Went for it - cleaned primary and flocked tube

[Bart]

Well, after discovering what looked like rust or something all over the inside of the tube, I decided to treat the 'rust' and flock the tube to prevent any other problems. First lightly sanded with steel wool and then painted an anti rust primer (red!) . Left overnight and then flocked. What a pain in the galaxy! It looks like an aero bar, with the bubbles! Never mind. I was thinking, I'm sure some bright spark has a method of bubble proofing this!

[Stargazer_00]

Good job, the mirror looks a lot cleaner. I found the issue with bubbles is best resolved by appying the flock material slowly by pushing firmly with the side of your hand and rotating it around the tube. If you go too fast the flock can bridge a small part of the shape and leave a void behind it, a bubble. It wont effect the performance at all so no need to worry about it unless you have OCD.

[Bart]

Ha! Just noticed my wife's reflection in 'relaxing' stuff after walk this afternoon with kids! She'd kill me if she knew. Funny. Good job I'm not a professional criminal, leaving clues everywhere.

Barry

[Bart]

Good job, the mirror looks a lot cleaner. I found the issue with bubbles is best resolved by appying the flock material slowly by pushing firmly with the side of your hand and rotating it around the tube. If you go too fast the flock can bridge a small part of the shape and leave a void behind it, a bubble. It wont effect the performance at all so no need to worry about it unless you have OCD.

Star (for short)

Did you apply it in strips from top to bottom, or left to right ? In the end I did it in 60 cm strips about 20cm wide and found I didn't get too many bubbles. Too late however! BTW I wouldn't want to have OCD, look at it!

Some of the bumps are the screws holding the alt bearings, I swear!

If you look closely you will notice I have discovered alien life forms in the kitchen!

Barry

[Stargazer_00]

I made a thread in DIY astronomer about my 150p i did a few days ago I did a ring around the bottom which was a pain in the backside and then decided to continue in rings but cut them into 3 sections, 120 degree at a time to allow it to be easier. I also only stuck a few inches at the alignment lip down first and then peeled the rest once I was satisfied the rest looked aligned.

[Stargazer_00]

Oh and the rings where each only about 6" in tube length not the full 45cm.

[estwing]

good man easy isn't it..

[Dude_with_the_tube]

I used the whole roll cut to diameter of the tube what is about 95cm and where left over with 5 or 6cm strips i used afterwards for focuser and finder plate.applied left to right of the tube.You have to remove everything what has screws sticking out inside the tube where you flock.afterwards you can always paint the nuts or bolt ends black if needed but never leave them on and flock over them as how you will undo them if you will need to do something on your tube??? Cut and destroy the flocking??

also here is the trick to make flocking look neat.Firstly you apply the flocking slowly by a couple of inches at the time and use one hand to peel the back of the flocking material,where other hand with sliding movements presses the flocking onto the tube.There shouldnt be any wave sort of bumps as that means you are putting your flocking not aligned and across the tube and not paralel! if that starts to happen,peal it off and re-do.Easiest way to start flocking is by either end of the tube and start with the seam in the middle of the tube ending up with about an inch of overlap. those wave bumps are practically impossible to correct afterwards and will be a pain in the back,as such if you want your tube to look good,you do have 5 mins to peal and reapply,however if your patience is thin and you decide to leave it as it is,well,we move onto point 2.How to remove air bubbles and bumps.Air bubbles will appear whatever you do,but they are easy to get rid off.All you need is a sharp knife or scalpel even scissors will do.glide with your hand over the surface and find the bubble.Then use whatever you have (knife or scissors) and pinch the bubble.with the fingers press the flocking around so the air escapes and you will be left with nice equal surface.as for the wavy things,this is more tricky and you will need a stanley knife or scalpel,tons of patience and hope that you only have a few to work on.You will need to cut one side of the wave and carefully lift it up and then apply it back to the tube and cut the excess off.this is a painful process to do and i would rather peel the whole damn thing off and buy another roll and do it properly

[Dude_with_the_tube]

sterling job on those mirrors! they do look great!!

[Gina]

I wonder how many people will be looking into your scope tube with a torch and be able to see your little bubbles and bumps OK - I know a job worth doing is worth doing well

[Damo636]

Nice job Barry!!

[Bart]

I wonder how many people will be looking into your scope tube with a torch and be able to see your little bubbles and bumps OK - I know a job worth doing is worth doing well

Gina

That's what I'm telling myself! I'm sure it'll be grand,

Barry

[MadAlbert]

Good work!

I too managed to get few bubbles in the material - just cut along the longest width and restick. One of those little wallpaper rollers helps!