If you don't want to wait 5 years for an A-P refractor, Roland Christen published his APO designs years ago. I'll bet you could build a better tube assembly for 1/4 his price or less. For the triplet, you'd have to grind, polish and figure 6 surfaces, however, surface tolerances on lenses are somewhat relaxed over those of reflective surfaces. You may have to figure an extra concave surface also, for testing (via the contact method, by counting rings). Also, some crystaline glasses (flourite, etc.) are very picky as to what you grind and polish them with. Depending on the exact design, maybe flourite isn't needed and more conventional ED glass will suffice. But it is very do-able. Just a thought for the impatient do-it-yourselfer. C. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more http://taxes.yahoo.com/