It’s getting late, so I won’t be writing much about ScopeX, beyond saying that it was an excellent day out, that I got a lot of great ideas for my own telescope, and that a more detailed report (with some badly organised pictures) will be posted tomorrow elsewhere on this website. For now, though, it’s been a long day and I’m off to get some of that beauty sleep I so obviously need.
Continue reading →Normally I would be taking my mirror in to the ATM class next weekend (7 May), but thanks to ScopeX, this won’t be happening. Since a lot of the volunteers running the class are also working as organisers at the ScopeX telescope and astronomy exhibition, I’m not even sure if there will be a class that day. Besides, my wife’s stork tea has been planned for that very morning. So I’ll be splitting my time between two important events: Go … Continue reading →
Last night I put in another hour with the #320 grit, smoothing away the pits and subsurface fracturing from the previous grit levels. It has not taken long to get to a nice spherical shape again, and after about 5 or 6 wets, I decided to prop up the mirror for one more rough optical test. Unfortunately, the new home has no garage, and it’s getting a bit chilly to work out on the balcony, so I’m doing my grinding … Continue reading →
I recently unpacked my mirror for the first time since moving house. I had been working it with #220 grit for what felt like an extremely long time, and was impatient to finish the stage. I ground a few wets, dried the mirror and inspected the surface with bright light and a magnifying glass. Result: Lots of pits, and no way to remember what had been there before. The time had come to try out a trick I recently read … Continue reading →
Last night I made time in my schedule to get in a bit of grinding. Not a lot to say, really, except that I spent about 20 minutes restoring a very thin bevel to the edge of mirror and tool – maybe 1mm, if you’re feeling generous. Time will tell if it’s generous enough, but I don’t want to sacrifice any more aperture than necessary!I then put in about an hour’s grinding with the #220 grit. Progress seemed to go … Continue reading →
