I have read through this from the beginning. The issue is that the telescope is beyond practical proper repair for posterity, regardless of location. The concept of JB weld and a metal strap completely eliminates a good nostalgic purpose. I hate to be the one to look ugly stating the facts but hope for some support here since this needs to be expressed. What still exist of the scope can be salvaged to some extent but going to full function is not going to be worth the time and cost by almost all outside opinions so people will feel uncomfortable getting involved with their time.
Unfortunately the above links to similar (or same) scopes show ridiculous prices that are misleading to any true value. The very first link offered in this thread is this one:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144382772693
which is a price no one here would ever pay. A good number of the other ads on that page are at prices no one here would pay. Ebay is NOT a good reference.
There is no glass, destroyed focuser that doesn't work for the draw tube and has the stalk completely broken off and gone, broken plastic cell, missing hardware, dilapidated paper tube (maybe phenolic which would be better), and possibly rusted parts beyond use. The tube looks like it could have mold. What I would do if someone brought it to me and gave it to me for FREE is offer parts for free if anything was useable and eventually throw the rest away. It has no value to posterity as a whole because there are many nice ones around. It hurts to toss out telescope parts which is why I have so much scope crap around here, but I've done it and sometimes it's the only way to go.
Just about anything can be rebuilt, casting new parts from scratch, finding used part, non original parts, ugly repairs that work, and so on. If one of these is important to the Philippines, then I suggest it would be easier and cheaper and better to buy a nice one and have it shipped over.
Yes it distinctly looks like a Harmonic Reed compared to the other toy scopes similar to it. I have never had a Reed, I determined this with a simple search and comparison including Gilbert (I have one) and Innova which was mentioned in one of the above links.
Starting from the bottom up: De rust and clean up the tripod, mount, and hardware. See if the legs have enough metal left for integrity, then paint and protect parts with an inhibitor if appropriate. It might have a decent nostalgic mount as best I can tell from the pictures. I am not getting into what paints, best way to remove rust, inhibitors, etc. Any car experience should cover that.
The tube is paper that might have protective plastic (phenolic) impregnated into it. You don't want to wash it in a tub of water. I've saved moldy old boxes by spraying with a bleach solution and minimal careful wiping. Clean the tube as careful as you can, try to stick down any loose pealing cover wrap somehow, let it dry, and paint it - several coats. You can try using something to make a pebbly texture in the bare areas. It might be easier to glue on a new cover wrap if you can find something similar. Paint the inside flat black. It looks like you might be able have a decent tube from the pictures.
Using your own picture, the red arrow points to what looks like a pinion gear that is shifted off to one side. Up to you to take the focuser apart. Someone here might have actually did that and know how, or do some search or just have to figure out how to get it apart and see what's going on in there. If any teeth are messed up then combined with the broken off secondary - it's garbage. You can try rebuilding broken focusing stuff and attaching another secondary, it's your time and money. Someone here might have a trashed scope they can send you a decent original focuser.
JB weld may or may not stick to the plastic, Try it to see. It might fix the broken mirror cell which is also missing a collimation knob. The cell might be ABS plastic which you could test in a small hidden area to see if ABS glue melts the plastic. ABS glue MELTS the plastic so you need to be careful with repairs but if it is ABS you can reform the broken part of the cell and even add more abs shavings into the mix or add a reinforcement piece to it.
Finally, you need to find a primary and secondary with stalk. And a collimation knob that will work. See if the eyepiece is salvageable.
I think the tripod, mount, and tube might fix up and look good. The rest can be fixed or replaced with a small shipping box to keep shipping as cheap as you can hope for. You haven't mentioned the size yet. It might be 3" primary or 2.5" primary? I've had this roughly 2.5" size assembly floating around here for years. IF it is the right size, AND you get the rest working, THEN I'd give this to you for FREE (cost of shipping).
Attached Thumbnails
Edited by apfever, 28 June 2023 - 10:01 AM.
