Grinding mirrors on an industrial scale

[kirkster501]

Really interested how the likes of Celestron, SW, Meade etc can grind out these precision mirrors on such a huge scale!

Anyone got on info on how they do it please?

Merry xmas,

Rgds, Steve

[laser_jock99]

Really interested how the likes of Celestron, SW, Meade etc can grind out these precision mirrors on such a huge scale!

Anyone got on info on how they do it please?

Merry xmas,

Rgds, Steve

Lots of machines and cheap labour:

Tour of the Meade facility in Mexico

http://www.meade.com/factorytour/index.html

[cantab]

"Each and every [etalon] is tested on the sun."

It's a good thing Meade's factory isn't in Britain then or there'd be a ten-year waiting list on the solar scopes!

[kirkster501]

Cool thanks for sharing! Merry Christmas !

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[DaveS]

As you say, loads of machines and cheap labour.

They didn't move to Mexico for their health.

[kirkster501]

I wonder how long it takes them to take a blank and create a fully polished and figured mirror out of it? Fascinating how they do it and keep it so clean on such a huge scale.

[Peter Drew]

I read somewhere that it takes about 90 minutes for a 8".

[Steve Ward]

Couldn't find anything on mirror production but these are pretty interesting .

Steve.

[Steve Ward]

And this one.

[Astro_Baby]

Well you can see why this stuff costs so much.........just amazing that its not even more expensive given the huge amount of work that goes into it.

[DaveS]

Perhaps they do what big lens makers do, the glass blanks are pre-moulded to approximately the right shape then just ground to size.

[Hypernova]

Probably since the machines are mostly automated there would be little variation in the end result, with the effect that they aren't to a very high standard (like 1/10pv). OO UK by contrast was a small operation and machines were DIY built and adjusted by hand for each mirror so every mirror was different and took different amounts of time to figure.

[Stu_2011]

Really interested how the likes of Celestron, SW, Meade etc can grind out these precision mirrors on such a huge scale!

Anyone got on info on how they do it please?

Merry xmas,

Rgds, Steve

I spend a lot of time in Asia working on ground and polished optical surfaces (not telescopes). As people have said it essentially comes down to lots of machines and cheap labour - this is not a bad thing at all. Quality control needs to be strictly enforced and controlled and that can take lots of effort. Its remarkable what Chinese / Taiwanese companies can do in mass production when they really want to.....

Thanks

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[kirkster501]

Its utterly incredible. We are just watching the workers do their thing but someone had to design this process and the machines used. Amazing - thanks for posting the videos Steve. With mirrors they'd surely have to grind out like an amateur mirror maker would I'd imagine? Then go down through progressively smaller grades of grinding powder then a lap and polish. Wow....

[Peter Drew]

Mirrors made commercially are either pre-molded to curve or diamond wheel generated. In either case, the finish is good enough to require just a fine grind and polish. Polishing can be done in multiples on the same machine and there are no doubt machines that will reliably parabolize mirrors reliably to an acceptable quality level.

[laser_jock99]

Probably since the machines are mostly automated there would be little variation in the end result, with the effect that they aren't to a very high standard (like 1/10pv). OO UK by contrast was a small operation and machines were DIY built and adjusted by hand for each mirror so every mirror was different and took different amounts of time to figure.

I purchase thousands of 1/10th wave (and better) optics from the Far East every month. Quality seems to improve year on year but consistancy is always our biggest problem. It's a mistake to think that Far Eastern optics are always going to be inferior to Western made parts. It's also a mistake to assume that one batch of optics will be the same as the last ones you had! Whilst there might be a place for expensive, hand figured optics you have to remember that mass production has brought affordable astronomy (& photography for that matter) to millions of people and that must be a good thing?

[Stu_2011]

I purchase thousands of 1/10th wave (and better) optics from the Far East every month. Quality seems to improve year on year but consistancy is always our biggest problem. It's a mistake to think that Far Eastern optics are always going to be inferior to Western made parts. It's also a mistake to assume that one batch of optics will be the same as the last ones you had! Whilst there might be a place for expensive, hand figured optics you have to remember that mass production has brought affordable astronomy (& photography for that matter) to millions of people and that must be a good thing?

Well summarised from someone that obviously has first first experience of optics made in Asia.....

I'm off to Shenzhen again in two weeks...

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