Tom, as Cly said, there's mirrors availabe on a number of places. EBay, Astromart, and Astronomy-Mall all have optics for sale. If you're a bit of a handyman, then the grinding of a mirror really isn't a hard chore, just takes a while. Get the big mirror already made and make a 6" or so long FL as a guide scope or a much short FL for a finder scope for the main scope by grinding the mirror and you will have the best of both worlds. If you don't finish the small mirror for various reasons then you don't lose out on looking at the sky - you just don't have that particular scope to play with. I think that you will find that making a mirror is a good means of stress relief when the world is crashing down around you. The mindless motions allow for the mind to relax and think about the problems of the day. You might also want to look at the article that I have been writing on glass grinding at my website www.access1.net/bobmay as one place to see what's involved. I have been working with the San Diego AA group in thier mirror making group and they have had a number of nice mirrors made in the time that I have been there.