nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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Bill filed notches into the bottoms of each leg and the base of the pier. One notch for the first leg, 2 for the second and 3 for the third. I think his intention was to ensure the same leg went in each position each time. This probably allowed quicker polar alignment if nothing changed between setups. Also, the notches could be easily felt in the dark.
You'll notice in the photo that Bill attached a cotter pin to a string on each leg. The pin fits in a hole drilled through the leg and pier. The purpose of this really perplexed me. I think the user would insert the pin and expand it inside the pier to prevent the leg from falling off accidentally if the pier was picked up and the thumb screws holding the leg on had loosened up. Just a guess.
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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Moving up, there's a nice little wooden shelf for 5 eyepieces and a barlow. A small pin keeps it horizontal and a spring wraps around the pier to hold it there. I don't have a photo of it but there's a piece of red vinyl that attaches to the pier above the shelf to keep dew and dust off the eyepieces.
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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Jumping ahead in the resto process, I'll show the mount. It consists of 5 aluminum castings. They are very nice with little porosity and good thickness. They remind me of the Russell Porter castings (many bronze) that I ogled as a kid at Stellafane.
Only problem is the machining of the plate where the tube rings attach made the metal too thin and it cracked at the hole for the rear ring. There are small blocks that provide backup for the bolts that hold the rings to the mount.
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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mount photo 2
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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The mount comes apart pretty easily.large knurled rings on the rear of the polar shaft and bottom of the dec shaft unscrew and the axes come out of the bearings with light taps. Bearings are ball, no tapered rollers here. There's a piece of white plastic that serves as a thrust bearing on the dec axis and the clutch behind the RA gear is a red plastic (phenolite?) disc with 30 steel balls set around the circumference. Tightening the knurled knob puts tension on the RA axis. The thumb screw tensions the dec axis.
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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disassembled mount 2. forgot to mention the gear is labeled 'Boston', apparently off-the-shelf.
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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The block that supports the worm gear is shimmed for backlash.
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Lew Chilton
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 10/20/05
Posts: 1022
Loc: SoCal
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Quote:
Tim, As I posted above, I agree that Mr. Ballas might have been an amateur that ground the mirror and had Bill make the rest of the scope. However, the dates don't quite add up... Maybe Mr. Ballas is the gentleman to the left of Bill in the Charlton Flats photo. Anybody recognize him?
Paul, I didn't start going to Charlton Flats star parties until 1960-1961, so I can't say that I remember Mr. Ballas.
If I knew just a little more about him - like his first name and where he lived - I might be able to identify him from the numerous Ballases that show up on the many California databases on Ancestry.com (for example, voter registration lists, street directories, and birth, marriage and death indexes).
I'm attaching a photo I took at a 1961 star party at Charlton Flats.
-Lew
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I don't get no respect, but my scopes do! 
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1961 Swift 60mm model 839 (2); 2003 TV-102/GM-8; 1959 8" f/6 Treckerscope; 1959 8" f/7.4 Murray Scope; 1959 Fecker Celestar-4; 1978 4" Edmund Astroscan; c. 1986 4-inch Celestron-Vixen SP-C102; c. 1950 20X60 Saturn spotting scope; 1963 7X50 Nippon Kogaku binoculars; Unitron #114 alt-az mount (Swifty-tron)
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Starman27
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/29/06
Posts: 576
Loc: Illinois, Iowa
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What a great thread! Thanks for sharing your experiences as you move forward.
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Enjoy the dark,
Herman
Meade
14 LX200 GPS SMT
12 LX200 GPS
7 LX200 Maksutov
ETX 125
TAK FS128 NSV
Sky 90II
Lunt LS60ThaDS BF1200
Canon 5D Mark II
Illinois
Iowa
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Lew Chilton
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 10/20/05
Posts: 1022
Loc: SoCal
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I just dug up this picture from my personal archive. It's from a December 11, 1960 newspaper article about Tom Cave the Mars observer. He is shown at the eyepiece of his personal scope, a 12-inch Newt. mounted in his backyard observatory. (I'm pretty sure that Alika Herring made the mirror.)
