[ATM] Silicone Failure - Stop it

["Cary Chleborad" <Cary@Chleborads.com>]

> > >He would never have used such a "faddish" material to mount mirrors. He
> > >might have used it to make lap molds.

I think promoting this type of mentality is irresponsible.  Silicone or
other polymer adhesives can produce excellent results; I'll even go so far
as to say that in the right application superior to other methods.

We used a urethane polymer to glue the mirrors in place on the 32" scope for
Tenagra Observatories (www.tenagraobservatories.com) and the system has
lived up to all expectations.  The secondary mirror hangs over the primary
purely by the adhesive with no "safety" clips.  It works; it has worked and
continues to work: 6 years in the field now and not a hint of any failure
issues.  The scope is sited in the Sonoran Desert and sees the worst of
environmental extremes - no problem.

Like anything one must learn to use and exploit the properties of the
materials at hand for maximum benefit to be achieved.  Even a good ole'
manual lathe....

If one simply expects to pick up a tool and use it to its maximum potential
without any learning curve or prior experience, they are living in a fantasy
world.

Learn your craft, learn the tools of your craft, master the materials of
your craft and you will achieve great things, even perfection.


Nuff said....

On a more practical note... anyone have any formula stashed for computation
of annealing rates of a given material??


-Cary

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