Re: [ATM] Too Small Optics-( and flex produced optics)

["David Harbour" <scarab2@cox.net>]

Jerry,,

Don't make the mistake I did. Someone warned me: "With a patent, and 75
cents, you can buy a cup of coffee". They were right.

Whhen I brought out my beautiful little fork equatorial kits, I got a
patent. The patent was the least important thing I could have done.  As it
turned out, I got caught in the transition to "King Dobson".

Don't wast your time on patent seeking; 99.999% of all patents fail to make
a fortune for their owners (I own others, very brilliant): NOTHING TO SHOW
FOR THEM.

Dave


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jerry" <wa4guu@verizon.net>
To: "'Don Clement'" <clement.focuser@verizon.net>; "'ATM List'"
<atm@atmlist.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2005 5:19 PM
Subject: RE: [ATM] Too Small Optics-( and flex produced optics)


I don't buy into the super smooth argument for bending and figuring. Nor for
that matter figuring and bending. What means of ACCURATELY bending a glass
disk into some conic so that the sphere can be installed on the surface so
that it can be released into that superior conic.

Now, I'm sure there are many amateur machinists who will be able to make
that edge support accurate to a half a millionth of an inch. But now that we
are "flexing for figuring" we have to move that support to the front of the
mirror and push that patented plunger into the back of the mirror to force
it to the proper negative of the positive, or is it the proper positive of
the negative conic we want. And maybe we need to be accurate to a half a
millionth inch on this also. Gee I hope errors don't add up. And I hope that
flexing machinery doesn't get in the way of the lap.

Well now thinking a bit more on this.....

I suppose that if you supported the mirror face down on a perimeter support
and pushed down on the center of the mirror, the back that is, while it is
deflected in that direction you could tighten a large industrial strength
hose clamp around the circumference making it smaller. You know, make the
circumference smaller. If tightened to the correct force and with the center
already bowed by foot pressure in the desired direction (foot bias) it would
be unable to pop back to normal until the hose clamp is released. Proper
hose clamping would maintain the desired flex while you figured the sphere
into the stressed surface. A computer program might be used to calculate the
torque required on the hose clamp screw. You would just need to be careful
to bow the mirror the correct way when tightening the hose clamp.

OK, OK, I see now. It is feasible. I think this idea could warrant a patent.

Jerry



-----Original Message-----
From: atm-bounces@atmlist.net [mailto:atm-bounces@atmlist.net] On Behalf Of
Don Clement
Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2005 10:39 AM
To: ATM List
Subject: Re: [ATM] Too Small Optics-( and flex produced optics)

It seems to me, the way we are taught to produce aspheric surfaces is
totally backwards. Start with the easily made sphere that can have a super
smooth perfect surface. Then, with great effort and frustration, go about
mutilating that perfect smooth surface by distorting the pitch lap. Seems
like the better path is to distort the optics and use the full contact lap
to naturally produce a smooth sphere? But that's dogma - riding on polygon
wheels instead of round ones. Time for a different paradigm.

Don Clement
Running Springs, California

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. -Robert Frost



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