BarrySimon615
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/01/04
Posts: 1279
Loc: New Orleans, LA
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Re- oven baking.
The oven we have is electric, not gas. Maybe because it is electric and maybe because I always have the vent on when I am baking painted telescope parts, there is very little in the way of lingering paint odor. To be on the safe side, odor wise, you may want to crank up the empty oven again after the painted parts are removed and run it again at a higher heat with the vent on to totally remove any paint odor.
Another back burner project of mine is an "oven extension". I bought some sheet steel several years ago and drew up some plans to bent it to make an extension on our oven. The whole contraption would rest on the open door of the oven which is stable and completely horizontal when open. This would allow me to bake/cure parts as long as 40". That would be long enough for the Celestron SP C102. That purple tube never got a baking and it does have one bad spot that was scratched and touched up. Maybe I will complete that oven project one day, but it is not a priority right now.
One restoration issue that I have that others may be able to give good advise on is what are the best (and safest) ways to straighten a bent shaft. I recently straightened a bent shaft on a Unitron #114 alt-azimuth mount. This azimuth slow motion was so bent that it would bind when turned so was essentially non operating. I removed it from it's threaded receptacle and with it between two metal plates, pounded it straight. (I tried a vise but had little luck with that.) There is another shaft on another mount, purchased used, that has a bent shaft too. That one is a chrome plated shaft that I think may have more tendency to fracture than would the nickel plated brass shaft on the Unitron mount. Anyone have a good recipe for shaft trueing?
Barry Simon
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Telescopeman54
Vendor - Trapezium Telescopes & Services, LLC.
Reged: 08/17/07
Posts: 1541
Loc: New Hampshire
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Lew:
That was a nice scope. Even though it is now distressed, at least you got it back. How many people are lucky enough to recover an instrument from their youth that they later regret selling?
Just stick with the paint and keep it original. The extra effort and expense of powder coating, etc. won't be worth it. Also, if it gets a nick or ding you can fix it up right away and no one will ever know.
Hey! Magoo! What the Hell is a wife?!! My last one took her final breath in '04!  Been happily single ever since and HOPE to STAY THAT WAY!! 
sbf
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Stephen Forbes - President
Trapezium Telescopes & Services, LLC
61 Valhalla Farm Road
Hillsboro, NH 03244
Web: http://TrapeziumTelescopes.com
Email: Stephen.Forbes@TrapeziumTelescopes.com
Phone: 1.603.325.0619
6" f/15 Jaegers refractor on GOTO GEM
5.1" f/8 Burgess on CG-5 w/ iOptron GOTONOVA
102mm f/7 refractor on iOptron Mini Tower
1975 Celestron Orange Tube C8 on Equatorial Mini Tower
1978 RV-6 on iOptron Mini Tower
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Telescopeman54
Vendor - Trapezium Telescopes & Services, LLC.
Reged: 08/17/07
Posts: 1541
Loc: New Hampshire
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Bent shafts are a tough one. I could see where using a lathe to hold and spin the part might work. A device to apply pressure, slowly and constantly, from the cross slide MAY allow you to straighten it out. How long is the shaft and how thick?
sbf
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Stephen Forbes - President
Trapezium Telescopes & Services, LLC
61 Valhalla Farm Road
Hillsboro, NH 03244
Web: http://TrapeziumTelescopes.com
Email: Stephen.Forbes@TrapeziumTelescopes.com
Phone: 1.603.325.0619
6" f/15 Jaegers refractor on GOTO GEM
5.1" f/8 Burgess on CG-5 w/ iOptron GOTONOVA
102mm f/7 refractor on iOptron Mini Tower
1975 Celestron Orange Tube C8 on Equatorial Mini Tower
1978 RV-6 on iOptron Mini Tower
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Jim Rosenstock
Post Laureate
Reged: 07/14/05
Posts: 3699
Loc: MD, south of the DC Nebula
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Quote:
Hey! Magoo! What the Hell is a wife?!! My last one took her final breath in '04!
I'm sure the poor lady is better off now.
And I wondered why so few women post on this forum...
Steve, please limit your future posts to the topic of classic telescopes, and work out your evident problems with women someplace else. Please.
Jim
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2manyscopes
sage
Reged: 09/16/06
Posts: 215
Loc: Pacific NW
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Quote:
Barry, can powder coating be done after an epoxy (JB Weld, etc) repair? I would have thought the repair would show through?
