Amateur Astronomers / Telescope Builders

[Lakewood90712]

Anyone here? I inherited an approx. 10 inch by 4 inch thick glass mirror blank, cast back in the 1960's and a 12 inch approx magnifier, unfortunately a quarter size chip at the edge. Dad always intended to build a telescope. Never got that one done on his bucket list.

Any idea of value ? I have no inclination to build one.

 

[Texas Proud]

A really quick look has this...

Buy mirror blanks for telescope making



But, they are much thinner than what you say yours is...

Looked a little longer and found this... a bit more expensive... seems like it matters what it is made from....


AGI Products: Telescope Mirror Blanks

 

[donheff]

About 20 years ago I helped my daughter build a 6 inch Dobsonian. We worked on grinding a mirror ourselves for a while but ultimately bought a pre-finished one. It didn’t cost much. I suspect your blank has little value. Fun project for those who are interested.

 

[jjquantz]

As Texas Proud says, it depends on what it is made of. Chances are, being 50 years old and 4 inches thick, is that it is an old plate glass mirror blank. That would make its value essentially nil. If it is pyrex, then it would have some value, since Corning stopped making that, but a 10 inch diameter blank, which would have been considered large in the 1960's, just isn't that impressive today. You might contact a local astronomy group and see if there is someone who would take it off your hands. I'm 99.99% sure that you aren't sitting on a gold mine.