Re: ATM A Very Bad Day

["Frank Ward" <thewards@mindspring.com>]

Janik,

Pain lots of Pain!!!!  Go guy.  How about finishing
that mirror as practice for one you will easily do
better?  Then you can be looking and polishing
too?  Don't bother with a 10" mount with your
attitude you'll need atleast a 12 real soon.

Pain! It all about Pain......and surviving it and
getting on.

Cheers,

Frank Ward
P.S. I hope the pitch lap wasn't damaged
that would be a >real< disaster.
----- Original Message -----
From: Janik Zikovsky <jzikovsky@hotmail.com>
To: <atm@shore.net>
Sent: Thursday, December 30, 1999 2:37 PM
Subject: ATM A Very Bad Day


>
> Hello all.
>
> This is the tale of my very bad day (today).
>
> I was melting pitch for a pitch lap for my 9.25" mirror. First, I burnt
> myself when some boiling pitch splashed onto my hand (it still hurts and
the
> pitch is still stuck there)
>
> Then, while pouring my pitch lap, the rubber band holding the wax paper
dam
> around the tool was too high and crushed the wax paper into the pitch - a
> messy unpleasant clean-up job.
>
> Then i redid my pitch lap, aluminum foil dam this time, and it worked that
> time. I was pressing the mirror on the lap, turned around to get something
> heavy to put on the mirror. Whilst I was turned, the mirror slipped off
the
> pitch, off the table and onto the cement floor. It's interesting to note
> that for a couple of seconds I was sure it was all a dream and I would
wake
> up, and my mirror would be fine.
>
> Obviously it wasn't a dream, and the result of the fall is a very large
> "chip" ("chip" does not do it justice) 1.25" wide by 3.5-4" long, on the
> edge. The rest of the mirror is fine.
> The chip covers about 7-8% of the area of the mirror.
>
> My mirror was fine ground and ready for polishing (I can take comfort in
> that it wasn't polished, figured, and aluminized...).
>
> So here is my question : What do I do?
>
> Do I :
>
> a) Give up ATMing and become a tibetan monk?
> b) Finish the mirror anyway, and use it knowing that i'm losing 8% of the
> light?
> c) Finish the mirror, but plan the telescope mount big enough to fit a 10"
> mirror, that I could make later on?
> d) Put the broken mirror somewhere visible as a cautionary example, and
make
> another mirror?
>
> Anybody with personal experience with this, i'd like to say :
> "I feel your pain"
> and ask what did you do?
>
>
> thanks all,
> Janik Zikovsky
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