Re: [ATM] Best books on mirror making

["Mel Bartels" <mbartels@bbastrodesigns.com>]

>> Star testing, even with Ronchi, only reveals subjectively how good or bad
>> the finished product is.  Precision figuring of a mirror needs more
>> quantitative information to proceed efficiently.

I've generally found this not to be true for me.  I don't really care if the 
high zone is '3.2' or '3.5' high: it needs to be taken down.  'Subjective' 
means such as star tests often reveal these issues more clearly than 
quantative testing.

> I'm a bit sceptical about making a 12-16 inch mirror as first attempt,
> in spite of your "aperature (sic!) fever". Try an 8" to get used to the
> technique.

My first mirror was a 24 inch.  At about the same time I did a 16 inch.  It 
was a lot of fun and I'm glad I started with the larger size that I was 
really interested in.  I see it as a game of plusses and minuses.  If you 
start with a large mirror, you can negate the negatives with a mentor and 
with purposeful study of all sources ahead of time.  Other than learning how 
to make large pitch laps in a few seconds which does take practice, there's 
little cause to make drastic mistakes in mirror making, even on the first 
attempt.  I don't buy into this idea that people are helpless to avoid 
mistakes on their first mirror.

Mel Bartels 

_______________________________________________
ATM mailing list http://www.atmlist.net/