Mirror Making

Mirror Making - A Pupular Sport

Making your own high-precision telescope mirrors for astronomy? With your own hands? Accurate to ten-thousandths of a millimeter? When I searched for like minded individuals more than 30 years ago, I only encountered a few eccentrics. The prevailing opinion at the time was, that grinding mirrors yourself was a thing of the past and not worth the effort anymore, since commercially available optics were so inexpensive. And today? With the market flooded with affordable yet quite usable optics from the Far East, it's even less worthwhile, and yet the mirror making scene is still booming. At telescope meetings homemade mirrors are springing up like mushrooms; hardly a week goes by without someone announcing their "first light" in the astronomy forums. Mirror making communities are forming everywhere for exchanging experiences – even people who seemingly have absolutely no time or access to the subject get fascinated my the matter and potentially end up with abrassive grit in the finger nails.

Why is mirror grinding and telescope building worthwhile? You tell me! I can't and don't want to answer that question anymore. Rather, with these pages, I want to contribute to spreading the glass pushing bug, which I myself be infected forever anyhow. Some of my techniques will be presented, along with tips and tricks on how to achieve good results effectively, and how to avoid mistakes. This doesn't mean, that everyone has to do it this way; there are many different methods that lead to the same goal, and ultimately, everyone has to develop their own.

The impression should not be given that a first class mirror, regardless of size, can be made in a weekend, and that the professionals are simply trying to rip you off with their high prices. Anyone who has ever made a really good telescope mirror themselves knows that it requires time, patience, and dedication, and that the price for good, professionally manufactured optics is absolutely justified.

Anyone who has finally looked through their self built telescope for the first time with shining eyes has learned a lot about optics, its performance in the sky and ultimately about themselves and the universe - for them, the question of "is it worth it" takes on a completely different, far reaching meaning.

Tips and tricks on the way to your own mirror.
Typical mistakes and how to avoid them.
Foucault tester examples.
The video of the ITV mirror grinding workshop 2003.
Ordering materials everything you need from one source.
ITV workshop impressions and pictures 2002 and 2003.
Munich mirror making and telescope making group: Aims, content, and visual impressions.

Links to mirror making

To my ATM pages and further tips to large thin mirror making

The German ATM forum in Astrotreff holds tons of reports and discussions around mirror making and telescope building. The english speakng comunity refers to Cloudy Nights ATM and optics forum.

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