Home made reflector

[SmudgeDog]

I'm sure lots of more knowledable gazers will put me right here but as I can't afford a scope I was thinking of building one for minimum outlay....I'm goodish with my hands!

What I was wondering is if anyone has used a concave dressing table mirror? (It's good to laugh!) or even an array of smaller mirrors arranged on a concave surface?

I know the view will be bad compared to the precision instruments available to buy but maybe better than nothing?

Thanks in advance.

[ronin]

Have not looked but you may be better to go find Astroboot and see what scope OTA's they have on offer - they often have an old scope that you can cannibalise to build another with.

They also generally have a few parabolic mirrors on sale from OTA's they have had to take apart, often 130mm, sometimes with a secondary and the spider.

I suspect that that would be a much better approach. Someone about 6 months back posted in the DIY section images of an untra-portable they built - in case you need any additional ideas.

[Ricochet]

I second the Astroboot suggestion. Even with the best will in the world a homemade scope isn't going to cost £0 and a fiver here and a fiver there there on materials soon adds up. On the other hand Astroboot currently have a SW 130 OTA for £35 which gives you both mirrors, a focuser, the tube and a couple of rings to attach to your mount with. You could then make a wooden Dobsonian mount for it which is probably the easiest part of any diy build.

[Andy Mitchell]

You can buy telescope mirrors, you can even grind your own at home (not quick), but I've not heard of anyone repurposing a dressing table mirror. Best of all, you can just buy a telescope for not much

I believe you can save quite a lot if you want a huge telescope and you grind your own mirror, a video you may find interesting on grinding mirrors and building scopes:

 

 

[Gazmark1]

hi! I can sympathise with you on the funding issues, my choice is to gradually build a setup mainly using astroboot which has already been mentioned. I bought a pair of skywatcher 130m OTA's with A1 condition mirrors that gives  a cheaper start with free range to build up with better quality eyepieces and so on. I also thought of building an OTA, but decided at the moment it might be a pain in the parabolics as I have no work space. at present on astroboot you can get a complete skywatcher 130m, I think it has an EQ2 mount, for £75, it only mentions a few handling marks from being out of the box.

[SmudgeDog]

Thanks for the replies, all sound advice and I will get that OTA for £35 if it's still available on payday. But I am still curious and keen on a bit of bodgery!!

Besides....I've just chopped a plate mirror into 19 hexagons.

[Physopto]

I admire your pluck. But how about a pair of cheap second hand bins. You can do a lot for next to no outlay.

Derek

[SmudgeDog]

I must have too much time on my hands......

[brantuk]

If you chopped it into 19 hexagons that would suggest you are going for adaptive optics which is considerably more expensive lol.

But seriously - if you have a budget spend in mind for the total cost, we might be able to help you a bit more constructively. It's a bit like buying a computer in bits - these days it can turn out to be more expensive then buying a fully assembled one.