Just finished reading this very interesting thread, good work guys.
I am looking to grind my first mirror soonish as I decided I wanted to make a dob but the prospect of that task has left me like an Alsation after a head swap operation considering all the variation I could choose so I thought I could start with a mirror and hopefully develop my ideas as I go.
I've spent a bit of time reading various ATM sites and am in the middle of reading an old telescope making book too with hopefully another on the way but still I would like to gather a bit more info before I jump in head first.
Finding blanks or better yet blank kits with grinding tool supplied in Europe is proving a harder task than I had hoped. There are a few places to choose from so I should be fine but not that many and there doesn't seem to be a wide variety of choice.
At the moment I have two suppliers I'm looking at one has Schott borosilicate blanks and the other has Pyrex or Suprax. I don't really know what the major differences between the three are.
What would be the consensus on which would be better?
The one thing I have decided is that when I start I want to start with an 8" if possible.
Anyway I am looking forward to wherever this journey may take me.