Mirror grinding and polishing isn't hard to do, just boring in some aspects and sometimes frustrating when the figure doesn't come in right away.
The initial grinding does take a while and the longer FL mirrors are shorter in this step as you don't remove as much glass.
Actually the best people for doing a mirror are those that are average in their attention to detail as those who are persnickity tend to obsess over the little details that don't really matter. Those who are lazy tend to go the other way and not take care of the cleanliness of the area and also tend to drop the glass which kind of terminates the grinding process.
You might want to stop by my website http://bobmay.astronomy.net for one mirror making article and you will also want to search for other ones on the web. Everybody says it a bit differently but when you sit down and look at the process, we are all saying the same basic things in different ways. One or more of the articles will make sense to you.
If you get a kit or even just a blank from Newport, get the flat one as the F8 will need to have the ROC made longer in order to get where you want the ROC to be. You may also want to get your kit from Willmann-Bell as their kit has two pieces of pyrex so you can make two scopes if you want to.
The 1800mm is a decent length although you may want to use that as a minimum length when you do your grinding if you want a decent planetary scope. You want to be able to get about 400 power without having to go to too short of a FL for the EP.

• 1800mm minimum, what would be best lenght? - mpinson - December 12, 2001 - 13:24 UTC
  • A compromise - walter - December 12, 2001 - 23:01 UTC
  • Wearing Glasses? Eyerelief!! - imacca - December 13, 2001 - 01:01 UTC
    • Re: Eye Relief - walter - December 13, 2001 - 12:46 UTC
  • 1800mm - bobmay - December 13, 2001 - 20:35 UTC