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Help identify this tool

Astro Tech Mirror Making Observatory Equipment
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#1 trixxter

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Posted 14 January 2025 - 06:13 PM

Folks - 

 

The stand shown is in the basement of the Chamberlin Observatory in Denver, Colorado.  Last October a visitor took this picture and asked "What is this?"  A image search did not turn up anything similar.  Anyone know or care to guess its purpose?

It appears to me to be a stand for grinding/figuring small diameter lenses or mirrors.  Not all the clues fit this guess, but:
- The wide tray with a drain hole implies something messy and there appears to be grit residue
- The deep bowl allows the center post to be raised and lowered to accommodate different material thickness

- The bottom opening could allow a belt to drive the shaft 

- The arm seems to be just resting there and not in its operational configuration, but it could be a way to position the work, hold a sub-diameter tool, or... 

 

Thanks for any ideas.

 

Cheers,

dave k  

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#2 psionik

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Posted 14 January 2025 - 09:24 PM

That seems to be an early prototype of a flux capacitor, but without the antireluctant field coils, and strangely... an extra isothermal hysteretic convolver.

 

I wonder how they dealt with the aversion converting inversion reversion.  Probably a pair of antiproton trimmers dialed up to at least 3x10^30 EV.

 

Funny how they used to do things back in the day.  But it worked!



#3 jokrausdu

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Posted 16 January 2025 - 12:51 AM

Folks - 

 

The stand shown is in the basement of the Chamberlin Observatory in Denver, Colorado.  Last October a visitor took this picture and asked "What is this?"  A image search did not turn up anything similar.  Anyone know or care to guess its purpose?

It appears to me to be a stand for grinding/figuring small diameter lenses or mirrors.  Not all the clues fit this guess, but:
- The wide tray with a drain hole implies something messy and there appears to be grit residue
- The deep bowl allows the center post to be raised and lowered to accommodate different material thickness

- The bottom opening could allow a belt to drive the shaft 

- The arm seems to be just resting there and not in its operational configuration, but it could be a way to position the work, hold a sub-diameter tool, or... 

 

Thanks for any ideas.

 

Cheers,

dave k  

I saw the pic and knew it was Chamberlin before I read the first sentence.

 

Yes, it looks like a mirror grinding workstation -- possibly for polishing as well, but everything would need to be really cleaned up before going to polishing.

 

One could use that stick to move the tool side to side while the mirror is rotating.




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