215 replies to this topic

[jragsdale]

Had a buddy laser cut a thin wooden mask for the new 10" lens. It's actually a 10.25" clear aperture and there's a few small edge chips I wanted to hide so he made me a press fit thin wooden ring so I can step it down to 10" even. It's the little things! Got it painted flat black and installed. Ready to go!

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[jragsdale]

I am a big fan of hose-clamps and a hacksaw. Only way to get a nice straight square cut. It takes a while, but its worth it!

Where do I get 13" OD hose clamps? 

 

Today I cleaned up the nameplate on the scope and removed all the old white lacquer in the engraved reliefs and replaced it with black lacquer stick. Turned out pretty good! That lacquer stick is pretty slow to dry so I'll give this a good 2 weeks then give it a very light wet sand with 800 grit to brighten up the metal and increase contrast then top coat with a thin car wax for protection.

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[Sean Cunneen]

You can chain them together, 2 8" clamps should do the trick.

[jragsdale]

You can chain them together, 2 8" clamps should do the trick.

I didn't even think of that! Good idea! 

[jragsdale]

Just found a Chromacor for $550 to add to this scope! Woohoo!

[deSitter]

Just found a Chromacor for $550 to add to this scope! Woohoo!

That's a steal!

 

-drl

[rwiederrich]

How are things coming along with the new tube and all your mods?

 

Rob

[jragsdale]

How are things coming along with the new tube and all your mods?

 

Rob

I've been at a standstill on the rear flange, I took it to a machine shop and they wanted $1200 for all the mods I needed. But I found a local friend with a big 12" lathe who was able to do them well, and much cheaper, but he's busy too so he's still working on it. But basically having a large 6½" new rear adapter made that has an M90 male threads to accept a nice 2.5" TS focuser. Once I get that in I'll cut the tube a little shorter (~10") then should be able to reinstall everything and get it going. After everything fits well and is as functional as I want it, I'll start on the cosmetics to really make it pop.

[Kevin Barker]

I would be tempted to build a Berry mount for it.

But what you have there might be good enough to see what you have in the optics.

I'm in the middle of a similar project with a unknown 8 inch f/6 mirror, I'm temporarily using another

tube to see what I have. If I like it I'll give it a structure and mount to match its performance.

 

Robert 

Here is a simple Berry that works with a 16 kg 7 inch f-8 ota and an 11 kg 6 inch f-12 ota.

[jragsdale]

Here is a simple Berry that works with a 16 kg 7 inch f-8 ota and an 11 kg 6 inch f-12 ota.

I'd be interested to see what kind of Berry mount this OTA would take. It'll be about 55kg when it's all done.

[Kevin Barker]

 

I'd be interested to see what kind of Berry mount this OTA would take. It'll be about 55kg when it's all done.

It is possible but obviously you would need to scale up.

I have used  8 inch bearings for these relatively light scopes. The tripod is made from 4" x 2" pine and has strong door hinges connecting the legs to the mount. The weight of the ota and counterweight locks it in place.

You might want to use metal for some parts. I used 25 mm marine ply for the Berry mount. My ota's are made from PVC and plywood. The red one is a hexagon.

Both can handle 250 X and work smoothly.

 

If your scope used precision made 12 inch or larger bearings it should work well. Although I think it would be best in a permanent set up. Still with careful thought and a couple of strong astronomers it might be possible to make it semi portable.

 

Edited by Kevin Barker, 02 August 2023 - 12:13 PM.

[rwiederrich]

I've been at a standstill on the rear flange, I took it to a machine shop and they wanted $1200 for all the mods I needed. But I found a local friend with a big 12" lathe who was able to do them well, and much cheaper, but he's busy too so he's still working on it. But basically having a large 6½" new rear adapter made that has an M90 male threads to accept a nice 2.5" TS focuser. Once I get that in I'll cut the tube a little shorter (~10") then should be able to reinstall everything and get it going. After everything fits well and is as functional as I want it, I'll start on the cosmetics to really make it pop.

My cousin has a 24" lathe....so I was able to turn and machine my aft plate....focuser mount on it.   I found a 1/4" thick 12" aluminum pressure pot that I used for the back plate for my 10"f/15.  Just a bit of machining and bammm!   She slipped right onto the 12"tube perfectly.    Here are some pics of the lathe job and the fitting of the painted aft cap with the 6" focuser interface.

 

 

Rob

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[deSitter]

My cousin has a 24" lathe....so I was able to turn and machine my aft plate....focuser mount on it.   I found a 1/4" thick 12" aluminum pressure pot that I used for the back plate for my 10"f/15.  Just a bit of machining and bammm!   She slipped right onto the 12"tube perfectly.    Here are some pics of the lathe job and the fitting of the painted aft cap with the 6" focuser interface.

 

 

Rob

wow nice

 

-drl

[jragsdale]

My cousin has a 24" lathe....so I was able to turn and machine my aft plate....focuser mount on it.   I found a 1/4" thick 12" aluminum pressure pot that I used for the back plate for my 10"f/15.  Just a bit of machining and bammm!   She slipped right onto the 12"tube perfectly.    Here are some pics of the lathe job and the fitting of the painted aft cap with the 6" focuser interface.

