[ATM] weight, was RE: Thin glass and cost

["bbastro1" <mbartels@bbastrodesigns.com>]

I suppose people think first of the cost of the blank.  It's an important
consideration.  However, I look at the weight.  The largest thin mirror that
I've done by hand is 30 inch diameter x 1 5/8 inch thick (f/4).  It weighed
85 pounds, the most that I could safely lift and gently place on the tool.
A full thickness mirror would take four people to lift safety - who's going
to get that kind of help day after day?

And the difficulty and increased expense of aluminizing such a beast?

Then there's the issue of making the scope transportable.  One has to at
least be able to push around the mirror box sitting in the rocker box on
wheels.  Hundreds and hundreds of pounds is simply not movable.

The weight really matters!

Mel Bartels

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