Chriske

Can't print this thread, to small for my printers, pity... Even with a 0.3 nozzle. I'll try one more time lowering Extrusion Multiplier.

Finally found some free time to start testing this Helix. Sorry about the delay. I was very busy these last months. Before starting I have a question ; you added a 13mm long thread into the lower part of the casing. It is not needed at all imo, correct..?

Could it be zamak..? ZAMAK (or Zamac, formerly trademarked as MAZAK[1]) is a family of alloys with a base metal of zinc and alloying elements of aluminium, magnesium, and copper. Zamak alloys are part of the zinc aluminium alloy family; they are distinguished from the other ZA alloys because of their constant 4% aluminium composition.[2] The name zamak is an acronym of the German names for the metals of which the alloys are composed: Zink (zinc), Aluminium, Magnesium and Kupfer (copper).[2] The New Jersey Zinc Company developed zamak alloys in 1929. The most common zamak alloy is zamak 3. Besides that, zamak 2, zamak 5 and zamak 7 are also commercially used.[2] These alloys are most commonly die cast.[2] Zamak alloys (particularly #3 and #5) are frequently used in the spin casting industry. A large problem with early zinc die casting materials was zinc pest, owing to impurities in the alloys.[3] Zamak avoided this by the use of 99.99% pure zinc metal, produced by New Jersey Zinc's use of a refluxer as part of the refining process.

About NASA's new space suits

Yesterday during pre-opendoor there were two astronauts walking amongst visitors in Urania(our observatory) Koen wore a replica of SaturnV space-suit and the second person(me) in a brand new suit that will be used for the Artemis crew. The suit was made by my wife(Nicole) btw. And this is the actual crew for SLS NASA's second mission. To be clear, the SLS 'astronaut' in the pictures above is not one of them...🤣

Meanwhile a second SaturnV is in the making, also scale 1:33 The little one is 320mm high. In the picture(right) is also the very tip of Orion's escape rocket at scale 1:10

Meanwhile printed at scale 1:10... Printed @ scale 1:10 this Service Module is about 500mm in diameter.

A few more decals to add..

almost done... Not a pretty looking rocket imo. I prefer the SaturnV looks.

Peter is finishing details on SLS's boosters.

This is the almost finished SLS-CM. Still working on the SM. Scale 1:10, so it has a diameter of 503mm

While we're at it we decided to add a CM-SM-escape tower at scale 1:10 to this unit. Four people are busy drawing/printing these parts.

Still at it... Almost finished these two. Still to add some smaller details and decals

SaturnV almost done and already working on new models. This time we'll be building four Artemis rockets and one Orion capsule. 2 Artemis combinations scale (as always) 1:33. Only one of these two will be build with a launchplatform and LUT. Finished it will be 4.2m high 2 other, somewhat smaller, will be build at scale 1:59 The Orion capsule will be build at scale 1:10 First steps, painting the boosters... More to come...

you can, just ask one of the mod's to change the title.

Only now that I come to think of it, why do you call this a Helical focuser..? imo it is not a Helical at all. Helical focuser all rotate the eyepiece barrel with a eyepiece in it. There is one exception, and that is the one @Vlad made. It is a helical focuser indeed but Vlad's eyepieces do not rotate. But the good news is that you just made a completely new type of focuser...😃 ...for which you need to find a new name...😉

John, that was 60 years ago, I think you should read this... btw, the first article about silvering mirrors was written by the famous Mr Porter in Ingalls book ATM I. And it was quit a success, even in those early ATM days. Cleaning and rinsing is the key to a sticky silver coating.

A few weeks back I found this site, explaining 'how to' silvering telescope-mirrors. For about 40 years now I own my own bell-jar to (aluminium)coat mirrors up to 550mm. In those days I purchased it from a company busy renewing all their machines. Replacing the old with newer and most of all faster machines. In those days it costed me 'only' a equivalent of 1100€...a bargain..! I completely rebuilt it to make room for large disks. Only drawback is you constantly need to work on that machine, from time to time replacing parts. It is in fact a time consuming process, maintenance + coating. But now I will be using this rather old, but renewed' technique to silver a telescopemirror. A 'kit' cost about 500$ and will silver (and coat) about 27m² of glass. Someone here already used or planning to use this method...?

In the early days of Thingiverse I had about 75 different project uploaded to Thingiverse. Later on I erased them all due to personal reasons. These days here on SGL I often get requests from 'members' registered just minutes before and later on never heard of again. The only goal of these people is harvesting the work of other members. As a matter of fact I never reply to these people let alone send files to them. Most of them are from one particular country that like to copy all kind of things. Regular members here on SGL I do send files from time to time, but not by PM. I always send files by mail or Wetransfer.

One more possibility to consider. Why not redesign the focuser just a little bit adding two bevel gears so the focuser knob is at a more 'natural' position. iow at a 90° angle to the optical axis. Do not misunderstand me, I think it's a genius concept, but some users are not prone to use a vertical focusing knob.

Nicely done.! I was more thinking of vertical strips. That should do the job even better imo.