1132 replies to this topic

[GreyDay]

I always wanted to learn machining, but never had the opportunity after that. It would come in so handy with so many of my telescope repair projects.

Me too! We had two lathes at school but only the teacher ever used them, he was running his own mini business during schooltime. How he got away with it i'll never know.

 

I have considered buying a hobby lathe but just never got round to it.

[clamchip]

A metal lathe is perfect for telescope restoration and building.

Certainly not a essential tool though.

My first lathe was a Atlas 10 inch bought very inexpensively and I taught myself to use it.

I learned the basics in school but really learned to use the lathe at home.

A metal lathe will let you know if your doing it wrong, bad noises, poor finish, etc.

My grandfather in law left me his Southbend 10 inch which is my lathe now, and I sold the

Atlas.

I remember well metal shop at first was hand tools, a sheet metal pan, and hand filing a

one inch cube of aluminum into a round ball.

I can't remember how or when we were able to use the machine tools, if it was a advanced

class or not, I can't remember. It does make complete sense though, for safety's sake. 

And I remember charging up a few big capacitors too! the person sitting next to you's buttocks'

was a good place to discharge it !

 

Robert

Edited by clamchip, 21 December 2020 - 11:40 AM.

[tim53]

My parents encouraged me to take science and math in high school, though I did manage to take auto shop one year.  I was a senior when our high school offered electives for the first time.  So I took aeronautics.  That was one of the most interesting classes I've ever had, including throughout grad school.

 

I learned how to operate a lathe on Meade's 14x22 Cadillac gap-bed lathes.  Heavy and very capable machines.  But it was decades before I bought one of my own - my current favorite a 1930s Champion Blower and Forge 9".  Since then, I've acquired a Craftsmen 6x18 lathe with tons of tooling, a 9" South Bend missing most change gears but in very nice condition, and a ~1910 Sebastian treadle lathe in very good condition.  I had to make a new treadle for it, and it's still missing some small, but fabricatable parts.

 

-Tim

[Dave Cook]

A lathe and a mill are seriously handy for astronomy projects (and high power rocketry, my other big hobby).  I started with the cheapest possible HF 7x10 mini-lathe several years ago...it's had a bunch of upgrades like Japanese tapered roller bearings and larger 3 and 4-jaw chucks, and can do a lot of things in aluminum and plastic, but it's really limited on workpiece size.   

 

Overall I'm pretty much self-taught...never had any classes except one in Jr. High where all we really did was bend some sheet metal.  Nowadays there is a ton of great information on various YouTube channels and forums like practical machinist and CNCzone, so I'm not feeling any lack of information.

 

Lately I'm looking to get into a 14x40 or 16x40 lathe so I can make bigger/longer parts and not have to spend so much time trying to keep everything tight.  I'd love to get my hands on a WWII vintage Monarch model K or similar and restore it, but I just totally don't have the space for a 4 ton behemoth that wouldn't be in service for several months.  Still, I'd like to be able to make parts for maybe ~12" OTAs, so I'm probably headed for a good new Taiwanese manual lathe that will swing at least 14".

 

Last year I spent a huge amount of time doing a CNC conversion on a Precision Matthews PM-30MV mill.  That turned out pretty well (and was a great learning experience) and really expanded the variety of things I can make.  It has about the same work envelope as a Tormach 1100 though not the same RPMs.  I'd love to try my hand at making a couple of GEMs from scratch, but I still have a ways to go to be ready.  Too much to do, not enough time...

[GreyDay]

I'd love to try my hand at making a couple of GEMs from scratch

 

There's a guy locally who does sand casting of aluminium parts, i asked  him if he could make a GEM but the price was far beyond what i expected. The cost was down to making the wooden "plug" that he'd need to make the mould. I've looked at youtube video's and it doesn't look that hard... but it does look scary if it goes wrong.
 

 

[Senex Bibax]

Late 60's, our metal shop teacher wouldn't let us touch any of the machine tools. We got to use the shear, the brake, and a spot welder. I think I got to run an arc welder for about 2". Same deal in the wood shop - despite a full floor of power tools, only used hand tools. I think it was a combination of liability and budget cuts. 

 

I had the electronics shop as my home room. We blew up a big electrolytic (ricochetted around the room at least three times) and blasted the end off of a screw driver with a half farad capacitor we spent an hour charging. Had a ham radio station in the room. Acid-etched our own circuit boards. Because the teacher had a full wood shop at home, some of us got actual wood shop instruction outside of school. He also sponsored me building a darkroom for the school, and taught me how to mix chemistry, process film and prints, etc. Gruff old guy, who I think just blew off the rules, and believed that kids could be smart enough to stay safe if they knew the risks. 

 

I always wanted to learn machining, but never had the opportunity after that. It would come in so handy with so many of my telescope repair projects. 

 

Chip W. 

Exploding capacitors... Back in the late 1980s one of my roommates came home one day with a bass amp head he'd "rescued" from someone's trash. Thee was a burnt out capacitor, which he replaced with a new one of the right capacitance but rated at about half the proper voltage. He powered on the amp, and plugged in his bass. Sounded fantastic - for about 20 seconds, then the under-rated capacitor exploded and filled the room with smoke and bits of foil.

