Sandblasting Mirrors
Many websites and forums tell you how to decorate glass by sandblasting. We do not sell sandblasting equipment. We show you a few of the ways that you can combine sandblasting with mirroring.
Gold and silver are light colors that can look muddy when you mirror over sandblasted glass. Copper and galena are darker colors so they look wonderful on rough surfaces.
If you sandblast the front of a mirror, you get a double image. You see the back of the design reflected in the mirror as you are looking at the front. This can be fascinating or distracting depending on the look you are trying to achieve.
This mirror was lightly sandblasted on the back with a Paasche Eraser air gun before it was silvered.
Whether a sandblasted design looks dark or light depends on angle of the light and where you are standing in relation to the mirror.
If you want the design to look dark in any light, you need to mirror it with Galena.
Galena mirroring chemicals look like wrought iron when applied to sandblasted glass.
To make this mirror:
- Do not remove the mask after sandblasting.
- Wash the masked glass to remove all blasting dust.
- Galena mirror the open areas.
- Dry and paint the mirrored areas with mirror backing paint.
- Remove the mask, clean and silver the glass.
- Protect the mirror with mirror backing paint.
The contrast of matte and shiny surfaces can be very dramatic.
It is very easy for a large silvered, sandblasted surface to look muddy and dull. This glass was mirrored with silver.
Deep sandblasting adds depth to any image.
The effect is more noticeable when you silver the glass and the design.
In this example, I etched the design deep into the beveled side of a 3/16" thick commercial bevel. The front of the mirror is flat.
The etching is deep enough that you can see parts of the design reflected multiple times in the mirrored, beveled sides if you look at it from certain angles.