Mirrors on the cheap

Conventional mirrors aren't very useful for laser projects - the glass barrier ends up distorting and reflecting too much light. Besides, they cost money. Instead, we'll use an old CD-R:



First, cut squares of plastic out of the CD, and use blu-tack to pull the label off them. This gives us a nice transparent piece of plastic. Be careful not to get dirt on them, and polish off any fingerprints with a tissue. Next, coat one side of your piece of plastic with superglue and stick it to the label side of the CD you just cut up. Apply lots of heavy weight and leave it for a few hours. It took me all afternoon:



Trace around the edges of the dried piece of plastic with a relatively sharp knife. This is to cut through the label and make it easier to peel off the CD. Next, bend the CD so that one side of your piece of plastic will pop off the surface. Peel your newly made mirror off, polish, and test. They look heaps cooler than normal cd surfaces:



These mirrors work brilliantly, I reckon they must reflect at least 90% of the light. Now that we've got good mirrors, we can start with the cool stuff.