Hubert
Simple answer is no. There are however two auto body fillers that are compatible with aluminum and the powder coat process. The names escape me but your powder coater should know. I used one to fill about a dozen holes in a 7" diameter tube with perfect powder coat results.
Bill
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1962 8" f/8 Cave Astrola Model "B" Deluxe complete
1970 8" f/6 Cave Astrola Lightweight deluxe OTA
1976 6" f/15 Cave Astrola refractor
195? 10" f/7.3 Cave Astrola Newtonian
8" f/6 Richard Fagin Dob
198? Celestron SP-C8
2003 Celestron Fastar C-14
Meade 6" f/3.6 Schmidt Newtonian
4" f/15 ATM refractor circa 1959
4" f/6 BW Optik Semi-Apo refractor
Celestron C102
University Optics 80mm f/6.25 refractor kit scope
William Optics 80SD refractor
Celestron branded Losmandy G-11
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2manyscopes
sage
Reged: 09/16/06
Posts: 215
Loc: Pacific NW
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Mr. Simon,
On your "Purple Planet Eater" scope, I think I see a sliding brass counterweight to the right of the laser pointer. Since it looks like there is little to no room for the weight to slide what is it for? Does it counter the rotational torque of the finder?
I've had a few scopes with sliding counterweights on very short rods and they have very little to no effect at all on tube balance.
Bill
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1962 8" f/8 Cave Astrola Model "B" Deluxe complete
1970 8" f/6 Cave Astrola Lightweight deluxe OTA
1976 6" f/15 Cave Astrola refractor
195? 10" f/7.3 Cave Astrola Newtonian
8" f/6 Richard Fagin Dob
198? Celestron SP-C8
2003 Celestron Fastar C-14
Meade 6" f/3.6 Schmidt Newtonian
4" f/15 ATM refractor circa 1959
4" f/6 BW Optik Semi-Apo refractor
Celestron C102
University Optics 80mm f/6.25 refractor kit scope
William Optics 80SD refractor
Celestron branded Losmandy G-11
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Don W
Postmaster
Reged: 05/19/03
Posts: 14614
Loc: Wisconsin, USA
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Since I'm no longer a moderator in this forum, I have asked those that are to make this thread Sticky. There's such great material here, I'd hate to see it roll off the front page and be forgotten.
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Don Wyman
Obsession 18" f/4.5 #1166
W/Argo Navis DSC and Torus Primary
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John Jarosz
Astro Gearhead
Reged: 04/25/04
Posts: 2287
Loc: Chicago area, IL
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This is a great thread as I am getting ready to paint and finish my 6" F5 refractor.
Some of my thoughts:
I made a mandrel so I could mount my 7" OD tube in my lathe. A belt sander running in the opposite direction of the lathe results in a very randomized uniform finish on the tube. Finish the sanding with the random orbit sander while the lathe is running. This is tough with those F15 scopes.
Tower Paint will match any sample and put the paint into a spray can for you. I've used them for motorcycle painting. Very good product.
If you do a lot of powder coating buy an electric stove for the garage. You can buy em for the cost of the scrap metal at a junkyard. I can't imagine the grief I'd suffer from powder coating in my kitchen. I'd have to sleep with one eye open.
Only trouble is, I can't decide if I want a white tube or some snazzy color.
Great stuff everyone.
John
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6" F4.6(w/Paracorr) GEM reflector, 8" F11 Dall Relay Scope
6" F5 RFT Refractor, Garrett Gemini 20x80 LW
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Pedestal
Post Laureate
Reged: 03/11/06
Posts: 3843
Loc: Smoggy Bottom, Baytown,Texas
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Modest cost baking oven: (I used this setup in gun building)
A small electric hotplate.
About 6 feet of of 8" ordinary wood stove pipe.
A BBQ pit thermometer.
A piece of plywood bigger than 8" with a small hole in the middle and a suspension wire going through it.
Put the thermometer in about the middle of the pipe. Stand the pipe up on the hotplate, and suspend the piece by the wire on the top cover. At the low temp for this kind of stuff, a wooden top is just fine.
Shaft straightening:
Tough one. Up to about 3/4", (depending on lenght).
Two machinest's V blocks, a dial indicator on a stand, and a clamp with a short piece of angle iron welded to the screw side with the "V" down. Also need a sturdy workbench to set it up. You can get pretty close with this rig, though. When you find the high side, you'll have to run the clamp down a bit past center, it'll spring back some.
But then, I have also straightened rifle barrels by setting up the V-blocks and indicator, marking the high side, and then giving the nearest telephone pole a healthy whack with the high side! That works, too. Main thing, you got to know where high/low is...
