My only claim to fame was belonging to a mirror making club run by the guy who was incharge of figuring the optics of the AAT! Brings back memories; that was thirty years ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXMMStCzIho
A great chap and enthusiastic amateur astronomer. We used to make 6" mirrors in exchange for materials to make bigger scopes - I still have a 8.75" f6 in a box somewhere.
The biggest take home lesson I learned from David, was build a machine to do the hard work, and still have enough energy and enthusiasm to enjoy the figuring!!!