Anyone know of a home remedy to resurface the back of a headlight reflector? I am assuming it is the same "silvering" used on mirrors. I haven't gotten in touch with any local glass people yet but I am assuming they handle flat glass and not special shaped glass. Just wondering if anyone knew of something I could apply myself from the do-it-yourself (frugal) scheme of things.....Thanks, Gary

Looking at the recipes for silvering mirrors suggests that it is probably not a job for an amateur. One method can generate fulminate of silver (highly explosive) under some conditions, the cost of silver nitrate is probably fairly high nowadays, silver salts are hazardous waste, etc...

Try searching mirror coatings in the Thomas Register http://www,thomasnet.com

There are several service companies which might be able to help.

Short term fix might be chrome metallic spray paint, found in many auto supply stores.

dave

A Moment in Time, talk to Jan Spevak. http://mirrorrepair.com/ Located in Wellington, KS.

We had her do a 14" Pyle reflector that had lost most of it's silvering. They did a wonderful job, stripping off the remaining original coating, and resilvering. All for a grand total of about $60.00, including shipping.
Talk to her about shipping, as she has good advice regarding packing these reflectors to prevent damage. We were nervous about the shipping aspect until talking to them.

Hope this helps.

Kent McClure
Monticello Railway Museum

One thing I was told is that when you have a high quailty reflector, make sure the headlight housing is weathertight and sealed up when transporting it to / from the locomotive. Moisture can wreck havoc with the reflectors clarity.

Thanks all for posting info and suggestions for restoring a reflector. The relfector is for a Golden Glow that will be displayed only, not used on a locomotive. I may try that chrome paint on some scrap glass to see what the effect looks like. I also had in mind some hobby paint from Al-Clad. You can get different finishes and I think one of them is a high polished bright coating. If neither of those give me the look of a nice reflector, I may go with the actual resilvering as suggested. $60.00 doesn't sound bad but the risk of someone else handling the part and the distance for shipping is something to think about..Thanks again, Gary

Not to nit pick, but from what I recall, Golden Glows had a golden tint to the reflector? Its been a while since I have touched one, so I could be off.

Ray,

Yes, you are correct. The rmenants of the silvering on this reflector has a slight golden/amber tint to it. To possibly overcome this on a do-it yourself job is to first give the back of the reflector a very light transparent coat of Testors Amber Translucent paint used for model car running lights. Then apply the coat of chrome. Again, I will experiment a bit before I decide on what to do on the real thing....Thanks, Gary

My understanding is that the color of the "Golden Glow" headlights comes from a mineral in the glass, not a color applied to the back of the glass. The mineral is what might generally be called a rare earth.

I've been told that the color is obtained by adding uranium to the molten glass. Nobody in the world makes uranium glass anymore. Apparently the radiation level is not hazardous.

One reference on uranium glass:
http://www.unitednuclear.com/glass.htm

Looking at the actual glass more closely, where the silvering is gone, one can not see any "color" to it. It is as clear as the glass found in your house windows. I am not saying there is no sign of uranium or other material in the glass that gives it it's Golden Glow, I just can't see anything.

I did a little experimentation with a piece of sheet glass. I first cleaned it and then sprayed that tanslucent amber color from Testors. Just enough to give me the amber tint. After it dried I sprayed on top of that a thicker coat of Chrome paint I had on hand. After that had dried I sprayed a dull black to seal the first two coats. Once dried I flipped the glass over and to my surprise I matched the amber hue pretty darn good. The only thing though is I did not end up with a good reflective surface like a mirror finish should be. So, even though this experiment would do ok for a static display, It would never light up the darkness like it should.

So now I am wondering if I just get it resilvered the proper way, will it or will it not have the proper Golden Glow? Hmmm. ......Gary

Since the glass has to be cleaned very well before the silvering process, any coating left on the glass would probably not hold up.

Here at the SRC we have used National Products in Louisville KY very successfully. Their work was quick and reasonable.

In all my research on lenses, I am sure that the "golden" in the "glow" was from the glass. If you look at the lens from the edge, you can see that it has a very pronounced green tint to it.

If you want a neat experiment, silver a piece of glass, then heat it in a kiln to about 1200 F. The silvering burns away, leaving a beautiful gold tint to the glass. Unfortunately too gold for golden glow, but pretty non the less.

Good luck. A sturdy box and a couple of bags of shredded paper works to ship glass.

Steve

I doubt that many have access to a glass furnace to heat a reflector to 1200F however if you do the glass piece must be cooled very slow over a predetermined period of time otherwise it will crack and shatter.

The radiation from the uranium is hazardous as it is in uranium based glazes that was used in the ceramics industry until the 50s.

As with a certain fibrous mineral substance frequently found in old railroad equipment, the hazard of uranium glass depends on how it is used. In a railroad headlight reflector, where it is contained and kept away from people, the hazard is minimal. The folks who sell pieces of U-glass as a scientific curiosity say it is safe to handle.

The problem with ceramic eating utensils is that uranium may be leached from the glaze and ingested, or possibly that flakes of glaze could be ingested. Uranium emits alpha particles which can do tremendous cellular damage at close range, but they are easily blocked even by a sheet of paper.