It's not as good as that :-( When I started my project, I considered grinding my own mirror, provided the cost was 1/2 or less of what I considered a comperable commercial mirror. My reasoning was that I needed to be able to justify tossing my first attempt at grinding - if it worked, great; if not, I would be able to start over and not waste money. However, pricing mirror kits from Willmann-Bell (maybe not the best place to get a kit, I'm not sure), the kits came in at about 65-70% of the cost an Orion mirror. And that doesn't include aluminizing and coating. BTW, I am using a mirror in the 6 or 8 inch range as comparison.
> I won't even go into the quality issue... :)
Well, thats the other thing. Can I grind a mirror that the same quality as an Orion on my first (or second) try? Keeping in mind that I know no one to ask for advice (except the list) and would be jumping in blind? Plus the fact that I can keep sending the Orion mirrors back until I get one I'm satisifed with. I grind it, I keep it :-).
Now, maybe some will say that there is a 99% chance that, if patient enough, I will be able to grind a mirror superior to anything I would be able to get from Orion. Maybe not a "quality" optical shop, but better than a "mass maker". But, how long until I get so bored or frustrated correcting the little flaws until I put it in a box and say to hell with it (then being down $70 with no mirror).
These are just all things I considered when deciding which components to buy and which to make in my project, and why I've decided to buy my primary rather than grind it.
-A very budget minded ATM
Tim
-- tim harincar harincar@internet.mdms.com