ATM First timer - ecstatic!

["Aidan Schurr" <Aidan.Schurr@hvh.co.nz>]

Thought I would share my first glass pushing experience with you all.  I am over the moon (pun completely intended) with the way things have gone so far, and can't wait to get into the polishing...  I haven't had anyone to help with this, so have basically read every reference I could find out there on the net, and have come up with a nice compilation of methods and grinding techniques.  I did have a friend from another part of the country send me a video of John Dobson at work, which was a big help...

I started grinding my 8" F7 on Saturday, and work progressed extremely rapidly.  I went down the road of hogging out with a pipe and 80 grit, and had the basic shape down to about 1.3mm in less than an hour.  I cut up a mat of 1" square porcelain tiles and placed these on the blank with a Duct tape dam surrounding.  Poured some "Dental stone" into the newly formed mould and waited for it to set.  Hey Presto - one grinding tool!  I gave it about an hour to cure, then did some more grinding with the 80 grit to even the curve out.  Managed to get the 220 grit completed by the end of Saturday, and poor weather on Sunday meant I was back into it from the word "GO"!  Progressed quite happily through the grits, using the magnifier from my slide viewer to check for pits before moving on, until I had finished with the 700 (my finest) about 9pm on Sunday night.  I simply couldn't believe it!  I was literally expecting this to take me months and months to get even close to getting ready to polish.  I have a lovely curve, with a focal length of exactly 1.4m (56") giving me the F7 I was aiming for.  Let me at the pitch....

This is soooo addictive!  :-)

Cheers,
Aidan (downunder)


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aidan schurr  b.m.l.sc
section head, histology
hutt valley district health board
lower hutt
new zealand

aidan.schurr@hvh.co.nz
++64 4 570 9173 (direct)
++64 4 570 9214 (fax)