Meet the Mirror!

In an awesome development, I have come to an arrangement with a prominent telescope parabolic mirror maker (think one of the Big 3), and he is going to make an 18" f/4.5 mirror for me from one of his blemished stock in exchange for a 17" BK7 blank I have laying around.

Since I've been carting the thing around for 6 years now, I figured it was a fair trade, and although I'll probably never see another 17" x 1.35" chunk of BK7 in my life, I think it's making a good sacrifice in the name of project success.

Here's the BK7:

So, without further adieu, meet the mirror!

It's a 2" thick 18" blank with a chip and a scratch on it, and although it looks rough now, the optician is going to do a great job getting the mirror up to snuff! Besides, with a mirror this big, you're not even going to notice the slight decrease in gathering power. When properly finished, it will be just like having a perfect 17.5" mirror! As soon as everything is finalized, I will let you know who we have to thank for this AWESOMENESS!

Now to find the remaining needed parts!