..
>
>I have also spend much time encouraging isolated amateurs to grind their own
>mirrors. These amateurs receive little encourage from their local clubs.
>Having a group like this ATM and access to online services can serve as an
>excellent vehicle to reach these single amateurs and help them onward.
>
>I love it everytime I see a message ala, "Darn it! You got me all inspired
>to finish that mirror sitting in the garage for the past 6 years!".
>
>I know that I am preaching to the converted, nonetheless, it is a warm
>feeling to know, via this list, that others still build, grind and preach to
>the unconverted too.
>
>Mel Bartels
Well, it's been a pleasure for _this_ amateur to find this group. I'm thinking of picking up again twenty five years (has it really been that long??) after I stopped in the middle of polishing a blank that my father got from a guy at work. That guy's father-in-law had stopped 20 years before that, so I've got a 7.5" pyrex blank downstairs that was started almost 50 years ago! I got it barely touched, so I rough & fine ground, but had troubles making the lap on my own. I was a sophomore in high schooll and didn't even consider that there were other people out there doing the same thing. I learned later that there was a _very_ active ATM group in Pittsburgh, but I didn't know about it.
So now, being hopefully wiser, I pose this question: are there any organized or disorganized groups of ATMs in the Washington/Baltimore area?
I'll bet I'm not alone in wondering who in their local area can help, so it'd be great to see postings from anyone out there belonging to a group (e.g. Mark V at Chabot) as to who to call or where to find a meeting. Are there postings or www pages with this info?
Tom Dugan dugan@mnsinc.com College Park, MD