[clamchip]

Does anyone know where the telescope objective lens site is that lists

the lenses by aperture (example: 40mm - 100mm, 101mm - 127mm, etc.) and by

 maker and where seen (example: Clark 100mm, ebay, etc.) I can't find it.

Maybe it's gone and if so that's a real shame because it is/was a great research

reference resource.

 

 

Robert

I found it ! 

30mm thru 500mm lenses:

http://alag3.mfa.kfk...lenses/80mm.htm

 

Robert

Edited by clamchip, 22 December 2020 - 08:17 PM.

[Terra Nova]

I post this link here for a couple of reasons. One, it’s of my era and it interested me, and I think it might interest you as well. And secondly, it mentions titanium-alloy used in the aerospace industry, and that reminded me of Robert’s (clamship) telescope named Gort. So, if interested, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

 

PS- It has nothing to do with classic telescopes and everything to do with the times in which many of them, (and us), were made.

 

https://www.popsci.c...pyplane-area51/

[clamchip]

Castle Air Museum has a SR71, and a B36. I could have spent the whole summer

there!

https://www.castleai....org/collection

Here's Gort, in case you haven't met him:

Robert

 

[tim53]

I would like to see a B36 fly.  I probably did when I was little, but can't remember.

[Bob Myler]

Powered by six radial and four jet engines,

the rumble alone would break windows

30,000 feet below....

 

I would like to see a B36 fly.  I probably did when I was little, but can't remember.

 

[steve t]

I post this link here for a couple of reasons. One, it’s of my era and it interested me, and I think it might interest you as well. And secondly, it mentions titanium-alloy used in the aerospace industry, and that reminded me of Robert’s (clamship) telescope named Gort. So, if interested, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

 

PS- It has nothing to do with classic telescopes and everything to do with the times in which many of them, (and us), were made.

 

https://www.popsci.c...pyplane-area51/

Terra,

Thanks for posting the link.

Steve T

[Terra Nova]

Robert, (Clamchip), so does the National Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH; one of my favorite museums BTW, and definitely worth a visit, anyone passing through. (Plan to spend a day there! Yes, there’s that much to see and do!)

 

Steve: you are most welcome Sir!

[Mr Magoo]

Robert, (Clamchip), so does the National Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH; one of my favorite museums BTW, and definitely worth a visit, anyone passing through. (Plan to spend a day there! Yes, there’s that much to see and do!)

 

Steve: you are most welcome Sir!

It is also free to get in! I always make sure to leave a donation. I donated some of my 354th Civil Engineering Squadron patches to the museum for the CE exhibit several years ago. 

[Kasmos]

I was fortunate to see a SR-71 up close and FLY! at Edwards AFB. The one in the hanger had drip pans under it to catch the leaking fuel. They expand about 9-11" from the heat at Mach 3 making the tank seals leak. It also had a armed gaurd standing by all day.

[clamchip]

For a great movie with the B-36 watch 'Strategic Air Command' here's a little of it:

https://www.youtube....Fv&index=9&t=0s

I have a book titled 'Magnesium Overcast' it's a complete everything you want to know about the B-36.

Robert 

[DreamWeaver]

If you like aircraft and are ever in the Tucson area.  ONE OF THE LARGEST NON-GOVERNMENT FUNDED AVIATION & SPACE MUSEUMS IN THE WORLD! 
 

And pretty much just across the road.  "the largest aircraft boneyard in the world"

[Mr Magoo]

I would like to visit the Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia. They have a nice exhibit on astronomy and telescopes in the history of astronomy. Closed now due to Covid 19.

 

https://airandspace....xplore-universe

[clamchip]

Here's me with the B-36 at Castle Air Museum.

I'm right at the front wheel, blue t-shirt:

Clear fabulous sky, I wish I had a telescope!

Edited by clamchip, 11 January 2021 - 10:59 PM.

[Terra Nova]

If you like aircraft and are ever in the Tucson area.  ONE OF THE LARGEST NON-GOVERNMENT FUNDED AVIATION & SPACE MUSEUMS IN THE WORLD! 
 

And pretty much just across the road.  "the largest aircraft boneyard in the world"

I was at both of those over twenty years ago (~1998) and the museum and the boneyard were amazing. Wright-Patt is still my favorite tho.

[DreamWeaver]

If you time it right, you can watch these guys doing four days of air show certification training.  We know spring is just around the corner when these birds return to Tucson.     Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation

 

 

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[steve t]

If you time it right, you can watch these guys doing four days of air show certification training.  We know spring is just around the corner when these birds return to Tucson.     Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation

Awesome photo 

 

I wonder if the P-51 was near red line while the F-22 was near stall  

[CharlieB]

I love vintage aircraft, but let's nudge this back to telescopes, please.

[ccwemyss]

Now you have me waiting to see who posts a picture of one of the NASA flying observatories. 

 

Chip W.

[Bomber Bob]

It's Official:  Alabama is full of Space Cadets...

 

https://www.military...adquarters.html

 

I'm a fan of the NETFLIX series Space Force...  Wonder if they'll adapt to this change?  Rocket City vs. Wild Horse, Colorado...