Today I have finally finished my 8" f/6.26 mirror. It has taken about a year. It came back from the coaters this last Tuesday and looks good. It has been a long journey with lots of learning along the way. Thank you everyone for your help while I worked on this mirror. You have helped me to:
* Know to go back to grinding instead of trying to polish out the original scratches that came with the mirror.
* Figure out that my bevel was the cause of new scratches and what to do about it.
* Shown me different grinding and polishing strokes.
* Know how to get the cerium oxide off the bevel of the mirror.
And even when I didn't ask for help, your archives and personal web pages were and are great sources of guidance. Now for the next step- building the telescope around it. It will be specially designed for astrophotography.
Thank you to everyone for your help in this mirror making adventure.