CF tubes

[Astroscot2]

I was wondering if anyone was aware of a supplier of CF tubes either in the UK or Europe, Ideally a company who could do a bespoke tube for a telescope ?

[JamesM]

I managed to find this company on the internet which appeared to provide a variety of finishes and a range of technologies that can help construct your tube e.g tube made of one product with CF on the outside. I have never used them and so have no idea if they are any good but the options provided be it custom or standard tubing and everything in between would suggest to me that they appear to know what they're doing. Certainly a good starting point regarding price as to whether your project is viable. Let me know how you get on with them or anyone else you might find as I have a refractor project in mind and would be interested in your results.

Clear skies

James

[Pablito]

I bought 240mm ID tube from here:

klaushelmi.de

72cm long tube costed me 200eur

The tube itself is ok but paintjob is not great. I'd suggest making it by some car painter.

P.S. My SN8" carbon tube project is in progress, will post results soon.

[johninderby]

I managed to find this company on the internet which appeared to provide a variety of finishes and a range of technologies that can help construct your tube e.g tube made of one product with CF on the outside. I have never used them and so have no idea if they are any good but the options provided be it custom or standard tubing and everything in between would suggest to me that they appear to know what they're doing. Certainly a good starting point regarding price as to whether your project is viable. Let me know how you get on with them or anyone else you might find as I have a refractor project in mind and would be interested in your results.

Clear skies

James

That company can make really nice CF tube, but they have a £300.00 minimum order.

John

[Astroscot2]

Thank for the replies folks.

Mark

[JamesM]

John, would that be considered expensive for CF? I've no idea although clearly it's a lot more than aluminium. I still can't make my mind up if CF is good for scopes or not when it comes to helping them cool down. Many on Cloudy Nights seemed to prefer aluminium in being able to release the heat quicker.

James

[johninderby]

I think their £300.00 minimum is for each size of custom tube ordered probably due to their setup costs.

Carbon fibre cools slower than aluminium, but is more stable once it's cooled.

John