From: "Bob May" 
To: "atmlist" 
Reply-To: "Bob May" 


The 1" stuff is a bit harder to find but it is generally availble.
I've got a piece of 1" plate that I got about a year ago and it is the
typical green glass.  I suspect (haven't gone to find out) but I could have
gotten it in water white if I really wanted to.  I will note that thicker
stuff can be had but the price really starts going up unless you get a lot
of it.
Right at the moment, I'm cutting up a slab of 1.5" glass (have no idea
of what it is other than it is water white but could be some interesting
optical glass but since there were absolutely no markings other than the
price tag, it is just glass for secondaries) into pieces for 1.5" or
so minor axis secondaries.  I don't know where the glass came from but I
also have a piece of 1.65" thick glass from the same source.  The
second piece has some knobbies on one side so I suspect that the two pieces
may have been glass bricks.
Often, it is finding where things are actually made that will help strongly
in getting the glass at a decent price.  Probably if I found where the
glass bricks are made, I'd be able to stop by with a large mold and have
them pour a number of pieces and anneal them in their oven and get some
nice big blanks with a precurved front surface.  Then again, the process
may be so automated that doing such would be difficult to do. Another
source would be the warm glass people (arts glass casters and blowers) who
deal with hot glass and know the problems of casting and working glass hot.
Bob May
http://nav.to/bobmay
bobmay{at}nethere.com
NEW! http://bobmay.astronomy.net

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