Re: ATM 3 inch reflector

["Bill & Lois Kelley" <wekelleylwk@sedona.net>]

Ray,
I routinely cut satisfactory small secondaries out of large lst surface
mirrors.
I spray the aluminized surface with clear Krylon, let dry, turn over on a
sheet
of plain Kleenex on a few sheets of newspaper, make a full single straight
cut
with a good class cutter, slide new piece to be removed carefully over sharp
table edge, wrap a few folded sheets of Kleenex over piece to be removed,
press down firmly with the heel of my hand, and, I usually get a clean
break.
remove Krylon with a few gentle rinses and wipes with acetone and Kleenex.

If it is a large 1st surface mirror, reduce it to smaller pieces so that the
first
cut is not a long one. It is hard to break a narrow piece off of a long cut.
By plain Kleenex I mean old fashioned Kleenex with no additives. It is
used in a friend of mine's shop who does a lot of aluminizing.
Good Luck,
Bill Kelley

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ray Aldridge" <pbwriter@fwb.gulf.net>
To: "ATM" <atm@shore.net>
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2002 11:20 AM
Subject: ATM 3 inch reflector


>
> In wandering through the archives, I came across a thread on making a
> reflector from one of the Surplus Shed's 3" spherical mirrors, which are
> pretty cheap.  I'd like to let my sons make one of these.  I had a
reflector
> of similar capacity when I was a kid, and it was a lot of fun.  The
sticking
> point is the secondary.  It would pain my penny-pinching soul to pay
several
> times the cost of the primary for a diagonal this small.  So here's my
> (possible stupid) question:  is there any way to cut one of those surplus
> first surface flat mirrors without destroying the coating?  If it helps, I
> have a small diamond spindle shaper, originally used for touching up
stained
> glass shapes.
>
> Thanks much,
>
> Ray
>
>
>
>