[ATM] a couple of comments for begginers.

["John Moore" <jamooretx@web.com>]

Hi All,

well, its been awhile since my last psosting,,but I feel Ive got
to chime-in to give a few pointers, and encouragement for "beginners".

first-off, I dont claim to be an expert, I wont go on,and on about
how many mirrors Ive made, and how good they are,,
I will let my typing speak for itself,,the old-timers like-me will
recognise a good-tip, when they see-it,,[Im 49],
and have been building scopes since I was 12,

Tips;
1.YES!, you can build a mirror your first-time out, that will
be "Beyond Reprouch"!!,, dont let anyone tell you differant!!
it doesnt take years of experience to make a great-mirror!!,
so,, what does it take you ask??
   A:Patience!,especially during the figuring-stage!, after a great-polish!,
you are 95% finished!,,,BUT!,, the last 5% is going to take patience, and 
alot of "paying attention to your technique"!!->[room temp,,humidity,pitch-hardness,
figure-SLOWLY!!, Test-OFTEN!!,, you must spend that last 5% VERY_SLOWLY,AND CAREFULLY!!,
"sneak-up" on that "Elusive paraboloid", use your head!!, THINK! before you act!,,
read all you can!!,,that Last 5% is truthful,,but a misnomer,,that last 5% can take as-much time as
"polishing-time" in-hours-spent.[sometimes!]
Good-tip-> take a few days-off after you finish polishing!!,, that way you can come-back to the task-at hand
with a "Slower-state-of-mind", because if you stay in the same stae-of mind as Polishing,, you will work 
TOO-FAST!, and hard!, and end up with a turned-edge!, or worse!
Hers a tool I use, Ive never heard beeing used before;
on days of low-humidity, I used a "Humidifier" in my shop,,and it worked-GREAT!!, to help keep-my
Lap from "drying-out"!!, try-it, youll like-it!!
DONT! use more than "the slight-pressure of your hands" to figure!!,,remember, you are removing a 
"very-slight" fraction, of  a piece-of the glass, slight-Hand pressure alone[along with the weight of the glass] 
will give it to-you!,
I promise!! 

Biggest tip of all!;
refer to this list Often!!,, these guys will help you to finish your "mirror", and will save
you Lots of time!!,,but rememner,,There are Lots of ways to finish a mirror!, and some of these guys have differant
"shop-techniques", thats just the-way they Learned how to do-it!,,and there all Right!!,,
that sounds weird to you now,, but after a couple of mirrors,,you'll know what I mean!!

So, HANG-IN THERE!!, and dont give-up,,YOU CAN DO-IT!!,, and the first-time too!!!

good-luck.
John Moore.
 

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