver mirrors is higher, and the default price is basically aluminum mirrors. Unless the customer has special requirements. There is also currently an alloy mirror that is between silver and aluminum in quality and price.

According to the different mirrors, it is divided into flat mirrors and bevel mirrors. The flat mirror is generally 3mm but also has 2mm. The bevel mirror is at least 4mm. The edge size is generally one inch. The edge of the mirror should be as neat as possible, and the angle should be 45 degrees.

Packaging

Assembly and packaging are done together and cannot be distinguished independently. This is also a key step in how are mirrors made.

According to the box rate, it is divided into single packaging and multi packaging.

Single package:

Product+corner protection+EPE (or air bubble bag) into the outer carton (outer carton thickness+2cm)
For special products, one or more foam boards should be added in addition to EPE, also called Foam boards.

Multipack:

Product + corner protector + shrink, multiple products into the outer box (the thickness can be ignored)
Product + EPE + inner box, multiple inner boxes into the outer box (inner box thickness +1, inner box is generally 3 layers of single corrugated cardboard)

Inspection

Inspection standards are determined by the mirror manufacturing company. The unavoidable defects of handmade products should be communicated and explained to the customer to avoid rework. Rework will result in waste of packaging materials, labor costs, secondary damage caused by rework, high risk of rework effects, and so on.

Defects to be picked/fixed:

The corner flowers are cracked and mildewed; the decorative flowers are incomplete, the color difference is serious, the frame corners are dislocated, and the frame corners are white; the frame surface has serious scratches, crushes, and pits. The back plate is dirty; the hardware is rusted; the mirror surface is deformed; the mirror edge is seriously dislocated, etc.

Warehousing and Shipping

In principle, all products are not allowed to be placed flat, only upright. Especially for customers to insist, emphasize this point. The finished product is not allowed to be placed directly on the ground, and a shelf should be used to keep the finished product off the ground (moisture-proof). The final step of how are mirrors made is to store and transport the mirrors safely.

Final Word

Mirror-making can date back thousands of years. Mirrors can be made from many materials and used for different purposes. This is how are mirrors made in mirror factory. Today mirrors are used in various industries. It is even treasured as a work of art.

The mirror making process is cumbersome and delicate. Starting from the mirror factory, this article is your most complete guide to what are mirrors made of and how are mirrors made. In the future, mirror manufacturers will also continue to produce more attractive mirrors.