2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class
Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04

Winter at the Fletcher House

We have moved our mirror class to the Fletcher House conference center in Chester, VT for the winter. It is plowed, has running water, flush toilets, heat and plenty of space - luxury winter accommodations!

2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Winter at the Fletcher House Early Saturday morning, the conference room is converted to a mirror lab. Fran arrived early as Carl and Dave worked on finishing the setup.

2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Winter at the Fletcher House The first set of students arrive and begin to work. The heat lamp for warm pressing glows at center rear.

2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Winter at the Fletcher House The room begins to fill, although more students are still to arrive. But the noise level is up, voices and squeaks from laps fill the air!

Completions

We always like to highlight completions, and Dave B finished up in record time using only one hand today!

2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Completions With Dave K standing by his side, Dave B proudly holds his completed mirror. He started grinding in October, and finished up in 3 sessions.

2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Completions Dave had surgery on his right arm, but that did not slow him down. He only used his left arm to make this 8" mirror. Deb stands by while he presses his lap and mirror before finishing it this day.

2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Completions Zhenya, who finished up last session, show of his mirror coating certificate from Optic Wave Labs while proud father Carl glows on the right.

Mirror Makers at Work

Here we have photos of most of our mirror makers at work. Everyone here is polishing or figuring.

2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Mirror Makers at Work Orla works away in the foreground, while Cody & Orla get set up on the next bench. Rick is polishing in the background, and instructor Ray is holding a spray bottle on the right.	2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Mirror Makers at Work Fran has drawn a circle on the back of his mirror to help him maintain constant stroke lengths.	2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Mirror Makers at Work Michael looks on as Ray does a polish test with a laser for him.
2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Mirror Makers at Work Carl is carefully cleaning Tatyana's mirror prior to testing.	2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Mirror Makers at Work Tatyana polished her 4¼ inch mirror.	2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Mirror Makers at Work Jean enjoys a laugh as she chats with people as she works to polish a stubborn edge.
2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Mirror Makers at Work Francis polishes one of the three 12" flats he is working on.	2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Mirror Makers at Work Ryan & Dan drove in from the Syracuse, NY area to attend class.	2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Mirror Makers at Work Katie and David work on benches on the south side of the room.

Polishing Lecture

Ray delivers the polishing lecture to an attentive audience.

2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Polishing Lecture Ray illustrate a point about polishing as he reviews the steps and techniques used in this stage.

2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Polishing Lecture Ray listens as Dave K makes a point and Orla takes notes. This is the very comfortable Fletcher House living room, a nice place for lectures.

2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Polishing Lecture There are another half-dozen students sitting off camera at right front, and Ray listens to a question from one of them.

Nice, Compact Tester

This compact tester was built by Alan Wildgoose and is on loan to Orla, who brought it to class.

2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Nice, Compact Tester Good view of the compact X-Y stage, and adhesive magnet which holds the razor blade.

2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Nice, Compact Tester Cody take a look thru the tester. Erin, Orla & Rick wait their turn.

2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Nice, Compact Tester Using magnetic attachment for the knife edge allows it to easily flipped to the side you prefer. For storage and transport, it can be moved so it does not project above the top of the wood.

Pitch Dungeon

Jay banished himself to the 'Pitch Dungeon' (basement) where he made and repair pitch laps for students.

2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Pitch Dungeon Rick, Orla, Cody, Erin & Jay chat while a batch of pitch melts in the toaster oven.	2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Pitch Dungeon Jay pours pitch into a lap mat resting on the mirror while Erin waits to press the plaster disk substrate onto the melted pitch.	2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Pitch Dungeon Cody blows on the warm pitch trying to speed its hardening. Too bad, it still took about 20 minutes to harden up.
2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Pitch Dungeon Michael broke a couple of facets while channeling, and he brought it down to have some replacement pitch poured in.	2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Pitch Dungeon Here is how a new lap looks right after it comes out of the mold.	2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Pitch Dungeon Using a razor blade and a pair of pliers for a mallet, Rick chips away at pitch facets that are hanging over the edge of his substrate.

Grinding a 24-Inch

Josh brought his 24" mirror to continue grinding it. At 80 pounds, it's quite a mirror to lug around.

2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Grinding a 24-Inch Josh made a metal stand and uses a rubber mat to support the 24 inch mirror while he grinds it.

2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Grinding a 24-Inch Jack & Rick talk to Josh, who has his hand on the 18" tile tool.

2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 Grinding a 24-Inch Dave K gestures as he talks about grinding a mirror that size. Instructor Phil, on the right, is advising Josh on this project.

People & Things

Mirror Class is also a social event, and many club members hang out and talk during class.

2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 People & Things Dave S & Deb talked on the couch in the lobby.	2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 People & Things Ken always wears a Santa Hat to December mirror class.	2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 People & Things Gerry & Don socialize at the bar.
2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 People & Things Rick & Don talk about making refractors in the conference center.	2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 People & Things Cecilia & Erin relax in the lobby.	2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 People & Things Jay brought this 16 power US Navy 1942 Spyglass for all to enjoy.
2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 People & Things Rick works on labeling his achromatic lens elements, tools and flats - 9 pieces of glass in all.	2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 People & Things Francis, Jay & Ray talk in the kitchen.	2010-11 Stellafane Mirror Class Session 3 held on 2010-Dec-04 People & Things Phil reviews a document at the bar and discusses it with Don. Dave K, Gerry and Erin chat at the rear.