I've been building my own dob's for the last 10 years...it's my favorite weekend activity and stress reliever, and the minute you get one done, you instantly th

I've been building my own dob's for the last 10 years...it's my favorite weekend activity and stress reliever, and the minute you get one done, you instantly think, "I can do an n+1 quicker than this one," then you're grinding for another year :) Two things that I want to say that might make it easier for people who are starting out: - Look to see if your local observatory has a mirror making room. (Volunteering at an observatory is what really started my interest in this) - Find a local glass shop that does hot work, and ask them if they will pour your blanks for you: You'll never risk getting a glass blank crushed/chipped by UPS/FedEx and it's a LOT cheaper than buying the glass online. They will also generally be able to refer you to someplace that does cold work (which is usually $50/6 months access if it's set up as a non-profit or a museum) so you won't need to buy anything but the grit. I was incredibly fortunate: The Toledo (Ohio) Museum of Glass rents both hot and cold shop time and I had a girlfriend at the time who was really experienced with the hot side of things (she had a MFA in Glass) and having her help me through the first few glass mirrors really helped me through the process. There were guys at the Observatory that I volunteered at (Perkins Observatory in Delaware) who had done this to give me pointers. There's a really great community that thrives on helping others online. I could really geek out with this and talk everyone's heads off about this, but, if you have questions, feel free to shoot me an email (it's in my profile) and I'll be more than glad to help you out in any way I can.