[ATM] Mirror Edge Supports

[Jay Kirkland <jaykirk2@compusmart.ab.ca>]

	I believe that over the last few months I've read everything on the ATM
group re: edge supports. And everything I've read has been about how to
support the bottom of the mirror evenly to minimize the effects that the
weight of glass has upon itself when it's tilted on or close to on edge. 
	Because our telescope mirrors are usually relatively small, maybe we're
looking at the wrong edge. I just thought of the weighted lever astatic
mirror cells. While the design really appeals to me, I don't exactly
understand what benifit astatic cells really have when they are placed
behind the mirror. What if you moved the astatic counterwighted levers from
the back of the mirror to around the top edge of the mirror? Everyone says
that silicone is strong enough to support the weight of amateur mirrors.
What if you suspended a mirror in its cell by silicone from several points
around its top circumferance and let its bottom circumferance just hang?
Sort of a sling in reverse? Pointed at zenith, the counterwights would
provide no support for the mirror at all, letting its entire weight rest on
its cell. But as the mirror tilted forward, the weights would compensate
for the increasing weight of the mirror by pulling  up on  the top edge. As
with astatic cells, a lever length of say 6 units past fulcrum would mean
that you could support the entire weight of the mirror with 1/6 of its
weight in counterweights. Exactly how to space them so that their effects
would be evenly distributed?	
	Is the idea of suspending a mirror completely insane? I just woke up and
it was in my mind fully formed. I thought I'd write it down before I forgot
it. We've all seen the effect of bottom edge supports that PLOP documents.
Is there a way of plotting something like this?

	Jay
	 
	


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