Well after what seems like 6 Months, about 30 hours polishing and 3 regrinding back to 400 grit I still can't seem to get rid of the astigmatism I have in the centre of my mirror.it was time to face facts that due to my lack of experience I could spend another 100 hours and end up with a too thin blank so I've left my mirror with John for him to machine it back to 400 and then polish it and make sure the astigmatism has gone before I finish the polishing and start to figure it.really dissapointed in myself as I wanted to do it all myself but having to face facts that I eventually want this mirror in a telescope.I'm sure I will still find plenty of challenges during figuring to keep me occupied but I think it best that I give myself a chance by having th mirror right before I start figuring.
Big thanks to damian too for making me a new mount for my testing setup to make it easier for me to take accurate photos.
Hopefully have an update of some sort in a couple of months.

On a plus side I'm getting plenty of cycling done and getting fitter.I've entered my first sportive, a 73 miler in October and training is going well as I'm hill climbing much better and doing 44 miles ok.next year I'm hoping to do 5 of the local 100 mile sportive so need a good winter of training :)
Happy days but I do miss the stars :(

Clear skies Rich