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Image of mirror and slurry The slurry will turn dark gray as the grinding continues. Add a few more drops of slurry from time to time, if you need to. Let each student spend a minute or so grinding, then pass it on to the next team member.

3 After you've been grinding your mirror for about fifteen minutes, wash the mirror in running tap water until all the grinding slurry is removed. Examine the surface of the

mirror. There should be no marker color or shiny tool marks remaining from the original machining process. The surface of the mirror should have a uniform dull gray texture. If, however, there are still some shiny marks or color remaining, repeat step 2 until they are completely gone. Then wash your #1 Starshine mirror in running tap water, dry it with a paper towel, and set it aside, tilted stem down and face up, on a clean paper towel. Wash your hands with soap and water to get rid of the paste and dry them.

Add a few drops of aluminum oxide slurry to the puddle that you used for mirror #1, and repeat steps 2 and 3 with your second and third Starshine mirrors. After you have finished grinding and examining your second and third mirrors, wash your hands, your aluminum mirrors and the glass backing plate in running tap water. Be especially careful to remove all the slurry that may be sticking to the edges of the mirror or the plate. Then dry the mirrors, the plate and your hands with a clean paper towel. Congratulations!! You have now completed the grinding phase of the overall process. You are ready to move on to the polishing phase, which is much more delicate than the grinding phase and requires special attention to detail and cleanliness to keep your finished mirror from winding up with scratches and dimples on its surface.

You will notice that the grinding process has made a dull spot on the glass plate. This is normal, because the process frosts the glass as you grind your three mirrors. However, for the polishing steps that you'll be performing next, you'll need to turn the glass plate over and use the side of the glass that is still shiny.

PHASE TWO - MIRROR POLISHING
The Kempad 5 Place your glass backing plate, shiny side up, on a clean paper towel on your working surface. Peel the slick backing paper off a circle of Kempad Polishing Cloth . Discard the
slick backing paper into a wastebasket. Place the circle of Kempad Polishing Cloth very carefully on the glass plate with its sticky side down. Smooth it down onto the plate with the edge of your hand so there are no wrinkles in it. The Kempad
Using the syringe 6 Remove the ball-shaped cap from the syringe of green 3 micron diamond polishing paste. Press gently on the plunger of the syringe and squeeze out a green "pea-sized" blob of the compound onto the center of the circle of polishing cloth. Be very careful not to press too hard on the plunger, because you might waste the compound.
Put the ball cap back on the syringe and set the syringe down out of the way. Now, unscrew the top of the Hyprez Lubricant bottle and squeeze and release the rubber bulb to suck up some lubricant from the bottle. Take the dropper out of the bottle, Using the syringe
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