How to make a lens from scratch

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Enjoy!
https://petapixel.com/2019/03/05/making-a-camera-lens-from-scratch-using-rocks-sand-and-copper/

 

[bdial]

It seems like a lot of work and expense to get to where he ended up.

 

[Nodda Duma]

Kinda cool but the copper crucible caused the glass inclusion, bubbles, and striae issues which led to it being barely useable. Better to use a platinum or ceramic crucible and platinum stirrer. Also needs to better control the annealing temperature and stirring rate.

There’s amateur telescope making masochists out there who do this as well.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Kinda cool but the copper crucible caused the glass inclusion, bubbles, and striae issues which led to it being barely useable. Better to use a platinum or ceramic crucible and platinum stirrer. Also needs to better control the annealing temperature and stirring rate.

There’s amateur telescope making masochists out there who do this as well.

Yes, masochist came to my mind too.fun to learn but, the benefit of a modern society is that you can build on the achievements of previous generations and don't have to reinvent the wheel over and over again.

 

[dmr]

I know that amateurs can grind perfectly good telescope lenses and mirrors. I would think he would get better optical results than he did.

 

[Marco Gilardetti]

I wonder why the final picture he took looks so awful, while the lens (I mean the glass) he's holding in his hands looks pretty much polished and transparent.

 

[Nodda Duma]

That’s a pic of the image formed onto ground glass.

Yes, masochist came to my mind too.fun to learn but, the benefit of a modern society is that you can build on the achievements of previous generations and don't have to reinvent the wheel over and over again.

Yes. I’ve made optics by hand in the past, both at home and in optical shops at work, and quickly learned to appreciate grinding and polishing machines.

That said, I am toying with the idea of buying a glass-melting oven to form telescope blanks from the scrap glass I generate from cutting plates. The local recycling center only accepts glass bottles now, not flat glass...and I hate the idea of tossing glass into a landfill. So that would only be half-masochist.

 

[Rick A]

I dunno, I been scratchin' all morning and don't have anything to show for it except a red mark.