That's pretty similar to what I've got, my back plate is 12¾" OD and about 2½ thick. Here's what I'm starting with. And I ordered a big chunk of aluminum to turn down to fit this that steps down to M90 eventually. I'll post more pics when it gets close!

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[Kokatha man]

...pretty late reply on the question of larger hose clamps: you can actually buy lengths of the clamp strip (I got a 3 metre length) and buy the worm fittings separately...air-conditioning/ducting suppliers are the places to get these.

[rwiederrich]

That's pretty similar to what I've got, my back plate is 12¾" OD and about 2½ thick. Here's what I'm starting with. And I ordered a big chunk of aluminum to turn down to fit this that steps down to M90 eventually. I'll post more pics when it gets close!

2.5" thick?  Wow..that is a hunk of metal.  You must be using it for counterweight.   I chose not to do that and I mounted the counterweights externally as seen in my picture.  Plus I found the pot laying around the horse paddock....and it worked for my purposes.  Feed bucket to aft cap for my telescope.

 

I built 2 focusers for my 10".  One has a standard 2" draw tube.  that is internally driven electrically and the other is a *Huge* 6" focuser with an internal adjustable stop...made adjustable by the left focus knob, and focus by the right focus knob.

 

Keep moving forward...I am enjoying your progress.

 

Rob

[jragsdale]

I've been stalled on this project for a bit working on the back-end, getting a nice tailpiece machined and deciding on the right focuser. Also today I finally cut 12" off the tube as planned, here's a video showing the process using a rotating jig with casters and an angle grinder attached to a hinged pivot: https://youtu.be/BGm...iy9RY0G38aoum6H

 

Things are coming together quickly now!

[jragsdale]

Here's the new tailpiece that's a 6.5" insert with 4.5" x 24 this internal threads. Then I'm having a part made by a friend for 4.5" to M117 male, and these handy cheap M117 extension tubes made for large RC scopes will be the final piece before the M117 3" TS-Optics focuser with 110mm drawtube travel. The extension tubes are 2x50mm and 1x25mm so I can add or subtract as needed for things like imaging vs binoviewers + diagonal.

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[jragsdale]

In an effort to help add some ballast weight to the back end of the scope so it rides a little higher in the saddle, I had these shapes 3D printed by a friend that fit snug behind the baffles inside the tube. Having 4 made, fill with lead shot then top off with epoxy resin. Final weight is about 13bs after all 4 are done. That should help quite a bit!

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[jragsdale]

Also found this used marine steering wheel on eBay for $30, I think I can cut the spokes a little shorter and spot weld them onto the baseplate.  Should work pretty well as long as I can weld them together without issue.

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[CHASLX200]

In an effort to help add some ballast weight to the back end of the scope so it rides a little higher in the saddle, I had these shapes 3D printed by a friend that fit snug behind the baffles inside the tube. Having 4 made, fill with lead shot then top off with epoxy resin. Final weight is about 13bs after all 4 are done. That should help quite a bit!

Big finders are your friend for back weight.  Slap on a 4" F/6 fract for a super finder with a 21mm Ethos. I hate top heavy scopes that are hung low in the saddle where ya gotta view on your belly.

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Edited by CHASLX200, 20 April 2024 - 05:31 AM.

[jragsdale]

Big finders are your friend for back weight.  Slap on a 4" F/6 fract for a super finder with a 21mm Ethos. I hate top heavy scopes that are hung low in the saddle where ya gotta view on your belly.

Yeah, I plan to put a finder or 2 on the back and a single external sliding counterweight as well. I really don't like low hanging scopes either. Big issue is I can't just mount anything through the tube as the baffles are all welded on a long rail that slides in and out of the back of the tube and they are a TIGHT fit, so if I have any nuts or protrusions on the inside of the tube then I'll have to cut out small clearance notches on all the baffles to allow it to still slide in. Or I get more tube rings, but it's a custom size and Parallax ones are spendy. Maybe I can 3D print something though?...

[CHASLX200]

Yeah, I plan to put a finder or 2 on the back and a single external sliding counterweight as well. I really don't like low hanging scopes either. Big issue is I can't just mount anything through the tube as the baffles are all welded on a long rail that slides in and out of the back of the tube and they are a TIGHT fit, so if I have any nuts or protrusions on the inside of the tube then I'll have to cut out small clearance notches on all the baffles to allow it to still slide in. Or I get more tube rings, but it's a custom size and Parallax ones are spendy. Maybe I can 3D print something though?...

Unitron like Uniclamps could help.

[jragsdale]

Unitron like Uniclamps could help.

Yeah, I think I'll 3D print something of a similar shape. I'm actually putting an Orion 80ST on the back of mine as well. It's not a heavy scope, but it'll help. And I've got a counterweight kit from an old orange C8 I can use as well. That should be enough ballast to give it a comfortable viewing height.

[CHASLX200]

Yeah, I think I'll 3D print something of a similar shape. I'm actually putting an Orion 80ST on the back of mine as well. It's not a heavy scope, but it'll help. And I've got a counterweight kit from an old orange C8 I can use as well. That should be enough ballast to give it a comfortable viewing height.

Or go super high pier like i did on a SW150ED and AP800. I know a 10" is in another class vs a 6" and you got the added weight.

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