Stellafane 2007-08 Mirror Class
Announcements
This class has finished. To sign up for a Mirror
Class, see the pink box on the Mirror Class
Main Page.
We expect the next class to start in October 2008.
Schedule & Class Pictures
| Schedule Including brief notes about the session |
Class Pictures Click Image for Photo Album |
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1: Saturday, October 13, 2007:
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X1: Saturday, October 27, 2007
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No Photos |
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2: Saturday, November 10, 2007:
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X2: Saturday, November 17, 2007
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3: Saturday, December 08, 2007:
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4: Sunday, January 06, 2008:
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5: Saturday, February 9, 2008
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X4: Saturday, February 23, 2008
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No Photos |
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6: Saturday, March 8, 2008:
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7: Saturday, April 5 2008:
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Mirror Status
Here is a report on what our participants are making, and at what stage they are at:
| Mirror Maker *Club Member |
Mirror Size/Type |
Focal Ratio |
Mirror Status |
Status Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernie | 8" | 5 | Done! | 04/08 |
| Carl | 8" | 6 | Polish | 04/08 |
| Cherie* | 6" | 8 | Rough | 12/07 |
| Cheryl* | 6" | 8 | #220 | 12/07 |
| Dixie | 8" | 6.0 | #120 | 11/07 |
| Don | 6" | #120 | 02/08 | |
| Fran | 12.5" Cass | 3.94 | Done! | 02/08 |
| Glenn* | 6" | 5 | Polish | 04/08 |
| Isaac | 6" | 10.9 | Figure | 02/08 |
| Jeremy | 6" | 4.2 | Figure | 02/08 |
| Jim* | 8" | 6.0 | Polish | 04/08 |
| Julie | 4" | 6 | Figure | 04/08 |
| Kim* | 8" | #220 | 04/08 | |
| Kirsten | 8" | #120 | 04/08 | |
| Louis | 4.25" | 6 | Polish | 04/08 |
| Meagan | 6" | 8 | Rough | 12/07 |
| Ray* | 6" | 8 | Rough | 10/07 |
| Rick | 8" | 7 | 40u | 01/08 |
| Rif* | 10" | 5 | Figure | 04/08 |
| Samantha* | 10" | Rough | 04/08 | |
| Scott | 6" | 5 | Done! | 02/08 |
| 21 Mirror Makers | 21 Mirrors | 3 Done | ||
Instructors
Thanks to our large group of volunteer instructors, we can hold these mirror class and give everyone the individualized attention they require. Several of our instructors work professionally in the optics industry, and many have competed dozens or mirrors and more complicated optics as amateurs.
Officers, Trustees and Full Members of the club have had to successfully made a mirror or other quality optical surface.
 Mirror Class Leader, Full Member Eats #80 Grit for a Snack! |
 Full Member Explaining a Polishing Stroke |
 Full Member Making Mirror Kits |
 Full Member Uncrating a 16" Blank in the Bunkhouse |
 Full Member Using the Foucault Tester |
 Full Member Demonstrates Polishing Techniques |
 Vice President Mechanical Judging at Convention |
 Truestee Assembling the Domed Observatory |
 Full Member Making Pitch Laps at the 2001 Convention |
 Trustee and Webmaster Explaining Foucault Testing |
 Associate Member Making a Pitch Lap in the 2006-07 Class |
 2007 Mechanical & Optical Winner At the 2007 Convention |
 Full Member At the 2006 Stellafane Convention |
 Immediate Past President Explaining Telescope Construction |
 Secretary Assembling his telescope, 2006 Convention |
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Final Report
Got Grit? 2007-2008 was a fun and productive mirror class season at Stellafane! We had lots of new and returning mirror makers. Many of the sessions were defined by the interesting ATM projects being done by the Springfield Telescope Makers themselves.
Completed Mirrors: Student Fran E. finished his 12½" fast Cassegrain mirror. After a long battle with turned down edge all his hard work paid off with a seriously beautiful parabola. Fran is already working on his secondary optic in the Greater Hartford Astro Society mirror workshop at Dick Parker's house in Connecticut.
Scott S. refigured a 6" parabola from one of the large commercial manufacturers. This mirror was actually pretty good, a bit undercorrected to begin with but quite usable. When it was finished over two mirror class sessions, the figure was diffraction limited. Scott removed the original aluminum coating the easy way, simply polishing it off with his pitch lap and cerium oxide. It came off smoothly in 5 or 10 minutes of polishing and the figuring got started immediately.
Bernie K. from the ATMoB group was a very meticulous mirror maker who kept super accurate records of his Foucault readings and the different strokes he employed to figure his mirror. He did 99% of the figuring at home using Couder Mask readings and Figure XP. He put the final touches on his mirror here in class using Dave Kelly's autocollimator and it was pronounced at least 1/16th wave. Needless to say, Bernie was quite happy with the results of his long labor.
Member Projects: Many Stellafane members were involved in making mirrors as well. We informally counted 15 mirror projects going on by club members, including large mirrors and compound telescopes. Additionally, lifelong member Paul Valleli organized an Advanced Telescope Making class that is *focusing* on building refractors. Two meetings were held to discuss achromat lens design and fabrication. Actual lens grinding should begin over the summer and the Refractor Class itself will resume in the fall.
Facilities this year were a bit unique. Mirror class started off last fall with gorgeous autumn weather and well attended classes held in the beautiful outdoors. Then we had a real New England winter. There was record snowfall in Vermont this year and our beloved Breezy Hill site soon became inaccessible. Luckily, through the generosity of our site manager John Martin's company, NewsBank, we were able to continue mirror class "down the hill" in Chester VT at a wonderful facility called Fletcher House. If it weren't for the Fletcher House, we probably would have canceled all mirror classes after December. Thank you John and NewsBank!
Thank You's and Appreciation: Thanks are also due to the dedicated STM members and friends of Stellafane who give so much time and talent to make the mirror class happen. Among the many who contribute, special props go out to Tom Gorka, Dave Kelly, Ken Slater, Wayne Hilliard, Jeff Lowe, Dave Tabor, Samantha Tabor, Paul Valleli, John Martin, Phil Rounesville, Dave Prowten, Rick Hunter, Bill Chen, and Scott Sulham.
Future Plans: Next winter we will be holding mirror class at our alternate site just south of Tucson, Arizona ;)
Amateur telescope making is alive and well at Stellafane. We are already making plans to continue the tradition next fall. See you on Breezy Hill!
Jay Drew, Stellafane Mirror Class Instructor
Attendance Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar April Students 17 13 9 8 12 4 15 Instructors 13 11 10 7 8 7 11