I have gone through the literature looking for pictures of Alvin Clark & Sons' work shops. There are very few photos in the old archives just a few of the finished products. Visitors to the shop were frequent but there is little that anyone has written or spoken of that point to innovations or new methods of manufacturing optics. In fact it was written that conditions were quite primitive. The high quality of production optical products was due to rigorous testing, and scrupulous attention to the surface figure of the glass. All surfaces were worked by hand until absolutely to the highest tolerance. This took a lot more man hours but it was what the Clarks demanded. They did not even record journals of the work progress. Each lens got thorough attention until it was finished.
- Stephen Tilford of Cincinnati, OH, on his Blog, has the only picture I've seen, that may be taken in the Alvin Clark & Sons shop.
http://steves-astrocorner.blogspot.com/2010/02/tackling-16-alvan-clark-and-sons.html
A picture of the Yerkes lens as it was ready to be installed. This was one month before Alvin G. Clark died.
(Click to enlarge)
The following is an account of a visit to Alvin Clark & Sons by W.W. Payne Written in "Popular Astronomy" Vol. XV - No. 7 (August and September 1907)
Clear Sky - Rich
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