Our Founder
Paul McNabb founded the mirror lab in 1997 in order to create the best amateur telecopes possible.
Inch for inch our mirrors surpass store bought or commercial grade scopes.
Where the 19th Century Art of Mirror Making Meets the 21st Century
The Saint Petersburg Mirror Lab is a small band of dedicated mirror grinders and telescope makers living in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. We offer a mirror making class for interested persons. We strive to create the best mirrors our home brew technology can muster. This includes robotic foucault testing and laser interferometry.
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Bino Bill with his finished 10" scope 2020-08-16 |
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| Bill showing off his finished scope made at the mirror lab | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Brad's mirror box glued up 2020-08-13 |
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| After a bit of a hammer fit the box joints came together | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Brad Cutting box joints 2020-08-13 |
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| Brad Cutting box joints for the mirror box for his 16" mirror | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Raffle Scope for 2021 OBS Star Party Takes Shape 2020-08-03 |
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| Original Meade LightBridge base | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Raffle Scope for 2021 OBS Star Party 2020-08-03 |
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| Cutting out the new pieces for assembly | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Raffle Scope for 2021 OBS Star Party 2020-08-03 |
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| New base is finished | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Raffle Scope for 2021 OBS Star Party 2020-08-03 |
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| Mike showing off the refurbished telescope and base | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Dimitri's scope for his son Casey 2020-03-26 |
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| Dimitri finished a 10 inch f/5 scope for his son Casey to use in Colorado where he lives. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Raffle Scope for 2020 OBS Star Party 2020-03-14 |
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| 10" Orion Intelliscope was refurbished into a quality raffle scope for the 2020 Orange Blossom Special Star Party by member of the mirror lab. |
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Maiarotos Win at Stellafane 2019-08-03 |
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| Steve Maiaroto and his grandson, Steve, entered their 8inch f/7 telescope in the 2019 Stellafane optical and mechanical competitions. They won second place for optics in the 12.5" and under category and honorable mention for mechanical. Steve originally ground his mirror at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia years ago and then repolished and figured his mirror at the SPAC optical lab (see the 3-17-2019 photos below of how the mirror looked before and after). Congratulations Steves! |
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