Cutting and shaping operations for optical glasses

In this work, we describe the well-known methods of cutting and shaping for optical glass materials. These operations are very important in optical workshops and needs to be well defined at the beginning of the optical fabrication process. In this work we show the first steps to fabricate prism components for the MEGARA instrument that is being developed to work with the GRANTECAN. We present a review of the techniques used at INAOE´s Optical workshop for cutting blanks of optical glasses with an extensive use in optical fabrication; besides that, we present the process of shaping of these optical glasses just before they enter to the grinding and polishing processes. We present some results showing the described processes and some tips for the methods used in the optical workshop including the use of the necessary supplies, tools, and machinery.