60 replies to this topic

[Terra Nova]

"And now, for something completely different...!"

 

An interesting fact about the Edmund product line is that much of their items were based upon regular products that could be found at any local hardware store then and, even today! Example being the venerable "adjustable Barlow lens" that came with every Edmund scope. The brass tubing was actually a household plumbing extension that can still be found in the stores today! They bought them without the chrome plating that is common today. Instead, they had them blackened chemically either in their facility or locally. I know because I needed a replacement for one and found one at a local hardware store. The lens fit perfectly and all I had to do was to blacken the inside to prevent glare.

 

The people back then were absolutely geniuses and very resourceful when compared to vendors of today. I fully expect that it was a combination of having been through the Great Depression and having just had survived WWII and had plenty of surplus "stuff" with which to play.

 

Food for thought.

 

We now return to our normally scheduled forum. LOL

 

Q

And there was a huge DIY and hobby movement back then. People had more leisure time I think and weren’t the workaholics they are today. The 1950s were à fascinating time.

[clamchip]

Ace hardware have a fantastic fastener department, and is where you will find Bakelite knobs.

Also they have real slot head screws, not those awful slot/philips combo head jobs.

And lots of stainless and brass, real machined screws, not stamped.

Thank you Ace Hardware.

 

Robert

Edited by clamchip, 26 January 2023 - 10:59 AM.

[ccwemyss]

An interesting fact about the Edmund product line is that much of their items were based upon regular products that could be found at any local hardware store then and, even today! Example being the venerable "adjustable Barlow lens" that came with every Edmund scope. The brass tubing was actually a household plumbing extension that can still be found in the stores today! They bought them without the chrome plating that is common today. Instead, they had them blackened chemically either in their facility or locally. I know because I needed a replacement for one and found one at a local hardware store. The lens fit perfectly and all I had to do was to blacken the inside to prevent glare.

 

Q

Probably like some others here, I drive the local hardware people crazy, wondering around the store, looking at odd pieces of hardware and measuring them, hoping to find something I can misuse for another purpose. When they ask what I'm looking for and I tell them, I get blank stares, like nobody else ever thinks to use their merchandise for anything other than what's on the label.

 

Maybe it's just that I'm on the threshold of being mechanically adventurous enough to try, but not over the edge into owning a machine shop, which would likely solve the problems I make for myself.

 

Chip W. 

[clamchip]

This equatorial on my K-4 looks up to the job of carrying the 4-1/4 inch optical tube.

From what I've read mine being unpainted is more evidence this is a K-4 kit scope.

The shafts are very rusty and will need to be cleaned to remove the shafts from the

housings for a lube job. Under the counterweight the shaft is bright steel like it was

made yesterday.

Robert

 

 

 

[Dave Trott]

That is a rare and charming classic telescope. You are very lucky, Robert!

Edited by Dave Trott, 27 January 2023 - 11:56 AM.

[jcruse64]

Love that, Robert!!!

[B 26354]

This equatorial on my K-4 looks up to the job of carrying the 4-1/4 inch optical tube. From what I've read mine being unpainted is more evidence this is a K-4 kit scope.

 

The shafts are very rusty and will need to be cleaned to remove the shafts from the housings for a lube job. Under the counterweight the shaft is bright steel like it was made yesterday.

 

As I recall, there were no bearings at all in the EQ head on my kit K-4. Just nicely-machined mating-surfaces and openings in the aluminum castings, for the steel shafts. Be interesting to know how things are with yours, once you pull it apart.

 

Edited by B 26354, 27 January 2023 - 06:39 PM.

[clamchip]

More interesting things about my K-4.

Look at the way the legs attach to the pedestal.

Again very fine castings, and really nice machining evident.

And more unpainted K-4 kit parts, fine with me I love natural aluminum castings.

The castings are so good I wonder if Mr. Spacek ordered match plates.

Match plates for sand castings offer greater speed and accuracy but 

are expensive.

Robert

 

[PDuval]

Album: Classic mount. Spacek 10” f6 Newtonian

9 images

0 comments

[Couder]

Piers like that can sometimes be found in businesses that sell machine shop tooling. I have a couple, one was the base for a large grinder and the other who knows, but they are big and heavy. If they are not tall enough, a welding shop can cut the top off, and add a section of square tube. That's what I used for my 12" Fecker Classical cassegrain. I don't have the after picture, but attached is when I brought it home, it had been powder coated. The second picture is my 16" shop grinder, just so you know what to look for when shopping for a large pier base!

Attached Thumbnails

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[jkmccarthy]

Last month I purchased the Spacek K-4 OTA that Bob Midiri rescued years ago (pictures of which he shared in post #5 of this very thread -- https://www.cloudyni...cope/?p=7999560), after he advertised it for sale in the CN Classifieds (ad #382269). I very much appreciate Bob's willingness to work with me on boxing it up for shipping across the country -- very gracious of him, and it arrived unscathed.

 

I'd purchased an 8-inch length of 3"- wide aluminum channel iron that I intend to cut down in height and attach to the side of the tube (to replicate the tube saddle shown in clamchip's [Robert's] post #54 above) using the pair of 1/4-20 bolts already emerging from the side of the OTA.   But then I realized that the spacing between those bolts exactly matched the 150mm spacing necessary to bolt it onto the V-block saddle of a late-model Vixen Polaris equatorial mount (i.e., the later version that uses threaded steel plugs as seats for the push-screws of the tube-crusher rings ... see the 26-seconds of Dave Trott's video here from 5:44 -- 6:10 ... https://www.youtube....PGMsehlo&t=344s), so in the meantime the easiest path for me to get the Spacek OTA mounted was simply to mate it to the Polaris equatorial's V-block saddle.

 

Pictures of this setup can be found in a CN photo album I created, Spacek 4.25-inch f/11 Newtonian on Vixen Polaris ... see below

 

Album: Spacek 4.25-inch f/11 Newtonian on Vixen Polaris

6 images

0 comments

 

((Part of me now kinda regrets not making a bid on this Yahoo! Japan Auction lot for a Vixen Polaris interfaced onto a pedestal mount:   https://zenmarket.jp...ode=q1148550774.  But the auction ended a few days before I received the Spacek OTA and began thinking about mounting options for it.  Besides the high opening bid amount, I knew the high shipping cost would have made it even more expensive ... and the end result would still be far less authentic than the genuine Spacek equatorial mounts + pedestals pictured throughout this thread ...)).

 

Still, I'm happy to own this 4-1/4 inch OTA --- given my past association with Mr. Michael Spacek during the summer of 1980 --- and to have it on an equatorial mount now, ready for use.  As Bob Midiri mentioned in his ad, both of its mirrors (the secondary mirror especially) will need to be recoated, but first I'd like to conduct a star test to judge the optical figure.

 

Clear Skies hopefully soon,

 

        -- Jim

 

P.S.   The long white finderscope is a vintage Edmunds 6x24 recently offered-up by Pete W in the CN Classifieds (ad #386247) that's definitely longer than what Spacek provided originally, but at least it fit into the original Spacek finderscope stalk on the OTA.  As received from Bob Midiri, the 4.25-inch Spacek Newtonian was outfitted with an Edmund black dust-cap in the front of the tube, which I consider a nice touch (see photo #6 just added to the album).

Edited by jkmccarthy, 28 September 2024 - 04:29 PM.