Re: [ATM] A new Challange

["Jeremy Batterson" <jdbaterson@msn.com>]

Well, I wonder. Doesn't  Richard Schwartz have a patent on mirror cell forms? What is the patent number, so I can take a look at it? I wonder what the limit is of thin glass. And how about fusing several thin pieces, or something of the sort? My friend Hughes is completing a 16 inch F1.4 right now. Keeping the short F-ratios keeps down the cost of the tube, etc., among other advantages. Bartels is wrong on the cost, at this level, since the cost of the blank far exceeds the cost of the tube, at such ratios. You can always make a cheap tube from plywood.

Obviously, glass is the preferred material, but:
1) How to produce a cheap, large blank, or
2) How to produce a cheap blank from some alternative material.

Aye, there's the rub.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Russell Jocoy<mailto:russjocoy@hotmail.com> 
  To: atm@atmlist.net<mailto:atm@atmlist.net> 
  Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2005 7:18 PM
  Subject: [ATM] A new Challange



     To All,
                   The idea of of low cost blank is right down my alley..  
  Let's get real, The main
  ingredient for a surface to reflect light is GLASS.. whether it be low 
  expansion, no expansion,
  or high expansion.  Ceramic breeds are also options. Just remember the more 
  exotic the material
  the higher the cost.
          I am willing to sell 24" and 30" disk's of plate glass for rock 
  bottom prices... BUT....they
  are only 3/4 inches thick.. Knock yourself out, no glues, no resin, no 
  lamination will cure this
  glass monster to make it thicker. You can fuse, but you will add cost to 
  anneal it back to where
  it was.  You want a 24" or a 30" mirror for low cost? Design a support to 
  grind, and polish this
  thin glass through it's process and then a mirror support that will give it 
  the least stress as possible.
  The thick glass will not get any cheaper..
       As Mel Bartels also said the primary mirror is only the beggining.. the 
  larger the mirror the more
  all the other support materials will cost, and if you don't know the rest,  
  grind a nice 8 or 10....
               24" and  30" by 3/4" plate glass mirrors should only be 
  attempted by the insane..
  please make me eat my words..any of you crazy glass digger's...
                                             Russ Jocoy
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