RE the Video.
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I'd send it out for commercial polishing long before I'd cut it in that plastic jig. Swiss Rocket Man probably has enough practice and measuring gear that he can get away with hand refiguring that. I'm not so sure most others could grind a rod as their first project. In my opinion, that blade was way too fast, compared to say a Buhler machine.
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I have a old acquaintance who used to hand polish one end at a time on surplus ruby rods while watching TV. By hand it would take him eight or more hours from raw sliced end to a reasonable finish, per end. He never did much more then test the parallelism with a hene and a jig. His fingers were rubbed raw by the process.
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There is lasing and there is lasing. If you want to ensure good mode power, the end figure must be quite good. You might get weak lasing otherwise.
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Most nations have a few lens-making businesses who can easily put on a flat optical finish by grinding.
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My former employer used this company for laser rod rework:
http://www.scientificmaterials.com/c.../about-smc.php
Their prices are not that bad, might be steep for a hobbyist, but compared to most other sources, were quite good.
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Steve