Anyone here got any experience of grinding their own mirror and making a newtonian reflecting telescope?
I know.. that sounds horrifyingly daunting as a beginning way to start astronomy. I thought the same last night when I first read about it here. It turns out, however, that it is not all that daunting after all, especially if you like to make things (as I do). It is, surprisingly, easily within the realms of the keen DIY'er. No real technical tools are needed (Except for the aluminium plating which you will have to get done by a coating specialist at a reasonable cost.)
With a lot of time and patience, you can build a nice 8" f/6 mirror yourself and have some really good resolving power. OK the end product will be a bit bulky but my understanding is that this is the kind of aperture you need to get good resolving power. It can be done for much less money (but much more of your time, obviously) than buying anything equivalent in the shops. Sometimes even less than *lesser* telescopes in the shop. You also have control over the quality so you can make it better, whereas mass producers just get it to "good enough" unless you want to spend huge bucks.
It's something I have added to my list of to-do's for when I get meself a house and a workshop
Anyone else?