08/25/2007 Pushing Some Glass

Astronomical events often happen over very long periods of time. In this case, there has been a 26-year period between two related actions.
Way back in the summer of 1981, I attended an astronomy & physics camp at the University of Iowa. It was a fantastic experience and on the last day of camp, we were given a kit containing a 6" pyrex mirror blank and related items. We spent a day in the lab learning about telescope mirrors and grinding away on the mirror, and I brought it home with me. (Apparently I also took a few moments to scribble a brief tribute to Led Zeppelin on the box). I had good intentions to continue the grinding, but alas the box went on the shelf.
Fast forward 26 years. Somehow that box managed to stay with me through various moves as I grew up, but it continued to remain in the exact same state as it was at the end of that hot summer day in the lab, July 29, 1981.
Now it's August 24, 2007, and the Huachuca Astronomy Club is hosting their monthly meeting in Sierra Vista, Arizona. I grabbed my box and joined Larry, Dean, and Adam for the drive down South to visit friends and hear Mr. Galaxy, Wayne Johnson, give a talk on telescope mirror making. Wayne had asked people in the club to bring along mirror making supplies if they had them, so I thought I'd bring the old blank out of retirement.
Wayne gave an outstanding talk on the tricks and traps of grinding, polishing, and figuring your own mirror. He used my mirror, along with a couple of others, to demonstrate some of the many unique aspects of the fine art of mirror making. The picture above shows Wayne explaining the "W grind" on my mirror blank as I watch. I'm proud to say that the glass behaved very well despite the poor treatment it has received over the past few decades. Perhaps it still believes what I wrote to conclude my lab report way back in 1981:
"There's still a lot of work to do on the grinding and polishing of my mirror. Then I'll have to get it aluminized, and build a 6" newtonian reflector with f/6".
I'm a bit less optimistic now about how quickly I'll complete the project than I was when I was a teenager. But after tonight's HAC meeting, I think perhaps someday I actually will make my 6" telescope, and maybe it won't be another 26 years before it's all done!