I have decided to build my own telescope. It will be a dobsonian.

Someone posted this telescope making site site awhile back and it has been helpful:

http://www.geocities.com/telescope1999/14-5inch.html

"Pushing glass" is alot of fun!

Well, George, just remember... this is the Bad Astronomy site, so if you take our advice you'll probably end up with one Bad Telescope!

I do not intend to throw a wet blanket but, back in the old days, amateurs ground their own mirrors because there was no alternative.
"Pushing glass" is a long tedious procedure and you still have to send the finished mirror out for aluminizing. For little more than the cost of materials (mirror and tool blanks, pitch, various grades of grinding and polishing compounds, etc) you can buy a finished mirror of known (and guaranteed) quality.

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Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.

T. Anderson