I see there's plenty of people who have made their projector verticaly. My question is where are you all getting your front surface mirrors from? I have found some manufacturers who make them, but have hit a wall when it comes to buying them for anything close to a reasonable price. I am also looking for a Canadian supplier but will order it from whereever if it is available.

How much should I expect to pay as well?

lumen lab sells FS mirrors.

WOW! I can't believe I missed that! I'm an idiot.

Elken2004 has a thread discussing the use of a 150 watt ceramic bulb where I asked him how he made his fs mirrors (my question was somewhre in the past week or so) and all he did is remove the backing with paint remover. careful not to scratch the undercoat. All you need is a cheap house mirror.

I haven't tried it myself yet but maybe if you pm him he'l repeat the procedure for you.

ok just to clear up some points

stripping a house mirror is a temp fix,, not a final fix,,, I am after a good full spectrum FS mirror as the LL one is not the best,, especially noticable as external mirror beyond the triplet and I have not had time to analyse why,,, but it may be in its coating properties or its spectral response,, needless to say i am quite disappointed with it..

I think a much better aluminised quality one would work well..

I too am looking for a new type fs mirror. The one I have (LL) doesn't seem to allow the correct color reflect back. I also noticed it's quite flimsy and very hard to tweak with correct focus. My mirror holder is part of the blame for that. I am thinking about getting a 1 inch plexiglass piece to mount the mirror on instead of wood.
It seems like the colors are a little darker than what I see on my lcd being projected. Maybe it's something like a tinted mirror.

I have a first surface mirror from a Proxima PRO AV 9320, it measures 3.75" x 5" if anyone is interested.

When I build I'm hoping to use an fs mirror after the triplet in my design so I can put the box upright (I hope). The used OHP I picked up has one that is 4"x6" inside measurements. It looks good so I'm hoping to use that one.
If you have or could find and old OHP it might do the trick.

Great, and I just ordered a FS from LL...

I am picky about colors also, hopefully I won't notice.

Keep us posted on what you find!

During my search for a better mirror the tech from one place I called said that the mirrors that say 97% reflectivity are for lasers and have a slight curve. The ones used for projection tv's are at 94%.
I've also found that they are quite expensive for the thicker ones.

The size of LL's is 12.5"X16". The ones I found at Edmund Optics were 1/4" thick 16"X16" and was $147.00 and one 1/4" thick 10.1"X14" (about the right size) was $123.00. I've ordered a catalog from them to see what exactly this type of mirror is used for and to see if there might be any other mirror capable of using. I talked to the sales rep to get those prices. He said those mirrors would range 90% to 95% reflectivity.

Sycamore Glass would cut one to your specs so one 1/4"thick 12.5"X16" would cost $150.00 at 94% ref.

ps.still searching

I was at an indoor flea market and saw a pair of large (looked about 8" by 10") side mirrors used on cars to see past a pulled trailer. I decided to try the mirror test by sticking the corner of my pocket comb against the glass and sure enough they were fs. Looked a bit darkish tint so I don't know if this matters because so is my ohp mirror. The guy only wanted $5 but I passed them up. Not really sure if they were suitable but that may be another cheap option for someone to try.