ATM Homemade mirror

["Bill Prewitt" <bprewitt@newreach.net>]

I've been building an 8" f6 dob for my son and just got my first homemade
mirror back from aluminizing.
We assembled it in a 48" quicktube with homemade cell, spider, and so on.

It's amazing how sweet the view is in this mirror compared to my
(purchased)12.5 f6.
The image doesn't break down on Mars or the moon till I get to over 500
power. Focus snaps in and out sharply,
and the star test looks almost the same in and outside of focus. (Slightly
brighter outer ring inside of focus)

I fumbled through over 50 figuring steps and overshot several times before
I learned how to tame zone 2 without 
trashing the edge, but the effort was really, really  worth it.

If anyone lurking here  is thinking about grinding their own mirror, I say
go for it. The difference is amazing.

Now I have to figure out what's wrong with my 12.5



Paltry first attempt at a home page:
http://www.newreach.net/people/bprewitt/www/index.html