All the talk of long focus achromats got me to thinking. I still have that Jaegers 6" f/15 in a drawer waiting to be OTA'd, so I thought I'd get the 6" f/10 OTA out, put it on the EM-10 (a bit underkill, I know), and see how it does on Saturn, since it's been a couple years since I had it out.

It's sitting on the mount now, so I shot this pic of it while I wait 'till I can see Polaris...

Birdseye maple tube with mahogany rings and dewshield. The birdseye was some old flooring that was on a shelf in my workshop when we bought our house. I ripped it into thinner strips and laid it up around plywood baffles/bulkheads. It always did pretty well, even though the coatings are sort of discolored.

If it inspires me even more, I'll make a wood tube for the f/15 this weekend!

-Tim.