Flotal

Processing

Storing

The packaging must be removed right after the delivery to the warehouse.

Both sides should be wiped with dry cloth.

It should be set on wedges with longer sides at an angle of 5^o from the horizontal.

The panes should be interleaved with special wedges to provide air circulation.

The painted surface should not be contacted with rubber material (or rubbers conditioned at 110^oC for 3 days and not including sulfur as well, should be used)

Mirrors should be stored in well ventilated, dry and thermally balanced places. They should not be stored in places with too much humidity, and the presence of chemical gases should be avoided.

Due to the inconvenience of storage conditions, the shorter periods of stocking is recommended and the warehouse should be arranged accordingly.

Cutting

As in flat glass, Flotal® can be cut manually or at the cutting table.

Cutting is the first step of mirror processing. Cutting oil is as important as the cutting diamond (cutting wheel).

Cutting oil used during mirror processing serves many purposes such as;

• Provides deep cuts,
• Provides appropriate lubrication of the cutting wheel,
• High cutting pressure causes the formation of very fine glass particles to increase
• The most important function is to provide smooth cutting edges by manipulating cutting depth as intended. Reduces the formation of very fine glass particles.
• Undesirable breakages and chipping while breaking off may occur as a result of cutting oil used at low pressure and insufficient amounts.
• Each kind of cutting oil has certain solvent/catalytic properties. Inappropriate cutting oil (petroleum, low quality oils, kerosene etc.) used during cutting process causes the paint of the mirror to decompose and deterioration may occur in the mirror. The deterioration will not be seen immediately during the process, it will be more apparent after installation on site.

As a general rule, volatile cutting oil is used for cutting mirrors. Dry or non-volatile cutting oils used for cutting, may cause faults especially at the edges of the mirror. For the cutting oil includes solvent, the mirror panes should not get into contact with each other when stacking after cutting. The cut size panes should be interleaved with plastic spacers (such as cork) providing the rest of the cutting oil on the mirror to evaporate rapidly.

Mirror cutting tables and tools should be kept clean always.
After cutting process, mirror edges should be checked for notches and chips.

Processing

Edge working processes such as;

• engraving
• drilling
• grinding
• beveling
• seaming
• corner breaking

can be applied. After each process Flotal® should be washed and the water on the mirror should be removed completely.

Grinding and bevelling processes are grinding of the mirror (glass) edges with diamond wheels. During the grinding process, micro cracks may occur on the painted, copper and silver coated layers of the mirror. These cracks will become larger when inappropriate wheel is used and motor with low speed rate is attached to the wheel. Diamond particle size of the wheel should not be thicker than D=65. Motor speed rates should be at least 2500 rpm. When the diamond wheel is renewed, for the first ½ and 1 hour, it should be used only for grinding the glass edges to protect the coating of the mirror.

Processing wheels are cooled by using coolant agent added water. With these cooling solvents the mechanical stress applied to the mirror edges is minimized and a smooth abrasion is provided. Excessive mechanical stress deteriorates the coated layer and as a result, water and glass dust penetrates between the glass and the coating causing the edge corrosion to begin. During the grinding of the edges, glass particles (dust) causes the pH value of the processing water to rise above 10. Alkaline cooling water with high pH value is the reason for the edge corrosion. The rise in pH value should be avoided by using compatible cooling agents to provide the pH value to be lower than 9. Right after the processing, the mirror should be washed to remove the glass dust (particle) and the cooling water, before drying on the surface of the mirror. Coolant agent added water used for processing includes sulfate ions. During the process various bacteria are occurred. While reducing the sulfate ions, these bacteria produce sulfur gas in time. Hydrogen sulfur gas causes the silver coating of the mirror to darken. This is prevented by adding appropriate biocides into the cooling water. The bacteria will develop immunity when biocide used regularly. Therefore if the number of bacteria is high then quick freezing should be applied.

It is possible to deposit and to remove the glass particles occurred during grinding and beveling. Proper flocking and hydrocyclone systems are used for this purpose. The depositing agent should not be highly acidic and should not contain chloride. Besides, the depositing agent should not react with the coolant. After the grinding and bevelling processes, mirrors should be washed before the solvents on the surface of the mirror dry. Therefore the corrosive effect of the solvents used for processing is prevented.

Megerle in Germany claims that they produced a transparent paint aiming to avoid liquid and vapor penetration from the micro cracks occurred during the edge processing. Also it is reported that this paint is used in Germany especially for applications in bathrooms with washbasin units. To prevent the corrosion on the bottom edges of the mirror close to the washbasin, clear and transparent paint is applied to the processed edge of the mirror by a sponge with stripes.

Flotal® cannot be tempered or laminated.

Cleaning

Flotal® should not be cleaned with chemical detergents.

Dry and soft cloth should be used when cleaning spots on the mirror.

Persistent spots such as oil should be removed by wiping the mirror with soft lint-free cloth and clean, warm water. Care should be taken for no water drops to be left at the bottom of the mirror edges.

Installing

When mounting a mirror, rough and uneven surfaces should be smoothed to avoid distortion of the image.

Newly plastered and freshly painted surfaces should be completely dry before mounting a mirror.

For avoiding humidity, enough space should be provided between the mirror and the application surface to ensure the air circulation.

When framing the mirror, elastic material should be used between the mirror and the frame the mirror edges not to be damaged.

When mounting multiple mirrors next to each other, grouting between the mirrors should be provided to avoid breakage as a result of compression. To prevent image distortions in vertical applications care should be taken for mounting the mirror at an angle of 90⁰ from the floor.

Neoprene or plastic gaskets should be used for avoiding contact between the glass and the screw when mounting the mirror mechanically with screws.