Expansion, thermal changes by grinding, polishing, figuring.

Ralph Seguin (seguin@vr2.engin.umich.edu)
Wed, 05 Jul 1995 14:10:09 -0400

Has anybody tried hooking up thermal sensors to the back of a (probably thin) mirror, and measured temperature fluctuations when grinding, polishing and figuring? I'll bet that this would make an interesting animation.

I've heard of people talking about how they leave their tool and mirror for days on end so that they can come to thermal equilibrium, and then make a single or relatively few figuring strokes. How much deformation can you really expect from a single or small set of figuring strokes?