revised Mar 11, 2012 Make Your Own Telescope Mirror Saturday mornings in January & February Cure that cabin fever with the company of other astronomy enthusiasts as you grind your own mirror. The workshop is held at my home in Tolland, CT and runs from 9am to noon during the months of January and February. Under the workshop concept you choose your own telescope mirror project and work on it at your own pace. This is not a class with a structured agenda and timetable. There is no cost for the workshop, however, you need to procure the necessary equipment and supplies on your own. The workshop provides workstations, a test bench for the autocollimation test, knife edge & Ronchi screen tests, a Hindle-sphere test bench, instructional videos showing various processes and tests, and me as mentor to guide you through with a real science approach and plenty of encouragement to complete your project so you will have a mirror you can be proud of. Take a look at the 2012 workshop pictures to get an idea of how it operates.   - Dick Parker Baffling the 12.5" Cassegrain Telescope I recently upgraded the baffling on my 12.5 inch f/20 Cassegrain and thought I would prepare some practical notes for your consideration. There is no new science here. The technology for baffling a Cassegrain is quite mature. But, the improvement to the image from good baffling, v.s. ill thought out or no baffling I found to be impressive, so I thought you might be interested. Although the telescope described in this article is a classical Cassegrain, the thoughts here apply to any type of Cassegrain arrangement. Read the full story... Autocollimation Test Instructional Video We're proud to announce our fourth instructional video to the colletion. This video dives farther into the autocollimation test. It is a superior test used by several amateur mirror making workshops including this one and has a long history of being used by professionals and amateurs alike. This video covers a brief history of the autocollimation test, discusses the minimum requirements of a flat, describes suggested features of a test bench, and reviews some of the avoidable pitfalls one can encounter in their attempts to use the test. Finally, it shows how the test can be used to test entire optical systems including optics already installed in a telescope. Get the new video... Workshop Instructional Videos This workshop provides a series of videos on mirror testing and mirror quality that are either used in the mirror workshop directly or are intended to be a suppliment to it. They are derived from a series of presentations I gave at the Stellafane telescope makers convention over the period of a few years. They are freely available for you to view. For those of you who have attended the workshop before, you might recognize them, but they have been completely improved and remade. I can guarantee you'll enjoy watching them again and you'll be treated with sections you haven't seen before. All in all, I hope that you will find them useful as you tackle your mirror making projects. Get the videos... The Refractor Project I considered a bold new project for the 2005 ASGH Mirror Workshop. That was a good refractor lens that could be built by a moderately experienced person under the guidance of the workshop environment. The result was a 6 inch f/15 refractor objective made from readily available optical glass with standard mirror making techniques, little special equipment, and WOW! Does it perform. Read more... The Cassegrain Project The Cassegrain telescope is probably the first type telescope that the ATM would like to make after mastering the basic Newtonian telescope. In this article I will show how it is possible for the ATM to make his own Cassegrain telescope. Mostly featured is my 12.5 inch f/20, however some photos are from a similar 10 inch telescope (this article is not intended to provide detailed instructions.) Read more.. The Annual Workshop As you can see, projects other than primary parabolic mirrors for Newtonian telescopes are encouraged. If you ever wanted to tackle more compound systems, refractor objectives, or make your flats or secondary diagonals, please feel especially encouraged to come to the workshop. Learn how to:  ·    Select a telescope design  ·    Make a tile tool  ·    Rough grind  ·    Fine grind to get shape and smoothness  ·    Make a pitch lap  ·    Polish the mirror  ·    Make a Foucault tester  ·    Conduct bench tests  ·    Figure the mirror We will even show you how to:  ·    Silver the mirror  ·    Perforate the mirror (put a hole in the center)  ·    Make the diagonal Hopefully by participating in this exciting workshop you will be able to learn how to make your own telescope mirror. By making your own telescope you will enjoy observing in new and wonderful ways with the thrill that what you see is being provided by an instrument that you crafted yourself. So whether you want to start a mirror, continue working on one that you started years ago, or finish one you were working but did not know how to get a good figure -- come to the workshop. Contact Me Please contact me by e-mail at mirrorworkshop@mtbparker.com for more information and to reserve your spot. 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