[ATM] Re: best book to learn mirror making?

["Greg Jones" <gregj888@comcast.net>]

Justin.

There is an active ATM community in the Pacific NW and a couple of clubs in
Seattle.  A great ATM workshop is held at WWU most years that is worth going
to.  Check on the local clubs.  They will have hands on help and a library
so you can look at several of the books.

As stated earlier, you will get a 16" mirror done much sooner if you make a
smaller one first.  IMHO and 8" f/6 is a great first mirror if you have a
little bit of help available.  Once done, you'll be able to judge better
your next project.  We have had 10" and 12" first mirrors successfully
finished in  Portland through our ATM SIG, but there was a lot of
experienced help and hand holding (one went to the local pro for final
figuring).  If you get in with a club that may be an option.

Mirror making is mostly process: motions, movement, beveling, cleanliness,
contact et. al.  Very little math, or visible "science."  So rather than
calculus, it's more like working on a car, sewing or wood working.  That is
to say it takes practice as much or more than studying.  The little thing
are what get you and when you screw up, the glass breaks.  The small mirror
get the chips and dings instead of the large one.  We've all been there, so
nothing specific to you or anyone else.

I have most of the books mentioned.  I started with Thompson and like it and
Howard about as well as any for a first timer.

I have the original ATM 3 book set, chemical stains and all, would not be my
first choice.  The incantations are tough and where do you get eye-of-newt
these days...:-).  I like the set, but we have better materials available
and many suggestions are offered that don't stand up to scrutiny.  Still,
there are techniques to produce lots of optics/projects an ATM night be
interested in.  Has anyone tried smelting Al in their back yards?

As a point of reference, I found I had ground through to some bubbles in a
6" f/10 last Sunday.  On a small machine and with not much time, it has been
ground out, will be polished by tomorrow night and figured by next week end.
I've been working on a 20" f/3.5 for several years... granted with a lot of
time off.  My large machine is under powered, but the 20 mirror took about
110 hours of polishing where a 6" would take 4-6...  A 16" f/4 or f/5 is a
serious project and you'll need the 8" as a finder anyway:-).


Greg Jones
http://home.comcast.net/~dac20/dac_001.htm

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