RE: [ATM] First optical components coated in new 25" box coater :)

["Thomas" <tomjan@ozemail.com.au>]

James, just about to go down this road myself, wouldn't mind having the
opportunity to pick your mind;)

What do you say?

Clear skies,
Thomas Janstrom
http://www.tjanstrom.com
http://www.norsewines.com.au
"Your nobody untill you've been ignored by your seventh cranio-facial
nerve."


-----Original Message-----
From: atm-bounces@atmlist.net [mailto:atm-bounces@atmlist.net] On Behalf
Of James Lerch
Sent: Saturday, 31 January 2004 4:08 PM
To: VacuumX@yahoogroups.com; atm_free@yahoogroups.com; ATM
Cc: NastyDeadMen@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ATM] First optical components coated in new 25" box coater :)


Greetings All,

Well it took nearly 6 months to fabricate, nearly 160 hours of labor,
and cost a little over $250 (not including pumping station) but the new
vacuum chamber coated its first optics today :)))

Here's a link to some images:
http://lerch.no-ip.com/atm/Projects/Chamber/First_Coating/page_01.htm

Ron Jones (in the green shirt) is the owner of the 22" optic being
coated, and a major force in getting the chamber up and running.  (And
yes, that is a 3/4" thick optic!)

Everything worked pretty much as planned, however I do need to give some
serious attention to fabricating proper optical mounting (The images
show are ad-hock implementation).

I also made an upgrade to the pumping station, adding a second rough
pump in parallel to the first one.  The addition of the second rough
pump cut the cycle time from 1 1/2 hours down to a little over 25
minutes!

All in all, it was a GREAT DAY :)

Take Care,
James Lerch
http://lerch.no-ip.com/atm (My telescope construction,testing, and
coating site)

"Anything that can happen, will happen" -Stephen Pollock from: "Particle
Physics for Non-Physicists: A Tour of the Microcosmos"

" Press on: nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with
talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence
and determination alone are omnipotent. "
                                                           Calvin
Coolidge

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