Refractor Refurb

[Mr Spock]

I had this Helios 120mm refractor sitting in a cupboard. Unused, unloved and like an ugly duckling in need of a transformation into a beautiful swan.

The dismantling was easy; there's not many parts to one of these!

The dew shield slides off.

The mirror cell unscrews from the tube.

The focusser is held in an adaptor ring by three screws, the adaptor ring itself held to the tube by three screws.

The focussing tube comes out of the focusser.

The focussing mechanism is held in by four screws.

Bits galore, all in need of a little TLC.

So, a few cans of enamel later, we have this:

Total cost around £20 - worth every penny and more

[barkis]

You've certainly created a beaut. Michael. It looks really classy.

A refractor in this livery, is a pleasure to just look at, and as much of a treat as when looked through.

Nice job sir, and well done indeed. It also beats the hell out of sitting in an armchair watching TV .

Ron.

[ronin]

Looks good.

[RikM]

White is the proper colour for a telescope

[Dreadz]

Looks good as new

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

[Dave_D]

why is it that other peoples cupboards contain fun stuff? all that's in mine is dust and kids toys 

[John]

Lovely finish 

[Ant]

That looks great , what a transformation!

Ant

[sbooder]

It's alright, if you like that sort of think...Oh yeh, we do!  Lovely job.

[nightfisher]

Very nice, looks like a TAL, i mean a proper scope. from the pics it looks a very good finish, most impressive 

[Mr Spock]

Thanks to the weather I still haven't used it

[Stu]

Lovely job :-) gorgeous looking now.

Which paint did you use? Got a couple of bits to spray myself.

Cheers

Stu

[ChrisLX200]

I was going to ask the same thing - very good finish. I've tried all sorts of stuff in the past but never got a paint finish I was totally happy with.

ChrisH

[Mr Spock]

I used Halfords enamel spray paint. I think they are around £7 each - I used one black and two white tins.

It's all about preparation and patience. Make sure any lacquer on the previous paint is rubbed off and the paint sanded to a matt finish. Clean all surfaces before starting as unclean surfaces will 'blob'. I then use 7-8 thin coats and smooth between coats if the finish starts to look a bit rough.

[Stu]

Thanks Michael :-)

[boyfromlincs]

that looks great, the ep in the scope aint shabby either..

[Mr Spock]

I've just been out looking at the moon. The scope seems fine following it's dismantling. That focusser is stiff though... (it was like that before). I'm not sure it's worth spending money on something better. It's ok for low powers which is what I'll be using the scope for.

The moon at x125 looked fine with good sharpness, though seeing is poor. x167 was pushing it. I've always thought that x1 per mm of aperture is ideal and more magnification doesn't really bring out more detail; I reckon x125 is the max for this scope.

CA is tollerable at x125 but noticable at x167 - as good as it gets for a simple achro.

It does look good though!