Newport Glass Works (around Newport Beach, CA) has some refractor kits available. You grind and polish the glass to the correct curvature, test the curves and finally, make a lens cell for them. The kits come with the basic curves already cut into the blanks and all you do is finish the lenses with instructions supplied. You will learn how to measure to a fraction of a wavelength of light with, what to you, seems very primitive equipment and to make surfaces with even more primitive techniques. You can be the compleat machinist with the knowledge to make surfaces to better finishes than your friends in the business do. On the other hand, you can go to D&G Optics and get one of thier lenses and enjoy making the mount and tube parts for it. Suggest that you beg your friend to bring over his old astronomy type magazines and peruse the ads for those things. On the WWW, there's Apogee, Surplus Shed and others for used/surplus equipment. There's also other places that sell refractor and reflector kits. Have fun with this hobby, not only do you get to have fun with making things, but in using them to see interesting things in the sky.

• Re: Looking to purchase a 3-5" dia. refractor lens... - Josh_Miller/">Josh Miller - May 21, 1999 - 06:23 UTC