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THE FAULKS 20" F4 DOB BUILD

faulksy

By faulksy
in DIY Astronomer

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faulksy

faulksy

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53 minutes ago, Piero said:

Aha, no problem! 🙂

After reading on CN that kydex can deform if exposed to modest heat, I decided to go for what people (including some professional telescope makers) use nowadays over there: ABS.

Mine was bought here:

https://www.plasticstockist.com/

"2500x1250x1mm Black Smooth ABS in Matt finish"

As you can imagine, I still have a large part of this sheet, enough for a few other telescopes or a giant dobson... feel free to PM me if you want some.

 

The matt finish is on one side. I decided to use that side for the outside of the UTA and the reflective side for the inside wall. This because my plan was to use black flocking paper on the whole internal wall. 

This added some weight, but it wasn't a concern for me, due to the large bearing diameter (28") which allowed me to raise the horizontal COG, while still keeping the mirror box reasonably shallow.

One of these days I will attach the astrosystems dew heater to the secondary mirror, completing the UTA. 🙂

 

IMG_20201018_194502.thumb.jpg.b6d13ee49f0ae763ec29c2a4e8de0f82.jpg

thank you piero. pm on its way 🤣

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faulksy
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

faulksy
faulksy

quick quick review, got to be up at 4 A.M. lol clear skys, so had to try and set my pole lengths up, had to cut 125mm of them in the end but now it balances beautifully, whilst removing the poles

faulksy
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 bear

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Chris

Chris

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It's great to see this thread resurrected, more recent SGLr's will get to see this fantastic build :)

It's also a reminder that I should pull my finger out with certain shelved project! 

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faulksy

faulksy

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1 hour ago, Chris said:

It's great to see this thread resurrected, more recent SGLr's will get to see this fantastic build :)

It's also a reminder that I should pull my finger out with certain shelved project! 

true lockie, sorry i mean chris.

big congrats on your job with flo as well

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faulksy

faulksy

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1 hour ago, niallk said:

Jayz for a second I thought you were building another dob 🤣

Great craftsmanship, beaut of a scope!

🤣 brilliant nial

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jetstream

jetstream

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5 hours ago, Chris said:

It's great to see this thread resurrected, more recent SGLr's will get to see this fantastic build

Yes, Mikes build should be made a sticky or easily accessible somehow, excellent craftsmanship. As was @mapstar. His build should be highlighted too IMHO.

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faulksy

faulksy

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36 minutes ago, jetstream said:

Yes, Mikes build should be made a sticky or easily accessible somehow, excellent craftsmanship. As was @mapstar. His build should be highlighted too IMHO.

no problem with that gerry 😇

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  • 5 months later...
Piero

Piero

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@faulksy 

Nice work, Mike!

Are you going to mount the wheelbarrow handles to those two holes on the horizontal bar? If this is the plan, I would consider a mechanism to lock the mirror box to the rocker box, to prevent the former from sliding frontally as the inclination changes when the telescope is moved around. 

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faulksy

faulksy

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2 hours ago, Piero said:

@faulksy 

Nice work, Mike!

Are you going to mount the wheelbarrow handles to those two holes on the horizontal bar? If this is the plan, I would consider a mechanism to lock the mirror box to the rocker box, to prevent the former from sliding frontally as the inclination changes when the telescope is moved around. 

@Piero yes the handles will mount to those holes. i didnt lock the mirror box before so it should be the same. scope is loads better now though and a bit lighter with it being made of aluminum 👍

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UKDiver

UKDiver

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Wow Mike, what a story. Lows, highs and a early relationship temporary parting. A (labour of) love with a happy ending... I can only imaging what the 3.5 XW may do for it - and I'm probably wrong. :D

Hopefully I might see it one day and night.

Adrian

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faulksy

faulksy

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1 hour ago, UKDiver said:

Wow Mike, what a story. Lows, highs and a early relationship temporary parting. A (labour of) love with a happy ending... I can only imaging what the 3.5 XW may do for it - and I'm probably wrong. :D

Hopefully I might see it one day and night.

Adrian

You can always come out to Spain and have a look through it next year 😅

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cajen2

cajen2

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I'd have thought you were planning your upgrade by now, Faulksy! A 30 incher? 😉😁

Seriously, I'm a relative newcomer on here so didn't know about this thread and build....but I've just spent hours reading it from start to finish. What a wonderful job you did!

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faulksy

faulksy

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14 hours ago, cajen2 said:

I'd have thought you were planning your upgrade by now, Faulksy! A 30 incher? 😉😁

Seriously, I'm a relative newcomer on here so didn't know about this thread and build....but I've just spent hours reading it from start to finish. What a wonderful job you did!

It is a long read. But I'm glad you like it 😁

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  • 4 months later...
ukskies

ukskies

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I have just read this thread for the first time and was thoroughly engrossed from beginning to end.

What an amazing story, it was like a really good book, you know when you just can't put it down.

An absolutely amazing big dob, with stunning workmanship! I'm in awe of your skills building this Mike.

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faulksy

faulksy

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14 hours ago, ukskies said:

I have just read this thread for the first time and was thoroughly engrossed from beginning to end.

What an amazing story, it was like a really good book, you know when you just can't put it down.

An absolutely amazing big dob, with stunning workmanship! I'm in awe of your skills building this Mike.

you will be able to see it in the flesh soon gary 🤣

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