About Front Surface Mirrors
A front surface mirror is a a mirror that has its reflective part right at its surface. The difference between a front surface mirror and an ordinary mirror (also called a "second surface" mirror), is that the reflective part in an ordinary mirror lies a bit further under the glass. The easiest way to tell the difference between front surface mirrors and ordinary mirrors is the "fingernail test." In this test, you touch your fingernail to the surface of the mirror. If you can see your finger's entire reflection, you're dealing with an ordinary mirror. If your fingernail appears to be directly touching its reflection, you have a front surface mirror on your hands You will rarely - if ever - encounter a front surface mirror in a scenario in which the above test will even be necessary. front surface mirrors are primarily used in devices such as periscopes, telescopes, and projection televisions. As such, they are usually integrated into these devices and don't present themselves in a manner that would require you to do the fingernail test.
We all know that ordinary mirrors come in both glass and acrylic, both with their advantages and disadvantages, but front surface mirrors also come in both materials and offer similar ups and downs. So if you are working on an optical project - whether it be for a school or work project, or just for fun - you have to decide upon whether you want an acrylic or glass front surface mirror. The first thing you have to ask yourself is: what exactly are the requirements of my project and what am I looking to accomplish?
If you are working on an art or hobby project you'll probably want to go with an acrylic front surface mirror because they're shatterproof, less expensive, and easier to cut. If you are working on a project with military training simulators, broadcasting, photography, optics, astronomy, physics, lasers, periscopes, projectors, or in television repair, you'll want to go with a glass front surface mirror. Glass mirrors have a 94-96% reflectance level and are used by such organizations as the US Air Force, US Navy, NASA, defense contractors, Sony, as well as engineering and science departments in many universities. All of these organizations are well-respected, so you can see the type of company you'll be keeping and rest assured that you are using the right sort of mirror in this case.
Our glass mirrors meet military specifications Mil-C-48497, Mil-M-13508C, & Mil-STD-810
Optical differences between front and second surface mirrors >>
