Re: ATM 1/4" thick too thin for 4.5" mirror?

[Dominic-Luc Webb molmed <Dominic.Luc-Webb@molmed.ki.se>]

On Wed, 5 Apr 2000, Barrett Richardson wrote:
 
> I have a glass circle 4.5" diameter 1/4" thick from glass that was
> easy to break cleanly with a scoring tool and a hammer. Is it too
> thin for a suitable mirror?


This will potentially start an avalanche of responses, 
but here goes....

My answer is no, it is not too small, and in fact 
recommend trying an experiment I credit to Alan 
Alder of Livermore, CA, USA. Grind and polish to 
a sphere and get the parabola with a vacuum 
attached to the bottom. Alan is currently trying 
this with thin 6" mirrors. I personally believe 
thin mirrors are the future....


Cheers,



Dominic

North 59 37' 30"
East  17 48' 10"