Re: [ATM] Re: Annealling and airplanes and killer asteroids-

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

I don't know, James.

But what I suspect is this: it is the same as with airplanes. Airplanes are
built to last forever; that's why the United States' government chops up
billions of dollars' worth of airplanes regularly; an industry that builds
things that last forever cannot, itself, last forever. A telescope mirror is
almost forever- maybe the world has more telescope mirrors than it can right
now absorb. Maybe well annealed mirrors are begging for their new homes, and
so they are scarce, now, since annealers are finding out that the community
is flush with so many old ones, old ones that live infinitely long lives.

The professional astronomers want a mandate to produce a Kolossal quantity
of large telescope mirrors, for the world wide network to detect the "killer
asteroid" that is headed our way. No one takes them too seriously. Let them
all cry in their beer when it happens (neither you nor I will, in any
likelihood, be here when it does, which it will, inevitably).

Perhaps they should organize a world wide group of "amateurs" to look for
this killer asteroid, instead of buildng a bunch of eight metre
observatories, just as during World War two, they mobilized so many ATMs to
manufacture roof prisms. Now, they are so easy to make that the primitive
Marxist country, the great Republic of the Galaxy, knocks them out with ease
and in goodly quantitities.

Dave

P.S.- Maybe they will save us, also, in their quest to save themselves from
the "lurking" killer asteroid that our scientists say is looking for us.
After all, we do owe them some dough...(a little bit, some pocket change, I
read)...



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "James P Crombie" <jpcrombie@pei.eastlink.ca>
To: "atm list" <atm@atmlist.net>
Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2005 9:19 PM
Subject: [ATM] Re: Annealling


>
> When I was at the Delmarva Stargazers mirror seminar last year, Steve
> Swayze also inferred that it was getting to be hit or miss on getting
> good blanks reguardless of the source.   I don't know if this is a sign
> of belt tightening by shortcutting to reduce costs or just a lack of
> interest on the manufacturs part.  Maybe there is a market opportunity
> for someone to set up an annealling operation??  It is a pretty simple
> test to check for  strain, so why are these blanks coming out of these
> well established and supposedly professional companies?
>
> James Crombie
> http://www.jamescrombie.com
> _______________________________________________
> ATM mailing list http://www.atmlist.net/
>


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