.@MichaelGalanin Here's a short, true story for you. My late uncle Fred was a near (if not full) genius. When he set his mind to something, he followed it through to the end. Back in the late 60s, he got excited by the Apollo missions. He had a friend who
was into telescopes, and he wanted his own. He told his friend he could not afford the quality he expected, so he would build his own. His friend said he knew nothing about them and it would take him years. He said he'd do it in six months. On a whim and
a gentleman's bet, he got books and magazines on the subject and learned what he needed to build one entirely from scratch. I recall my mom telling me her genius brother made his own mirror, but not knowing she was talking about a telescope, I remember
wondering why so was so excited. I was only 9 years old at the time. He never had kids, didn't like kids and didn't even want us around in his presence. So I didn't have many interactions with him until much later in life, when I got most of these details.
He was a machinist and mechanic for International Harvester at the time, and started collecting spare parts. He got a large flywheel from a tractor to be the rotating base and built his mirror grinder in his garage with the feet set in sand to minimize
vibrations. He started with a pair of glass blanks and bought various grades of abrasive pastes. He used a coffee can with a pinhole to keep water dripping onto the mirror, letting this grinder run around the clock. At one point, he said a speck of dust
had ruined days worth of grinding and he had to go back to using a courser abrasive. When he finally finished the mirror, he sent it to the Edmund Optics company to be coated. They were so impressed with its quality that they asked him where he got it,
finding it hard to believe that he made it in his garage. He used only a cardboard paper tube for the assembly. He finished it in the timeline he said he would. And when it was done, he watched the Apollo 8 spacecraft orbit the moon from his driveway in
Albany, NY. I actually cried when I found out about 20 years ago that he had no room for it in his house and he let it deteriorate from the weather in his driveway. He said he regretted not fiberglassing the cardboard tube, which would have made it more
durable. I could not help thinking how much trouble he went through to make the mirror, only to use a cardboard tube for the body. But that's how he was. He built it for a single purpose and then lost interest and moved on to other hobbies. I never saw
it in person. These three photos are the only evidence I have of it. 
