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Hand Grinding a Telescope Mirror

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Hand Grinding a Telescope Mirror
[youtube:http://youtu.be/sPxMIy8pQG0]

This is how you make a telescope mirror out of a hunk of glass: Use a sand mixture and another piece of glass to grind away the middle of a concave shape. Repeat with finer and finer grit sand. Dave Barosso demonstrates the technique, but to do it yourself, try to visit one of the Telescope Makers Workshopโ€˜s classes on Friday nights in Oakland.

โ€œTheyโ€™re the type of people who love to work with their hands,โ€ Barosso says of telescope lens makers. One of the attractions is the price; a couple of chunks of glass are cheap, especially compared to the price of a large store-bought telescope.

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Nathan Hurst is an editor at Make. He loves anything having to do with science or bicycling. He tweets as @nathanbhurst.

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