Making your own scope

[Sully]

I have read a few threads where guys are building their own scopes. But where do you get a good quality mirror for such a project? My thinking is you build your own to Get bigger apperture,save some coin, as well as self satisfaction. So where do you start? Are there any good guides out there on making your own?

Very interested in you opinions

Cheers

Sully

[E621Keith]

You can get mirror set from Orion Optics or Galvo Optics. I think Galvo also do mirror blanks if you want to grind the mirror yourself. Have a look at the DIY section of the forum for more info on ATM.

If you buy ready made mirror cells, tube, secondary mirror, spiders, focuser etc... DIY will probably be more expensive then getting a new Chinese made scope off the shelf.

Unless you are going to make all the parts yourself, I think the cheapest way to get all the components you need is to buy a used scope for parts.

[umadog]

I'm not sure you'll save money by building yourself but you can potentially end up with a higher quality product than what you'd get in the store. I built my first Dob as a teenager and it worked well enough. The mass-produced scopes are made out of chip-board and so are excessively heavy. Their centre of gravity is rather far up the tube and this makes the mount much larger than it needs to be. You will be able to make a nicer telescope yourself. You could make an Obsession clone. See how much more low-profile they are: Obsession Telescopes / Telescopes / 12.5" Classic Obsession sell ATM parts and their book on how to make everything work: Obsession Telescopes / ATM Parts Webster Telescopes also sell ATM parts, but they don't have such a pretty website so you wouldn't know it: Webster Telescopes - Large Dobsonian Telescopes You can also, of course, make all the parts yourself if you have suitable tools.

Mirrors can be sourced from the UK here: Orion Optics UK - Manufacturers of Precision Astronomical Telescopes and Optical Components or Europe here: Welkom op de website van www.huygensoptics.com. There are other suppliers in Europe, but I don't remember who they are. I think Huygens has a better reputation than OO, but if you really care about quality you should ask around and do some homework before buying. There are also the US mirror makers if you care to shop further afield. Lockwood, Zambuto, Waite Research, Swayze... All fashion stunning mirrors. However, you will definitely not be saving coin over a mass-produced scope if you want a guarantee of quality optics. Alternatively, you can buy mirrors from the Chinese optical house GSO and build a nice structure around them. This will be cheaper but the quality is a little more hit and miss. In the future you could swap-out or re-figure the optics should you feel that is necessary. You may not feel so: there are some very good Chinese mirrors out there.

Another option instead of building yourself from scratch is to build from a kit. This is offered by this chap: DobSTUFF - Complete Telescopes or Wood Parts for your Optics In the UK, you could contact Beacon Hill telescopes. He made the cell, focuser, and spider for my DIY job back in the 90s. His stuff is rather "rough and ready", though.

[cantab]

Astroboot fairly often have various mirror sets going, usually salvaged from damaged scopes. Not going to be the best quality, but if the focus is on economy or on the building process they might be up to the job.