The Design of an 8 m Polishing Machine

Before describing the design of a new large optical polishing machine, we will discuss some of the shortcomings of traditional large polishers. Most large polishers are scaled up versions of Draper type machines which use "trombone" arms to carry an eccentric motion of a crank into a stroke at the poker pin. The structures that support the crank and far end of the trombone take up easily as much floor space as the polishing table itself. For a 2 or 3 m polisher this loss of floor space can be overlooked. For an 8 m polisher we had to see if there wasn't a more efficient design.