Telescope Reviews: My 200mm C/F Newt Project

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paul11
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 577
Loc: Essex UK.

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project new

[Re: John Carruthers]
#3398117 - 10/19/09 02:04 PM

Quote:

looking good Paul, you may have persuaded me to re-tube my 10" mirror in CF, (it seems to get heavier every year). Good to see you haven't done all that vacuum bagging/baking business, it may be necessary if you're building a plane but not for a simple low stress tube. Hope it encourages more atm use of this versatile material.

Hi John I hope it does encourage a few more people to have a go at a C/F tube, they really are very easy to make.

--------------------
LX90-10" Canon 350D Toucam 840K Barn-door tracker

Post Extras:

paul11
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 577
Loc: Essex UK.

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project new

[Re: Ian Robinson]
#3398129 - 10/19/09 02:10 PM

Quote:

Quote:

Image 2

Is the cloth applied dry, or is loaded with epoxy first ?

Also is there "tacky" epoxy on the tube when you applied the carbon fibre , presuming it was one layer a day and allowing the epoxy to cure between layers.

ie
1) paint epoxy onto tube
2) allow to dry to tacky feel .
3) add precut layer of cloth as smoothly and squarely as possible
4) paint in epoxy and roll out excess
5) leave to cure over night
6) repeat above steps above for each layer.

How did the carbon fibre cell shape up cf with a aluminium one (in holding mirror alignment) ?

Hi Ian I put a coat of E/P on to the mandrel and then put the dry C/F on it straight away. You can put a layer on each day or you can put them on all in one day.

--------------------
LX90-10" Canon 350D Toucam 840K Barn-door tracker

Post Extras:

paul11
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 577
Loc: Essex UK.

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project new

[Re: Luigi]
#3398155 - 10/19/09 02:21 PM

Quote:

The arrangement of the 9 pads supporting the mirror looks unusual. What methodology did you use to work it out, equal areas, PLOP, something else ? Are the triangle supporting the pads free to wobble and distribute the load among the three pads? For an 8" full thickness mirror, the cell isn't too critical anyway. Simply mounting it in place with three big blobs of silicone can work well.

The triangles were worked out using plop and they are free to wobble.

--------------------
LX90-10" Canon 350D Toucam 840K Barn-door tracker

Post Extras:

paul11
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 577
Loc: Essex UK.

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project new

[Re: WahHK]
#3398170 - 10/19/09 02:28 PM

Quote:

Why don't you cut the upper circle of the mirror to a smaller one? This can help to avoid it contact with the tube and let you adjust the collimation easier.

That’s a good point, I do have about 1mm clearance. I don’t know if it is enough, if it needs to be a bit smaller I can easily reduce it on the band saw.

--------------------
LX90-10" Canon 350D Toucam 840K Barn-door tracker

Post Extras:

paul11
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 577
Loc: Essex UK.

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project new

[Re: paul11]
#3398179 - 10/19/09 02:32 PM

And my spider has still not arrived yet,,,,Paul.

--------------------
LX90-10" Canon 350D Toucam 840K Barn-door tracker

Post Extras:

paul11
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 577
Loc: Essex UK.

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project new

[Re: paul11]
#3415790 - 10/28/09 10:46 AM Attachment (27 downloads)

Ready for a test run

--------------------
LX90-10" Canon 350D Toucam 840K Barn-door tracker

Post Extras:

paul11
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 577
Loc: Essex UK.

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project new

[Re: paul11]
#3415792 - 10/28/09 10:47 AM Attachment (23 downloads)

Back of mirror cell

--------------------
LX90-10" Canon 350D Toucam 840K Barn-door tracker

Post Extras:

paul11
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 577
Loc: Essex UK.

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project new

[Re: paul11]
#3415794 - 10/28/09 10:48 AM Attachment (23 downloads)

Focuser

--------------------
LX90-10" Canon 350D Toucam 840K Barn-door tracker

Post Extras:

paul11
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 577
Loc: Essex UK.

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project new

[Re: paul11]
#3424163 - 11/01/09 05:24 PM Attachment (20 downloads)

It's all ready now just need some clear sky

--------------------
LX90-10" Canon 350D Toucam 840K Barn-door tracker

Post Extras:

paul11
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 577
Loc: Essex UK.

