2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class
Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17

Winter Quarters

Move it and they will come! We have moved off Breezy Hill to our winter quarters in Fletcher House in Chester. We put a lot of energy into moving our stuff and setting up, but the result was a full house with lots of energetic and enthusiastic students. Everyone made good progress and we all had a great time.

2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Winter Quarters Moving out of the McGregor, the test tunnel was loaded into Ray's truck.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Winter Quarters Ready for class, with tarps spread and stations set up in the Fletcher House.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Winter Quarters Refresments! Sustenance to keep mirror makers full of energy.
2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Winter Quarters A Solar Scope provides a little observing opportunity too!	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Winter Quarters A Full House, and even more folks showed up a little bit later - we were bustin' out at the seams!	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Winter Quarters Another view of the activity in the busy room.

No Pitch Pouring Inside

We can't afford to risk damage or odors indoors from making pitch laps, so we do this activity outside, on the deck or in the parking lot. Fortunately it was pretty warm this day, over 40, which is nice for Vermont in January! Jeff and Rick both did lap work outside, and of course some instructors where there to help out.

2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 No Pitch Pouring Inside Jeff P melts Pitch on the portable pitch station on the deck.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 No Pitch Pouring Inside Ray stirs the pitch while Carl keeps an eye on this operation. Short sleeves mean warm temperatures.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 No Pitch Pouring Inside Tailgate Channeling: Jeff channels an old lap.
2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 No Pitch Pouring Inside Jeff P channels his new lap, the tailgate making a nice workbench.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 No Pitch Pouring Inside Jeff P's half channeled lap is almost ready.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 No Pitch Pouring Inside Rick re-channels his used lap, working on the railing of the back deck.

The Grinders

About half the class is grinding, most are fine grinding. Plenty of energy went into moving this phase along at this class.

2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Grinders John & Nicholas working on the same bench.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Grinders Checking Sagitta: John checks Nicholas' depth of curve.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Grinders Leonard at work, he is grinding on a Dick parker style 'barrel'.
2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Grinders Ray & Leonard, Dave looks like he is going to get involved also.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Grinders Zhenya & Nancy are both grinding on Stellafane half-benches.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Grinders Ray helps Nancy check her sagitta; Cecelia and Peter in the background.
2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Grinders Kate spreads grit. She baked some excellent brownies for the class, thank you!	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Grinders Ken his helping Kate with a sagitta measurement.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Grinders Cecelia & Peter are both fine grinding.
2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Grinders Phil is showing Randy how to deepen the center, and Cecelia is taking a peek from her bench since she needs to do the same thing.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Grinders Randy is a blur of motion as he grinds his glass.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Grinders He's almost done with grinding, working on with the micron-sized abrasives right now. In the background, Glenn is pointing out something to Leonard.

The Polishers & Figurers

We had seven students polishing and/or figuring today, at the far end of the room by the tester.

2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Polishers & Figurers Rick applies Cerium Oxide, he worked down in the lobby, where there was a bit more elbow room.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Polishers & Figurers Rick is pressing a center mask into his lap, lowering the lap center so it will only work on the edges.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Polishers & Figurers Samantha & Tatiana are at the two ends of the size spectrum, Samantha is working on a 10-inch, while Tatiana works a 4-inch.
2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Polishers & Figurers Fran & Mike Figure, while Carl is chatting with them as they work.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Polishers & Figurers Mike's Parabolizing Stroke: This is the starting point, with the mirror center over the edge of the lap.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Polishers & Figurers Jay demonstrates a figuring stroke on Mike's mirror.
2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Polishers & Figurers Jeff at work. In the background, blurry Carl, Claudio is watching the football game as he works, and Rob.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Polishers & Figurers Tatiana concentrates.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 The Polishers & Figurers 'Uncle' Dave & Tatiana by the test tunnel.

Warm Pressing

The folks who are polishing and figuring need to warm press their laps to maintain good contract. We use a heat lamp to warm up the laps and mirrors prior to warm pressing.

2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Warm Pressing Yup, that's Glenn, warming his lap as only he can!

2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Warm Pressing Samantha is using a chair to hold the heat lamp.

2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Warm Pressing Jeff is warming his mirror with the lap ready to warm next.

Testing

This year we brought the big test tunnel down to Fletcher House along with the video system, which really helps all interested students see the shadowgrams and discuss them.

2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Testing Dave sets up a mirror for testing in the tunnel, which helps keep air currents under control in a crowded room and provides darkness.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Testing An 8-inch mirror on the test stand in the tunnel.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Testing Dave is testing a mirror, adjusting the knife edge position to the proper focal length.
2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Testing Dave & Fran are discussing test results, looks like they are sizing a central hole with their fingers.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Testing Phil looks at a near perfect parabola on the monitor.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Testing Dick is making a point about the shadowgram on the monitor, which is hidden behind Phil's head.

Class Business & Social Time

Throughout the day there is plenty of time for members to socialize on quick breaks, and some amount of class business gets done too. The bar off the kitchen and lobby is a favorite place to hang out and chat.

2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Class Business & Social Time Gary & Kim chat at the bar.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Class Business & Social Time Gary & Ken with their coffees close at hand.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Class Business & Social Time Gary, Kim & Ray enjoy some social time at the bar.
2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Class Business & Social Time Supreme Leader Jay is thrilled with the excelent turnout!		2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Class Business & Social Time Ken & Carl discuss turning that bar stock into more sagitta gauges.
2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Class Business & Social Time Carl & Jay (with the leaders clipboard in hand) checks on something for Carl.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Class Business & Social Time Dick, Jay & Ken talking about Spectrohelioscopes.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Class Business & Social Time Dave, Gwen & Dave. Gwen is editor of The Message of the Week, a local weekly, and was there to get a story for an upcoming edition.

Refractor Interest Group

Some members have started up a Refractor Interest Group and they are working on building achromatic refractors.

2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Refractor Interest Group Dick with his refractor, which is housed in a polished aluminum irrigation pipe.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Refractor Interest Group Close up of the Objective and Lens Cell.	2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Refractor Interest Group Lens Designers: Dick, Rick and Paul work on the design of Rick's achromat using the OSLO Edu software.
2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Refractor Interest Group Rick works by himself optimizing his lens design.		2009-10 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 4 held on 2010-Jan-17 Refractor Interest Group Jay bevels, not a mirror blank, it's a refractor objective. He has some K5, the crown element.

Closing Thoughts

Wow, all the instructors felt this one one of the best session ever! What a great class, what good progress and what great fun we all had, making mirror and enjoying each other's company. Can't wait for next month...