4" F15 project almost there bar the very fine details

[philj]

Folks may have seen Old Brassy at SGL and Kelling over the past few years and its been a bit of an on going project near obsession for that time as I've been sorting it out.  

This morning I set it all up to do a bit of solar visual and I couldn't resist taking a shot as it was posing ready for the solar filter. 

New additions over the years have been, slow mo on the dec axis, tripod tray, missing T Cooke & Sons nameplates recreated in brass resin, RA setting circle graduated correctly, 50mm brass finder replacing the poor 30mm finder originally fitted to the focuser (includes new homemade brackets). Circle T Ortho eyepiece set in oak box. Single cast iron counterweight.

Also as I intend to use the setting circles I have made an experimental polar alignment scope (not shown) , not tested yet but in theory it should work

Just thought I would show the old scope off in its almost complete guise.

OBTW the sun was particularly good today

[brantuk]

It's looking fabulous Phil

[jkwhinfrey]

Very true, that's a beautiful looking scope.

I had my PST to look at the Sun today, great fun, but much plainer than your scope :-) Will the weather hold though?

[John]

Lovely Phil, just lovely 

I like the idea of a set of the classic orthos. I'm thinking of something along those lines for my big refractor though I suspect the old "volcano tops" are going to be hard to come by now they are out of production.

[Dude_with_the_tube]

gorgeous scope Phil and nice work you have done there to restore it. 4" F15 ticks all the boxes as soon as its is F15 for me

[Marki]

Simply gorgeous

[Rustysplit]

Gorgeous piece of kit. Very jealous.

[A McEwan]

Oh wow - that's lovely!

Ant

[Chris]

What a beauty, I bet its superb with that set of orthos. I'm rather fond of my cased set of Circle T's

Chris

[Mr Spock]

Looks a real beauty. Makes me want one.

[philj]

Thanks folks Im well pleased with it but its not all fur coat and no pants, optically it works superbly, I have clocked up quite a few hours of planetary, lunar and doubles with it.

I must admit to being smitten with the circle t orthos as well, I can see my vixen lvw set not getting much use now

[sungazer]

Hello Phil, A very nice restoration of a classic scope, I am sure it will give first class views. All the best, John.

[nightfisher]

Now that is a proper telescope set up, really nice phil

[Telescope40]

Velly nice indeed !!!!!! Regards John

[JonH]

It's looking awesome Phil, you've done a fantastic job. Hope to get the chance to photograph and look through it again before too long. 

Cheers,

Jon

[nightfisher]

Thanks folks Im well pleased with it but its not all fur coat and no pants, optically it works superbly, I have clocked up quite a few hours of planetary, lunar and doubles with it.

I must admit to being smitten with the circle t orthos as well, I can see my vixen lvw set not getting much use now

And there was me talking about thinning out my circle T`s, think i will stick with them

[philj]

And there was me talking about thinning out my circle T`s, think i will stick with them

The main reason for using the Circle Ts on Old Brassy is they weigh about quarter of a kilo less than the Vixens and the scope doesn't require rebalancing everytime I change eyepieces, plus they are good

[philj]

Here's a few more pics of the project

Tripod tray detail

Mount detail showing new dec tangent arm slow motion, original RA slow motion remote spindle, single counterweight

Focuser detail showing, brassified WO diagonal, original sidewheel internal rack and pinion, this actually works quite well

50mm finder with my fabricated finder brackets. This replaces the original optically poor 30mm finder and is invaluable for finding those fainter doubles

The sharp eyed amongst you will notice the odd ding in the paintwork, poor lacquer on the brass so its tarnished a bit, the reason for this is.... Im not bothered  

This has been rebuilt/recreated as a working scope and not a restored museum piece. I use it on star parties and local meets as well as in the garden so its going to get knocked and chipped, as a dabbler in antiques I like the worn look, it all adds to the charm. Its what antiques roadshow calls patina   

[nightfisher]

Just remind me, is this a broadhurst

[philj]

Just remind me, is this a broadhurst

The scope is a Broadhurst Clarkson and Fuller (in other words Broadhurst Clarkson) 4" F15 Deluxe from 1979 and the mount is a Thomas Cooke & Sons of York from 1870 (ish). The tripod is philjay circa 2010 to 2014

Here's a link to my thread when I got the mount http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/61665-my-new-old-scope/