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11Sand Your Mirrors
Use a belt grinder to round off the corners and clean up the edges to reduce the chance of getting cut later.
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12Drill Your Mirrors
Buy a 1/4" hollow diamond drill bit from the hardware store they are about $20 but totally worth it. Set up a jig on your drill press so each piece will fit in it and the bit will be fairly close to the center of the mirror. There will be variation in the size of the mirrors unless you are a professional glass cutter. This variation won't make a difference later if you left enough spacing in your design from the beginning. Get a small cup of water and paint brush, place it on your drill press table. Place a stop on the bit so it only goes 2/3rds of the way through the glass. Place the first piece of mirror with the silver side up in the jig and use the brush to place a little water on the bit. I used 290 rpm s for the speed of rotation and it seemed to work just fine. Take your time and lift the bit every once in a while to allow the water to fall down inside the hole. I suggest drilling this initial hole through all the pieces first and then going back and cutting it out from the other side. If you cut the back and then the front successively you will add too much heat to the glass and it will crack around the hole you are cutting.
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13Clean Up Your mirrors
Wipe them down and make sure they are clean before you stack then.
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14Seal Your Mirrors
There is a can of mirror sealant you can find at most hardware stores that allows you to seal your mirror so the rear coating doesn't corrode away in the harsh weather.
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15Mirror Washers
Many the Rubber bonded metal washers are concave. Because of the tolerance of the threading on the Ball head mount the washers need to be flattened. I simply put them on a vise and one hit with a 5 lb hammer flattened them quite nicely.
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16Mount Your Mirrors
Place one washer on the top of the ball head mount with the rubber facing the mirror. Place the mirror on top of that and add another washer with the rubber facing the mirror again. On the end of the bolt add a small drop of Locktite Blue and screw down the nut snug on the mirror.
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17Focus Your Mirror Array
Now that every mirror is mounted, take the array out in the sun and adjust each mirror individually so they are all focused on the same spot. It is best to not do this in a place you care about because with one frame it is roughly 100x the intensity of the sun. It is also a good idea to use some protective eye wear(welders glasses) because the spot can get quite bright. Use welding goggles!!
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18Now on to the more difficult part!! STEAM!
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