(I have some pretty neat pics of a Challenger that came to Houston a couple of years ago. If anyone is interested let me know)
Hubert
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Hubert
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www.smoggybottom.org
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BarrySimon615
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/01/04
Posts: 1279
Loc: New Orleans, LA
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Quote:
Mr. Simon,
On your "Purple Planet Eater" scope, I think I see a sliding brass counterweight to the right of the laser pointer. Since it looks like there is little to no room for the weight to slide what is it for? Does it counter the rotational torque of the finder?
I've had a few scopes with sliding counterweights on very short rods and they have very little to no effect at all on tube balance.
Bill
Bill,
Yes, the small brass counterweight and support is there simply to offset the weight of the finder and bracket. The one in the picture, a 50 mm with solid bracket is pretty heavy, so the weight works out well with the finder and bracket being at about the 10 o'clock position as viewed from the rear, the laser and bracket being at the 12 o'clock position and the brass weight and support being at the 2 o'clock position.
Additionally the heavy finder and bracket plus brass weight and support both help in getting more weight to the rear of the scope to offset the weight of the objective cell. I will see if I have a good picture of the brass weight and it's support. The weight and support were made for me by Ken Dauzat.
Barry Simon
Edited by BarrySimon615 (04/02/08 08:12 PM)
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AaronM
super member
Reged: 02/02/06
Posts: 340
Loc: NRW, Germany
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Hello friends,
here is my refurbishing/repair of the declination-drive of my old “Stausslike-GEM”.
As you can see in this thread :
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/2119714/page/1/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1
The original setup was a tangent-drive with a spring-bolt.( a little bit swiffeling setup ). The base of this drive was made from acrylic-glass !!! After a few observing-session this material get a crack.
So I decided at first to make this unit completely new from aluminium. I have a lathe but no
milling machine and my friend who has one, was a long time ill.
So I made it the other way : from old ATM-parts I built a new declination drive with a worm wheel. Here it is.
Kind regards Michael
Edited by AaronM (04/03/08 12:06 AM)
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AaronM
super member
Reged: 02/02/06
Posts: 340
Loc: NRW, Germany
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dec-block from acrylic-glass !
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AaronM
super member
Reged: 02/02/06
Posts: 340
Loc: NRW, Germany
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refurbished/repaired new dec-drive with worm-wheels
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clintwhitman
Caveman
Reged: 01/01/07
Posts: 2425
Loc: ValVerde CA(SoEasyaCavemanCanD...
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 Due to the god of vintage telescopes smiling at me, I have only had to paint two OTAs #1 my 4" Unitron from the Netherlands. I took it to my friend who has a Jaguar paint and body shop along with my 1955 2.4 Unitron and told him to match the color. After he completed the paint all I could say is wow!! It is by far the nicest OTA I have in finish it looks like my mint green lens Unitron but allot better paint!! #2 The John Pons built 1960 Jaegers 6" F15 built around a 60s 6” Unitron tail piece and a super focuser. I picked the 7" extruded Tube out at tube supply in Los Angles and had John’s favorite Powder coater in Riverside powder coat the Tube in satin white! After completing the ray-trace schematics John then installed the 7 custom spun aluminum baffles. Powder coating is a great way to go due to its tough finish that looks as good as the day it was done. It is not as fancy as the automotive paint job, but is a great OTA that should be good for 200 years or more. I have over the years painted several Harleys and custom bikes and one 1955 Chevy Belair. At that time I was set up to paint with PPG enamels and used fisheye reducers and other additives. Also I had built a paint booth in my garage with an air filtration system. Painting to this level takes more specialized equipment and paint than I need or am willing to set up for a telescope tube or two every couple of years. High end automotive paint or powder coating is the way to go for telescope tubes, but is a trade that only comes out to the highest quality if you do it every day. For myself being a Classic telescope fan, White or off white with Black colors seem to be what floats my boat although there may be a powder blue scope somewhere in my future. I will leave the pink and green tubes to Williams Optics and I might even paint that red fluorite 80mm I have Tak white one of these days. Thanks Clint (caveman) Whitman
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Clint&Debbie Whitman (aveman
1960s 6"F15 Jaegers-Unipons by John Pons on a Byers 812, 1947 4" F15 TINSLEY, 1965 10" F8 CAVE, 1950 5CM & 6.5CM Nippon Kogakus (the twins), 1960s UNITRONS a 152 restored a 160 numbered green lens original mint a 114 original 50s mint, 1950s UNITRON M100 100mm F15 OTA, WO 80mm Florite, ASTROPHYSICS 155 EDFS on LOSMANDY G11, a bunch of Tascos,Sears Mayflowers The list goes on Add infinitum.
