Flocking with a twist.

[Laurie61]

Hi all, just though I would share my experience with flocking a scope. This particular flocking experiment was carried out on a C11 but could also be used on a Newtonian.

This story started after playing with the Newtonian design software called Newt. At the time I was looking at the possibility of fitting baffles into an 8.75” Newtonian. The software has the facility to show where baffles can best be fitted to eliminate stray light. The problem is unless the tube of your scope is of an appropriate diameter it may be impossible to fit baffles without obstructing the primary mirror and reducing the effective aperture, which is not really a good idea. So the baffle idea was put to one side for a while as options were considered.

I then came by an old Meade LX6 scope in need of a bit of TLC and after stripping and rebuilding looked at doing something with the inside’s to reduce the stray light reflected off the black paint finish. SCT's are often flocked to reduce stray light and I decided to try this. It was then I had a bit of a Eureka moment and thought it might be possible to combine both the elements of flocking and baffling and not cause any reduction to the aperture. The idea being to use flocking material, but fit it in such a way as to create a low profile baffle. I made a visit to the local craft shop and bought some heavy black card and some flocking sheets, the card was cut to fit the tube and then the flocking sheets were cut into strips of equal width. These were then applied to the card, starting at one end, and working up, overlapping the new piece on top of the previous to create a lip. Once the whole card is covered it can be fitted into the OTA and held in place by double sided tape or whatever you feel is appropriate. The card when flocked tends to want to stay flat and this helps to hold it in place once fitted inside the tube. It does have the desired effect of removing any stray light, being very hard to see the tube wall. I did try the scope in a ‘before and after’ test on the Orion Nebula and it does allow this 10” scope to show some colour which I had not seen before, so am very pleased.

This brings me to the C11, with the LX6 I used quite wide pieces of material to create the baffle effect and once completed decided it would be more effective if narrower strips were used. So using the same basic technique I have Flock/baffled this scope but created many more baffles to try and maximise any benefit. This time the ‘before and after’ test was Saturn and there does seem to be an improvement in contrast compared to the standard C11 OTA.

I have not tested whether this particular method performs any better than fitting the flocking material in the conventional way and I wouldn’t expect to see a huge difference to be honest but it doesn’t cost much more when compared to the standard technique. Marking and cutting all the strips though will take longer.

This may have been done before, although I have not seen this method used elsewhere, so I’m not trying to claim ownership of the idea but thought others might like to give it a go if considering flocking your scope.

Clear sky’s Laurie

[faulksy]

that looks fabulous, very nicely done, did you flock the tube as well ?

[SnakeyJ]

Laurie,

that looks a fantastic job and good low profile solution, though sounds a fair bit of work.

Did you use the DC-Fix or Protostar flocking material? I've done three newts with the DC-Fix and have found that it does shed quite a lot of fibres and the effect may be worse when cut in to lots of short strips - this can be mitigated with brush, vacuum cleaner and a final pat down with sellotape, though I still get some loose fibres falling down and getting statically attracted to the primary.

[Laurie61]

Hi faulksy, yes I did the tube. The flocking material was bought from Hobby Craft in A4 sheets and cut into 10mm strips before layering onto the card. I originally tried this on the LX6 about 2 years ago and I haven’t noticed any problem with shedding fibers, although I used the same trick as you Jake and went over the flocking material with sellotape before fitting into the tube.

Flocking a piece of card also allows you to remove, more easily, in future if there’s a problem or you want to sell the scope in original condition. I have also flock/baffled a 6” Mak with no problems.

Before and after shot of the C11, before refitting the corrector plate and the finished LX6.

[SnakeyJ]

The before and after shots show massive improvement and having it card based/removable is a great idea. Without an unmodded comparison its difficult to measure the improvement, but certain this will improve contrast and definition both visually and for any AP.

[Cath]

Another SCT flocker

I like the idea of adding baffle rings. I thought about doing it on my 6" when I flocked it last week but decided I'll leave that to another day - being as it was my first ever flocking session.

The matt black painted surfaces in these SCT's are certainly quite shiny/reflective aren't they Laurie. More than you think they would be.

Well done!

[Cath]

The before and after shots show massive improvement and having it card based/removable is a great idea. Without an unmodded comparison its difficult to measure the improvement, but certain this will improve contrast and definition both visually and for any AP.

I did a before and after comparison on mine Jake, although only with day light images ..

[SnakeyJ]

I did a before and after comparison on mine Jake, although only with day light images ..

http://stargazerslou...60#entry1922190

Very interesting comparison Cath - I wouldn't have thought of doing a daylight test, but much easier to asses/control conditions. The flocked images definitely show a big improvement in contrast here.

Laurie's come up with a very elegant solution to flock and get some baffling, given the limited space between the OTA diameter and light path and very nice that it can be easilly taken out later on if required.

[Cath]

very nice that it can be easilly taken out later on if required.

Yes that is nice!

I did find that the flock (self adhesive velor) I used can be pealed back off again without leaving anything behind, but using thin card as a backing would make that a lot easier

And whilst making all those tube baffles might well be very fiddely and time consuming, it's got to be worth it. I'd quite happy get comfy and spend however much time it takes to improve things, as well as the end result being satisfying.

[A McEwan]

This looks like a brilliant idea! I'm going to do this fopr my 180 Mak. I'd sort of wanted to flock it but didn't fancy the tricky shenanegans of getting the flocking material in and flat, but this looks ideal!

Ant

[Laurie61]

Hi Cath thanks for the link to your thread. The daylight comparison shots are a good idea. As you say, the internal surface on the insides of many SCT/Mak’s are more reflective than you might expect. In theory if the standard tube baffles are doing there job flocking shouldn’t be needed but you have to feel that reducing as much of the unnecessary light scatter as possible can only help? From my own experience it does seem to enhance the contrast.

Something else I, and my brother, have been playing with for increasing SCT performance, is apodizing mask's but that will be going into another thread at some point.

You will have to let us know how you get on with your 180 Mak Ant, take a few photo’s and post them up when you get chance.

Laurie.

[A McEwan]

Yes I will. It won't be for a little while though, will need to plan a quiet Saturday or Sunday to do the job!

Ant

[faulksy]

very interested in doing this after cath did it but even more so now, just wish i could colimate

[Laurie61]

Hi faulksy, If your scope is already well collimated you could probably

remove the corrector plate and flock the scope without upsetting the

alignment. Just be very careful Have you removed a corrector plate

before? My C11 has needed collimating most times it's been used.