ATM Flatter than Flat Paaint - NEW DISCOVERY

["Reed Spaulding" <shellac@together.net>]

Hey guys,
            Here is an idea my dad and I tried on a telescope we are helping
my sister build.  We mixed Flat black paint with Black Beauty, and corn
starch, which acts as a flatting agent.  We used a small plastic drill type
paint stirrer mounted in the drill press with the can of paint on the drill
table.  We then mixed in a liberal amount of corn starch and BB.   Then we
got a piece of paper and painted a small area on it.  Then we heated the
paper with a heat gun to accelerate the drying.  It is really gritty and
absorbs 99.9% of all the  light striking it, especially at low angles.  My
sister then painted it on the inside of the tube, (The scope is a four inch,
therefore a 5.5" id tube.) when she discovered that the stuff is hard on the
knuckles when they rub on the opposite side of the tube from where you are
applying the paint.  Lesson, Be VERRYYYY careful when painting  small tubes.
This was yesterday, Today when I looked down the tube I saw some very slight
reflections coming off areas that  she had missed (We tried straight Flat
black before, with minimal success) so I decided to recoat.  Well it is
drying now and is the blackest black I have seen!  I can't wait to try this
thing out, I wonder how much of a difference in image quality this will
induce.

Happy ATMing, and Clear Skies,
                                                Nusto Nate