I cannot remember who gave me these instructions but I found that they worked better than those in A.T.M although I modified them a little as I found some ingredients easier to find than others.

1) Reagents.

Silver nitrate - chlorine free (I made my own)
potassium hydroxide - pure (I used sodium hydroxide)
ammonia (880)
stannous chloride - technical grade
dextrose (glucose) - pure ( I used a reducing solution as described in A.T.M book 2 - made from 20fl oz distilled water - 1/8th fl oz nitric acid - 2 oz sugar - 31/2fl oz iso-propyl-alcohol, all well matured for 8 month before hand)

Other requirements

whiting
detergent (ordinary washing up liquid)
de-ionised water
tissues or cotton wool
rubber gloves (very important if you don’t want to go around with black hands for the next week!)
stainless steel sink
very clean glassware

2)

Dissolve reagent in 60ml de-ionised water

2oz silver nitrate
2oz potassium hydroxide (I used 1.43g sodium hydroxide)
1g dextrose ( I used 60ml of made up reducing solution)
1g stannous chloride in 1litre tap water.

3) Titration

Using a pipette or dropping funnel add 880 ammonia to the silver nitrate drop by drop - stir well until it clears (mine took about 35 drops to clear from a milky blue to a clear royal blue). Be very careful not to add drops beyond the point where it clears.

Next add to the potassium (sodium) hydroxide, the silver nitrate/ammonia mix. ( don’t forget to thoroughly clean every thing after each operation). Now titrate again with 880 ammonia - again do not overshoot end point. It is best to leave solution slightly cloudy. (mine turned nearly blue/black then at about 25 drops turned to clear blue/brown/black?)

Use this solution while it is fresh

4) Cleaning mirror

Carefully wash mirror in waerm water and detergent to remove dust and major grease marks.
Make up a paste of whiting and 880 ammonia (put on gas mask !!!)
This is best done in the garden as the ammonia fumes will murder you!! ( I made a huge funnel contraption from thin polyester film 56inches circumference and 46 inches high. This had two holes for my hands and a slot in the back with a flap on it to get the mirror in and out. This was all fixed to a glass top table, indoors with an extractor vent about 7 foot above it - I had no trouble from fumes).
Scrub the mirror all overusing a swab of tissue dipped in paste. This must be done very thoroughly, so take plenty of time - 10 minutes minimum.
Wash off with tap water and finally scrub all over again with a swab of tissue ans stannous chlorine solution - use the whole 1litre (note ; it is best to make up this solution 1 hour before starting as it is a slow dissolver.
Wash the mirror in tap water and store in a clean bowl filled with water (the mirror must not be allowed to dry out at any time).
Note; it will help if the water it warm (not hot).

You should have made up previously a ‘dam’ from a stiff plastic strip. (I used clear polyester film). Remove the mirror from the water and place face down on a formica or glass worktop (to prevent surface of mirror from drying). Dry sides and back of the mirror. Place ‘dam’ around the mirror and tape tightly together with waterproof tape. Shift the mirror so that the ‘dam’ is flush with the back of the mirror. Tape the dam to the back of the mirror to waterproof it. The mirror will not dry out for several minutes (Mine did begin to).
This was not at all easy or very good. Sliding the mirror down was very difficult. The surface began to dry and I got my fingers on it. Trying to do this without touching the surface or letting it dry out was near impossible!!

Swill mirror surface with de-ionised water. Divide the silvering solution in half and dump half of the dextrose (reducing solution) into one half. Stir quickly and pour onto mirror surface (goes very dark brown/black). It will quickly assume a thin silver film. Swill the solution around until it is evident that deposition has stopped - solution has turned murky black. Dump the spent solution and give the mirror a quick swill with de-ionised water. Repeat the process with the other half of the silvering solution, after adding the dextrose and stirring as before. Dump the solution and thoroughly wash under the tap - remove the dam and wash again. Finally swill well with de-ionised water.
The film will be slightly cloudy but do not worry about it. (mine was cloudy except where it began to dry and where my fingers got on it - these areas look well silvered and not cloudy. Some tiny black ‘fluffy clumps’ formed which would not wash off but dried out to a light grey).
Stand the mirror on it’s edge to drain off, in a dust free place away from cats, dogs children and any other curious beings! Do not touch the film. After about a weekyou can try a thoroughly wahed fingerto try to burnish the film. Do this at the centre - if the film will stand it, carefully work over the whole surface, keeping finger clean, dry and frequently washed - if not and the silver comes off, leave well alone (mine didn’t burnish up very much and even now nearly twenty years later the silvering has barely changed) Keep the surface covered at all times with a wad of acrylan.

This picture was taken early January 2000 (19 years after) showing where my fingers got on it before silvering and for some reason did not suffer

Silver nitrate

I found that buying, borrowing, scrounging or stealing silver nitrate was an impossibility so I decieded to make my own. Fortunately I got hold of some nitric acid (in those days all manner of things could be got as health and safety regulations were almost non existant.
I got an old broken siver pocket watch and used the case. I put the case in a big glass jar and slowly added the nitric acid (lots of brown fumes and bubbly blue liquid), I felt like the mad proffessor (maybe I was/am). I ended up with a quantity of liquid silver in nitric acid which needed to be reduced to chrystals. I put a saucepan of water on a small cooker with the solution suspended over it and over the next few days slowly boiled off the nitric acid until I was left with about 8 grammes of silver nitrate.
I did this in a large room where I worked I’m sure they all thought I was mad keep running to the cooker and topping it up with water. Even though I hung a huge funnel, made of sheets of film over the cooker to take the fumes out through a big extractor fan, I didn’t realise how many fumes got into the room; until a few weeks later I noticed that that all the ironwork, girders and even steel rulers had gone rusty (I don’t like to think what it did to my lungs!).