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project new

[Re: paul11]
#3424165 - 11/01/09 05:25 PM Attachment (25 downloads)

and one more

--------------------
LX90-10" Canon 350D Toucam 840K Barn-door tracker

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neo
professor emeritus

Reged: 02/12/08
Posts: 620
Loc: Iasi, Romania

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project new

[Re: paul11]
#3424947 - 11/02/09 03:27 AM

WOW!! I think I'm in love!

It's simply BEAUTIFUL!
Congrats...down the hat. You have my respect for such a craftsmanship!

--------------------
Russian 15x50 binos
Home made 8" f/5 Newton on eq mount
Home made 70mm f/6 (Rodenstock Rotelar lens) Apo refractor
www.astronomy.ro

Post Extras:

paul11
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 577
Loc: Essex UK.

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project and first image. [Re: neo]
#3426026 - 11/02/09 06:42 PM Attachment (20 downloads)

Thanks Neo, here is the first image,seeing was bad there was a mist over the sky and it was taken when the mirror was in the cardboard tube. My collimation tool broke so I had to guess the collimation. The mirror is in the C/F tube now but I have still got to flock the tube and get a new collimation tool and then I can give it a real test,,,,,Paul.

Edited by paul11 (11/02/09 06:53 PM)

Post Extras:

paul11
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 577
Loc: Essex UK.

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project and first image. new

[Re: paul11]
#3438671 - 11/09/09 05:47 PM Attachment (15 downloads)

A few more images,after these were taken i removed the mirror etc and sprayed the inside of the tube matt black,,,,Paul.

--------------------
LX90-10" Canon 350D Toucam 840K Barn-door tracker

Post Extras:

paul11
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 577
Loc: Essex UK.

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project and first image. new

[Re: paul11]
#3438674 - 11/09/09 05:48 PM Attachment (16 downloads)

Five

--------------------
LX90-10" Canon 350D Toucam 840K Barn-door tracker

Post Extras:

paul11
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 577
Loc: Essex UK.

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project and first image. new

[Re: paul11]
#3438676 - 11/09/09 05:49 PM Attachment (13 downloads)

Six

--------------------
LX90-10" Canon 350D Toucam 840K Barn-door tracker

Post Extras:

paul11
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 577
Loc: Essex UK.

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project and first image. new

[Re: paul11]
#3438679 - 11/09/09 05:50 PM Attachment (15 downloads)

Seven

--------------------
LX90-10" Canon 350D Toucam 840K Barn-door tracker

Post Extras:

neo
professor emeritus

Reged: 02/12/08
Posts: 620
Loc: Iasi, Romania

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project and first image. new

[Re: paul11]
#3438723 - 11/09/09 06:09 PM

Now this is gorgeous!!

You know...I've saved your entire post here on CN with your project for guidance in the future.
Thanks for sharing your work!
Can't wait to see some more pics, the true "first light" .

--------------------
Russian 15x50 binos
Home made 8" f/5 Newton on eq mount
Home made 70mm f/6 (Rodenstock Rotelar lens) Apo refractor
www.astronomy.ro

Post Extras:

paul11
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 577
Loc: Essex UK.

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project and first image. new

[Re: neo]
#3442603 - 11/11/09 06:05 PM Attachment (14 downloads)

Thanks Neo I’m glad you enjoyed the post, I did manage to collimate the scope a little better. This is a 15 sec image, 100% crop at the edge of the frame,,,,,,Paul.

--------------------
LX90-10" Canon 350D Toucam 840K Barn-door tracker

Post Extras:

RonBurgundy
sage

Reged: 06/16/09
Posts: 271
Loc: Philadelphia

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project and first image. new

[Re: paul11]
#3443068 - 11/11/09 11:00 PM

Wow! I love the carbon fiber. Does it cool about the same as metal? Or is there a advantage/disadvantage to it?

--------------------
Kipp Ginsburg
8" LX200-ACF
Orion 120mm F/5.0 Piggybacked Refractor
Meade UWA Set [4.7mm-30mm]
DSI-II

Post Extras:

paul11
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/30/06
Posts: 577
Loc: Essex UK.

Re: My 200mm C/F Newt Project and first image. new

[Re: RonBurgundy]
#3444447 - 11/12/09 06:15 PM

Hi Ron the main reason I made a C/F tube was it was easier for me to make than metal or aluminium and as far as I know it is one of the most stable materials to use for a telescope tube,,,Paul.

--------------------
LX90-10" Canon 350D Toucam 840K Barn-door tracker

Post Extras:

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