THE FAULKS 20" F4 DOB BUILD

[faulksy]

hi everyone, thought now was a good time to put this build up on here, lots and lots of thanks to the great steve jenner for his wood working skills and a big thanks to damien mapster for emailing and helping me through plop for my mirror cell .

as you know, my self and the dob mob go to all kinds of dark skies as often as we can, and after seeing steve and calvs big dobs and dans medium sized dob i thought it was time to build my own or purchase a ready built frame. prices are very steep for complete built scopes and then add on import duties and shipping and your looking at around 12k for a 20" dob.

so a good start the best or close to best 20" f4 mirror and secondary was ordered from no other than orion optics uk, after owning the 14" with 1/10 mirrors i thought i would do the same with 20" so 1 set of ultra grade mirrors were ordered around 10 weeks delivery which now is only around 1 week away.

next up mirror cell, priced a few top draw items and they were coming in for a round 1 - 1.2k and 6 weeks delivery. so i thought no ill make my own. email to damien and he plotted the dimensions onto plop and emailed me the drawings. priced up the steel which i used hi grade stainless and 30 quid later the cell was born.

alll developed pre weld stage

 

 

[estwing]

great idea to build your own scope mike...when I move up in app you can build mine too!....wise to get tips for 2 other great scope builders...helps to avoid mistakes.....a big dob build thread....just what summer was missing!,good luck with the build mike...

[cotterless45]

Brilliant ! Keep us updated mate,

Nick.

[swamp thing]

Another 20" 

Look forward to watching this develop  

 

[estwing]

5 minutes ago, swamp thing said:

Another 20" 

Look forward to watching this develop  

 

yeah common as..

[brantuk]

Following.... there should be an "Eagerly Following" button

[Tzitzis]

20" sounds like science fiction to me. Only looked through a 60mm refractor LOL.

Keep us updated, i hope the construction will be finished the sooner so we can get a first light review from you faulksy.

[swamp thing]

4 minutes ago, estwing said:

yeah common as..

I bet you'll have John Nichol on speed dial by the time this ones finished  

[Saganite]

I saw things through a 20" Dob, at kelling last September, which blew me away

[estwing]

[Pig]

WTG Mike, great idea to build your own scope  I am looking forward to reading and seeing the build stages through to completion.

[Pig]

1 hour ago, Tzitzis said:

Blimey, 20" sounds like science fiction to me. Only looked through a 60mm refractor LOL.

Keep us updated, i hope the construction will be finished the sooner so we can get a first light review from you faulksy.

With a 20" scope Mike will probably be able to see Infinity from Wales

Edited May 27, 2016 by barkis
Great thread guys, but some editing needed to exclude certain names. Could cause offence to some.

[Tzitzis]

1 hour ago, Pig said:

With a 20" scope Mike will probably be able to see Infinity from Wales

If you know who  is faint, faint faint nebulas and tiny galaxies far far far away yes he definetely will!

Edited May 27, 2016 by barkis
Edited for same reason as previous post.

[niallk]

Looking good!

Will be watching with interest - best of luck with the build.

20" ... oh WOW 

[DRT]

Good luck with this Mike - looking forward to seeing it grow

[Scooot]

That'll be fantastic Mike, will be following your progress. Are you going to use the Nexus with it? 

[faulksy]

next up mirror cell welded with milled cut outs for wobble bars, this was quite hard to mill as its stainless steel

next up wobble bars which i milled in work with support triangle and bearing in place for trial fit

next up sub frame to support mirror cell, and drop down tail gate design

 

 

 

[SimonfromSussex]

Good luck Mike, I shall be watching with interest!

[AlentejoSkies]

Looks great! Good luck with the kinematics.

And thanks for the 6mm SLV last year, I'm really getting good use from it at last!

[niallk]

Geez it will be finished by Sunday!

 

Already looks impressive.

Edited May 27, 2016 by niallk

[faulksy]

next up, what spider and holder, used google and it seems all the top dob makers are using the astro systems spider and holder so heres mine, custom made to my size

next alt bearings, wanted webster but 400 us plus pp and after steves going around the world i thought ill make my own. the 40mm wide and 30" diameter

un painted then powder coated black

next up ground board this 70mm x 10mm ali

[estwing]

love it mate....

[faulksy]

ground board with acetal feet

next baffle tube, again top manufacturers are using a ali ring instead of plastic, so i have done the same. 1.2mm sheet and powder coated black this will be flocked

next up the fabulos mr jennas handy work, amazing what you can do with a axe . mirror box

next what do i use to connect the truss tubes to the rest. in come webster lower clamps

upper tube clamps are by aurora couldnt re sist these

next up focuser board and finder board, these will be drilled to suit my ft focuser and holes of 40mm bored into them to make them lighter. these then will be sent away along with everything else made in aluminum to be anodised

and then finally for tonight my new red dot finder. i dont need anything else as i use the nexus digital setting circles

 

 

[estwing]

clamps lookin sweet..

[faulksy]

1 hour ago, Scooot said:

That'll be fantastic Mike, will be following your progress. Are you going to use the Nexus with it? 

absolutely richard, wouldnt be with out it . love it