RE: size of mirror

Bob Madden (madden@netcom.com)
Fri, 21 Apr 1995 20:36:25 -0700 (PDT)

Well Mel, if the beginner has someone such as you to be their mentor, OK, it isn't intimidating. But think of expense, size and doing it with only Texeraux at you shoulder. I have some top flight mentor(s) and on large size I am still intimidated. Mostly it is cost of the glass and time invested. If I had to do mirror grinding alone I'd go nuts second guessing my self. BTW a friend and I have just finished a grinding machine using some of the suggestions you sent me and we are testing it now on a chipped 5.5" blank. It is going good so far, but it isn't a fast machine: 3 rpm platter, 20 strokes/min and 3 strokes on the side bar (to make a "W" stroke). When we are sure it can be trusted I'm going to put on a 10".

Bob Madden

):-{])) <---- madden@netcom.com madden@svpal.org Remember amateur astronomers: "keep looking for the next Universe"

On Fri, 21 Apr 1995, Mel Bartels wrote:

> >>> but I bet there is not a single ATM here who would advocate starting
> with anything more than a six or eight inch upon which to make all of the
> usual learning mistakes. Dave
>
> You lose the bet, Dave. I started with a 16", then went to a 24" for my
> second mirror. In my mirror making classes, the most popular starting size
> is 10". If the mirror maker is sufficiently motivated, there is nothing
> wrong with starting with a big mirror. It is all a matter of perspective.
> To me, anything under 20" is rather small. Mirror making can be made quite
> difficult, but it does not have to be. It is a very straight forward
> process and well documented. Come on guys, quite making it sound so
> intimidating!
>
> Mel Bartels
>
>