Telescope Making

Telescope Making is at the core of Stellafane (after all we are The Springfield Telescope Makers and Stellafane is the "Birthplace of Amateur Telescope Making").  From our founding in 1923, our bylaws have specified that full members of our club must have made a telescope mirror. We care deeply about preserving this legacy, promoting this aspect of the hobby, and assisting those that undertake to make their own telescopes.

When you see ATM on our web pages we are talking about Amateur Telescope Making,
not Automatic Teller Machines!

Pyrex blanks ready to made into mirrors.	Mirror Making Guide Our on-line directions for Mirror Making, Tester Construction and related topics are very popular. If you want to find out how to make your own telescope mirror, read this. Also in this section you will find a comprehensive book list, a list of telescope parts vendors, and various on-line calculators to help you design and compare telescope designs, and calculate key items needed when making your mirror.
Rough Grinding in Mirror Class	Mirror Making Classes We have offered mirror making classes annually since 1995 in Springfield, Vermont, and have helped many people complete their mirrors with guidance from our expert instructors. Registration is required, please sign up early, as we have had many full classes and unfortunately have had to turn some people away. We also maintain a list of Other Mirror Making Classes if Stellafane is not in your geographic area.
One of Joe Castoro's many telescopes in the 'Scope Gallery	Homemade Telescope Gallery Telescope Makers love to look at other people's creations and use the good ideas in their own 'scopes. Our Homemade Telescope Gallery allows you to show off your own scope, or look over what other ATM's have built. If you would like to do this in person looking at real telescopes, there is no where better to do this then at the annual Stellafane Convention...
Homemade Telescopes on display on Breezy Hill at the Stellafane Convention.	Stellafane Convention Many activities at the annual convention are oriented towards Amateur Telescope Makers: Mirror Making and Telescope Making demonstrations, Technical Talks, encouragement to Display Home Made Telescopes on Breezy Hill, and Mechanical and Optical Competitions for home made telescopes. The Stellafane Convention is big enough to have it's own topic area on our web site, click the link above to go there. We have photos and in many cases videos of all the home made telescopes entered into the mechanical competition from conventions going back to 2000 in this section. This is another good place to browse for ideas and to see what is possible in making your own telescope.