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Telescopeman54
Vendor - Trapezium Telescopes & Services, LLC.
Reged: 08/17/07
Posts: 1541
Loc: New Hampshire
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Hey Hubert! Whacking the barrel on a tree or rock was a great way to make the M-16 blow up in Charlie's face!! Not that it was good for anything else!
Caveman! Put the scope in the BACK of my truck, PLEASE!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
sbf
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Stephen Forbes - President
Trapezium Telescopes & Services, LLC
61 Valhalla Farm Road
Hillsboro, NH 03244
Web: http://TrapeziumTelescopes.com
Email: Stephen.Forbes@TrapeziumTelescopes.com
Phone: 1.603.325.0619
6" f/15 Jaegers refractor on GOTO GEM
5.1" f/8 Burgess on CG-5 w/ iOptron GOTONOVA
102mm f/7 refractor on iOptron Mini Tower
1975 Celestron Orange Tube C8 on Equatorial Mini Tower
1978 RV-6 on iOptron Mini Tower
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jblaschke
super member
Reged: 03/07/08
Posts: 106
Loc: New Braunfels, Texas
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Folks, this thread has been inspiring. Seriously. So much so that I finally got off my duff and began a restoration of my old "6 Meade Newtonian. It's been banged up a lot over the years, but fortunately most of the damage is cosmetic. I spent the evening pulling the whole thing apart (even as the Hated Lakers did the same to my beloved Spurs) and now it's ready for me to begin sanding off the old paint tomorrow.
A question for you experienced restoration artists here: What do you do to revive the scuffed and dull aluminum (at least I assume they're aluminum. Stainless steel maybe?) C-clamps and trim pieces?
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Jayme Lynn Blaschke
6" Meade 645: f/5 wide-field Classic
Canon 400D unmodified
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bobbyt
member
Reged: 05/14/08
Posts: 92
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hi bob here, tell me about the paint used and the toy marvin the martian where can i get one .thanks 1 516 754 1763 call me 
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rwiederrich
Goldfinger
Reged: 11/17/05
Posts: 8305
Loc: Bremerton Washington
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Everyone knows my story...but I found this image of my scope just after I got it back from Montana after being in storage after nearly 30 years. It was a rust bucket, and needed extreme care. I repainted every part, and remachined new parts for the hydraulic system for the pier.
Added a bunch of upgrades(without altering the classicness).
This image and the one to follow is for all you *newbies* who are getting to restoring your classics.
Rob
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www.goldmtobservingcenter.com
A great place for amateur astronomers, and ATM's to come and enjoy their hobby.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/HomemadeRefractorTelescopes/ My homemade refractor group.
www.vimeo.com/6014031
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rwiederrich
Goldfinger
Reged: 11/17/05
Posts: 8305
Loc: Bremerton Washington
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And the finished project(well it will never be finished).
It took 4 years to restore.
Rob
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www.goldmtobservingcenter.com
A great place for amateur astronomers, and ATM's to come and enjoy their hobby.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/HomemadeRefractorTelescopes/ My homemade refractor group.
www.vimeo.com/6014031
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RRavneberg
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/02/05
Posts: 634
Loc: Columbus, OH
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Quote:
One of the hardest things to do when restoring a classic telescope is selecting a color to repaint the tube and trim. Essentially two routes can be taken - you can mimic the original colors as much as possible, or you can go in a completely different color(s) making the scope more an expression of your own personal tastes.
Over the years, I have tried to do both. Of late, however, I find myself leaning toward restoration of telescopes in the "spirit" of the original while giving the instrument a new lease on life.
My current 4.5" f/15 refractor was assembled from a pile of abandoned components from different telescopes with the addition of some DIY stuff to make it all fit together, so there was no "original" state to emulate. Therefore, I simply did what I thought would look nice, yet not violate the classic nature of the original instrument(s).
I could certainly have had the tube professionally painted or powder coated, but it never occurred to me at the time. So I settled for careful application of spray Rust-Oleum primer, metallic blue, and clear overcoat to get the effect I wanted. Cost was about $2.89/can for a total cost of around $25.
More images of the scope are at: Vintage Refractor Takes the Field
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Ron Ravneberg
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