Advice for making a parabolic mirror

[Flat Earth Lover]

I have decided to build my own telescope and would like to construct as many components as possible with my own hands. I was just wondering if people still make their own mirror sets and if so, what are the best materials and techniques?  I would also like to know if spending the money on a professional set is worth it. I would sacrafice some custom built parts for image quality thank you.

[Astrobits]

Most ATM'ers make the primary mirror but buy in the flat from a commercial source. Unless you are making something special you will not save any money over the commercially available mirrors from sources such as SkyWatcher. Making your own gives you the satisfaction of having made it and the learning experience for future mirror making. Contact your local astro societies as I expect you will find members that have made their own mirrors and can guide you if you decide to go that route. They might even have mirror making classes where you can make mirrors alongside others and benefit from the bulk purchasing of materials.

Nigel

[laowhoo]

Lots of folk have, either manually or by DIY contraptions. I'd think your target focal ratio would be a limiting factor. We looked into it years ago and it sure seemed the way to go, but figured our particular needs required a professional.

http://www.mirrorgrindingmachine.com/

There are LOTS of other examples, and plenty of resources. Here's the first site we ever consulted as we embarked down that ATM road

https://stellafane.org/tm/atm/

and we went there initially for their mirror-making resources.

[Cosmic Geoff]

I ground and figured a 8" F7 parabolic mirror when I was a teenager, and built the telescope to put it in.  I remember that I ground it by hand against a wooden blank with squares of window glass stuck to it with pitch.  The finished scope did work but perhaps not as well as my current kit.

My motivation at the time was financial IIRC, as the professionally built Newtonians and mounts at the time looked expensive.  Nowadays, one would only make a mirror  or build a scope for the personal satisfaction, I think.