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I've put a lot of thought into the setup here... I've got a gantry system with an electric winch for getting things in and out of the kiln... welding gloves to protect from the heat... a wire rope and pully system for opening the cover without having to actually reach over the kiln, a full face plex...

The largest mirror I have done the numbers on so far is a 24" honeycomb backed mirror that takes 70lbs of glass, and I figure that's going to be about the limit for anything I'm going to try to do... between the glass, base plate, and mold elements, I'm going to be looking at 100lbs if not more...

OK -- measuring thermal expansion is a bit of a pain, but not impossible given the tools I have on hand.. so I can test the glass I get and make sure it is at least close to compatible... common techniques involve securing a sample say 1" x 4" in a metal tube with a digital indicator inser...

@Lauri: Whenever is convenient for you... I monitor email all day and have this thread subscribed so I'm likely replying to any post within 10 minutes of you hitting submit :) Incompatibility may be what kills me since I'm not buying glass of a known formula... I guess I'm going to have to find a wa...

I don't know about faster given that some of the schedules I have seen for doing telescope mirrors take DAYS to run, which I can understand on larger mirrors where I might be casting as much as 20-40 lbs of glass, and in some cases MORE !!! All the glass I'm using is recycled, and the best I will ev...

OK -- the entire process... I'm using spin casting techniques on plaster to create a negative parabolic mold approximating the shape of the final mirror surface, to which I will add appropriate clay to create a positive slump mold, which is then fired to create a "bisque" (I think).. the r...

Read the MSDS for carbon powder (Activated Charcoal) Flammability rating > SLIGHT Melting Point > 3550C 6422F As with most organic solids, fire is possible at elevated temperatures or by contact with an ignition source. Activated carbon is difficult to ignite and tends to burn slowly (smolder) witho...

TY so much for the reply, Laurie.. I was starting to get a little worried :) The idea may be beyond your experience, but I'm not.. I have yet to cast a single piece of glass... still working on the containment walls and base plate for my molds.. I couldn't get anything large enough in a one piece ki...

*** utter newb alert *** This may seem a little strange here since it seems most of the posts are about art glass, but I need some experienced help with ideas that I want to try for making telescope mirrors. I've got projects in the works that involve both casting and slumping. The casting part seem...