Recently davidmcgo posted about a vintage C4 Celestron Telephoto lens that he picked up on ebay from the blue and white era, but in a black barrel that I have never seen examples of. Coincidently I lucked into a blue and white Celestron C10 OTA that was clearly built to be used as a lens. I have never seen an example of such an OTA outside a black and white ad in Bob Piekiel's book.
From what I learned the previous owner picked this up from an auction when an aerospace company closed, with the hope to use it as a telescope. However he was a novice the focus knob was frozen and there was no mount. The scope then sat collecting dust for a decade when he sold it to me.
This C10 is number 227 and appears to be a later version with some interesting differences from earlier blue and whites so I thought to share this with classics group.
Overall its in good shape considering the age but the tube is scratched up with a few small dents, some extra holes were drilled in the castings for unknown attachments now gone and a decade or more of grunge. The focuser is part of the tri-spindle and all three bearing have dried out grease. As there is no way to clean and repack the bearings without taking the OTA apart I thought to document the process and use this forum to seek help as well.
