ATM Suppliers please????

[Tony Leece]

Hi folks,
does anyone know of an ozzy supplier of mirror grinding kits or supplies?
I feel the urge to hog out some glass again:D but don't know anywhere over here that supplies mirror blanks, grit etc.
A WA supplier would be excellent, but failing that, further affield would be ok.
All the best..........
Tony...........

[MrB]

Sorry, been close to a decade since I've searched for supplies, but I bought my Silicon Carbide grit from a lapidary supplier operating from his home, he used to advertise in the Yellow Pages, called himself Western Lapidary or WA Lapidary Supplies, or something.
Bought some Aluminium Oxide from him but found it inconsistent(some larger grit in it causing streaks) but the SiC from him was excellent.
He also had Cerium Oxide but I never bought any(1/2 kg or 1kg bags from memory!), got some thru a club that's now defunct. Same club was a supply for polishing pads, an Optician's supplier would probably have them tho I've never inquired.
Polishing pitch (Gugolz) was bought at a store that sadly no longer exists, but it should be available form over east somewhere.

Sorry I couldn't be any more help, but will try tracking down the lapidary supplier for you.
Might still have his number here, but will need to dig through a decade of crap to find it.

EDIT: Blanks are available around the various astro-stores, but I bought a slab of 3/4" thick plate glass from Modern Glass(I think! :doh:) and cut it out using a home made trepan.

[Ian Robinson]

Try Newport Glassworks , sorry but they are in the USA, they DO have everything including complete mirror grinding and polishing kits.

AOS used to do mirror kits many many many moons ago , not sure about now.

[Rod]

Hi Tony,

You could try Gotgrit.com. I bought grit, and pitch from them a few years ago. The quality was excellent. They also supply blanks.

Rod.

[tnott]

Try Matthew Lovell (sa)

http://www.telescopes-astronomy.com.au/telescopes036.htm

[CoombellKid]

Try these guys, there in Adelaide... I think

http://www.telescopes-astronomy.com.au/telescope_build_construction_help_p arts_accessories.htm

Or flick Mark Suchting an email, he sometimes sells kits.

regards,CS

[Blue Skies]

WA suppliers? :rofl:nup. Not enough people living here at the ends of the earth to support a local ATM supplier. I tried fixing that once (as MrB knows) but it didn't work out.

You can get grits here in Perth at the lapidary suppliers. Pitch will probably have to come from overseas.

I have some small 6" and 8" pieces of plate glass in my shed although they're a bit rough around the edges from the water cutting but if you want anything bigger Schott-Garsco in Sydney is your best bet for Suprax blanks. pm me if you're interested in the glass. Trying to get a scrap from a local glass place might be tricky, they didn't seem to like having to deal with anything out of the ordinary when I and others were chasing glass a few years back.

A noticed an add in the back of the latest Australian Sky and Telescope magazine for a new ATM supplier but don't know who he is (anyone?). I'm interested to see if he's got any testers on hand (yes, I'm lazy, I know...)

[Tony Leece]

Thanks for all the info guys, i'm in the process of checking them all out now and will post anything new i find :):):)

[anj026]

Hope it is ok to hitch a ride on this thread, does anyone know if it is possible to have mirrors coated in WA?

[MrB]

Tony, sorry, I've looked high and low and can't find the phone number of the lapidary supplier, and he's definitely not in the yellow pages anymore.
There are others in there tho so give them a try.

Hi Andy, dunno about anyone coating mirrors in WA.
Years ago on the ATM mailing list I had a brief chat with a Professor at one of Perth's universities. He mentioned he has had mirrors coated at the university.
Unfortunately I don't know whether they would do it for the gen. public(doubtful), which Uni it was or even which department, but I would guess whichever department has an Electron Microscope, and then they're probably limited on the size of the mirror they could coat

BTW, I still posses and regularly use your old 'scope :D

[Ian Robinson]

How about http://www.gemcuts.com.au/category61_1.htm (http://www.gemcuts.com.au/category61_1.htm) and http://www.gemcuts.com.au/category51_1.htm (http://www.gemcuts.com.au/category51_1.htm) ?
sales@ (sales@gemcuts.com.au)gemcuts.com.a u (sales@gemcuts.com.au)

Might be worth a look for grits and polishing compounds.

[Blue Skies]

Nope. Never has been. While the uni's might have had some small aluminising chambers you're much better off grabbing an aussie astro magazine and trying the advertisers from the east coast in there - you'll get overcoating done with them that you wouldn't get at the uni and you kind of need it here in Perth so close to the ocean.

[Ian Robinson]

From WA , it might be cheaper and quicker to ship the mirror off to China or Japan for aluminising , or even the UK or USA.

[Blue Skies]

I doubt it. Think of exchange rates - the Aus/UK exchange is not good for one. Plus the further it has to go the more chance of it getting either broken, damaged or lost (not that it might not happen here in Aus either). Then there's customs to deal with. Personally I'd prefer to keep it in Australia somewhere for ease of payment. Perhaps if you're more up with the international scene it might work better for you but for most of us I would expect dealing with the 'locals', even if their on the other side of the country, would be easier.

[anj026]

Thanks everyone for the informative replies. I am pleased to hear you are still using the scope Mr B.

I have an old 8 inch mirror that I would like to make use of one day. I know of two mirror coating services in the eastern states that are both well regarded (C Qin and Astro Optical) so that seems like the best option.