I had the privilege of looking thru it on one or two occasions in the 1958-1960 timeframe when I was a guest at one of the meetings of the Excelsior Telescope Club held at Tom's home in Long Beach, California.
Note the mount: it is not an Astrola but appears to be a Bill Schaefer designed and built equatorial head - correct me if I'm wrong. (Also note the telephone wires strung over Tom's backyard!)
This scope was something like an f/7 or f/8, so Tom needed a stepladder or observing platform to reach the eyepiece. In this photo, he is seated on his observing platform for comfortable viewing.
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I don't get no respect, but my scopes do!
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1961 Swift 60mm model 839 (2); 2003 TV-102/GM-8; 1959 8" f/6 Treckerscope; 1959 8" f/7.4 Murray Scope; 1959 Fecker Celestar-4; 1978 4" Edmund Astroscan; c. 1986 4-inch Celestron-Vixen SP-C102; c. 1950 20X60 Saturn spotting scope; 1963 7X50 Nippon Kogaku binoculars; Unitron #114 alt-az mount (Swifty-tron)
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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Hey Lew,
Those are great photos of Chilton Flats and of Tom Cave's telescope. With regard to the similarity of Mr. Cave's mount to a Schaefer design, I refer the reader to Larry Adkin's Tom Cave website at: http://www.cerritos.edu/ladkins/Cave/thomas_cave_observatory.htm
Larry also has recognized the possible connection with this early mount.
Also, the original post about the ebay Schaefer telescope indicated that the seller bought the scope at garage sale in West Covina. Maybe Mr. Ballas lived in West Covina or nearby.
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1958 Schaefer 8" f/8
Unitron 4" Mod 150
Zeiss AS63/840
Zeiss Asiola
Orange C8, C11
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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Just a few photos to update you on the Schaefer progress. The mount is reassembled with clean, greased bearings. The optics are in the tube. It's looking great!
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1958 Schaefer 8" f/8
Unitron 4" Mod 150
Zeiss AS63/840
Zeiss Asiola
Orange C8, C11
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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another view
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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The next challenge! The motor does not turn but it vibrates like a synchronous motor does. Some reading online indicates that the typical problem with these is that oil in the gear reduction dries up seizing up the little gears. Looks like I'll be opening this thing up next.
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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Finally, can someone help me ID this plug? I need to buy the female plug end and it would help to I knew what to call it. As you can see, the 2 conductors are skewed at an angle and there is a tab on the ID that only allows the plug to go in at one orientation.
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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The ID of the hole is 11/16" and it's about the same deep. Ant good websites for electronics where I'd start looking?
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nykaver
member
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 66
Loc: Danbury, CT
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One more. Thanks!
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tim53
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/17/04
Posts: 1454
Loc: Highland Park, CA
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Wow!
That is looking NICE!
I wish I was more knowledgeable about electronics (my dad was the electrician, I'm the geologist!). But I'll bet that a good electric motor rebuilding outfit could restore it ...for a price, of course!
I eagerly await more!
-Tim.
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"We`re just waiting looking skyward as the days come down.
Someone promised there`d be answers, if we stayed around."
-Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, "The Romance of the Telescope"
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Preston Smith
Military Observer
Reged: 04/24/05
Posts: 3441
Loc: Eureka, Pa
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Quote:
The story of this telescope restoration begins in April 2008...
Outstanding thread Paul! 
It's absolutely wonderful to see this scope coming back to life - even better than the original! Thank you for your commitment to this project and all the research and hard work you've invested into this Schaefer.
Great documentation. I would recommend that when you have completed this project that you submit all of this as an article / review to Cloudy Nights. They have a classic telescope section for articles / reviews.
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Preston
Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Isaiah 40:26
SV115T,NHII,SV70,SV50 and Tele Vue Ranger
Vintage Refractors: Asahi-Pentax, Edmund Scientific, Tasco, Unitron
60mm Telescope Club
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clintwhitman
Caveman
Reged: 01/01/07
Posts: 2430
Loc: ValVerde CA(SoEasyaCavemanCanD...
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Paul Kudos to you on the restoration!! You have a fine and wonderfull piece of history there!! Lew as always your photos are incredible and will always be downloaded to your directory on the old PC... (aveman...
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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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