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THE FAULKS 20" F4 DOB BUILD


faulksy

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Been following this thread quietly but enthusiastically - very very nice build Mike - work of art. Hope I get to see it in the flesh and have a look through one day. Excellent job - and a big congrats! :)

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realy didnt know anyone was watching this build hence no update, as dan says no news yet, all encoders are finished and fitted just finished making a dew controller as well so thats to be fitted next , the optics heaters are made so just a few wires left :icon_biggrin:

to be fare to 00 they have had a bit of a hold up which i cant discuss but they said it will be worth the wait, and if you consider what they say about 00 in the states an equivalent mirror set from you know who will take around 8 months. they have also told me that i can lend a dob if i want. which is very kind of them

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7 hours ago, brantuk said:

Been following this thread quietly but enthusiastically - very very nice build Mike - work of art. Hope I get to see it in the flesh and have a look through one day. Excellent job - and a big congrats! :)

thank you kim :icon_biggrin:

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On 18 July 2016 at 21:51, faulksy said:

realy didnt know anyone was watching this build hence no update, as dan says no news yet, all encoders are finished and fitted just finished making a dew controller as well so thats to be fitted next , the optics heaters are made so just a few wires left :icon_biggrin:

to be fare to 00 they have had a bit of a hold up which i cant discuss but they said it will be worth the wait, and if you consider what they say about 00 in the states an equivalent mirror set from you know who will take around 8 months. they have also told me that i can lend a dob if i want. which is very kind of them

I think you will find that we are all waiting with bated breath to see the final result, and perhaps even be lucky enough to peek through it at SGL XII (or maybe SGL XXII? :lol: ).

I am like @bish, I couldn't saw in a straight line if I tried. I am always fascinated by this sort of skill, particularly metalwork. Men have been hacking trees into shape for tens of thousands of years but it was the advent of metal working that gave us the tools we need to be truly civilised. (Let's not mention weaponry :rolleyes2: )  I find real beauty in what you have done with those big lumps of alloy. A very special skill indeed :smile:

 

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18 hours ago, DRT said:

I think you will find that we are all waiting with bated breath to see the final result, and perhaps even be lucky enough to peek through it at SGL XII (or maybe SGL XXII? :lol: ).

I am like @bish, I couldn't saw in a straight line if I tried. I am always fascinated by this sort of skill, particularly metalwork. Men have been hacking trees into shape for tens of thousands of years but it was the advent of metal working that gave us the tools we need to be truly civilised. (Let's not mention weaponry :rolleyes2: )  I find real beauty in what you have done with those big lumps of alloy. A very special skill indeed :smile:

 

thank you derek, kind words mate. phoned 00 today and had a good natter with barry, he realy is a top bloke, he laughed and said where have you been i havnt spoken to you this week :icon_biggrin:

the update is, its all polished? and its ready for figuring now, so that will start this week.

 

Edited by faulksy
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Hello Mike. I am glad you are updating your fan base on here with how the faulksy DIY Dob build is going (not so DIY in my opinion but more of a Faulksy Professional Dob build). I am glad to hear good thinks coming from OOuk about the "Big" mirror coming your way hopefully in the near future.

I don't seem to of received a reply from OOuk about possibly lending a VX20 with 1/10 mirror at present. Probably to busy on your mirror Mike to reply ?

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It really is starting to look like a piece of art, you should be very proud of what you've achieved so far. I, like a few others by the looks of things, am following this out of skill jealousy rather than picking up tips for my own build.

Edited by rockystar
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Hello Mike just wondering if anything to update on the post and "Big" mirror from OOUK?

Were you ever tempted to try grinding your own mirror on this build? I am not sure where you start on doing a home made mirror,  I suppose a very Big and thick piece of glass comes into the equation somewhere. I am sure I have read some chaps still do grind their own, and if I recall correctly then the old timers used to have to make their own mirrors due them not being commercial available at that point in time for there requirements. I am not sure how easy it is though.

Maybe that's why your mirror has taken so long from OO, maybe there is some skilled craftsman with a  big circle of glass in front of him and lots of grinding paste carefully polishing to 1/10 for you?

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31 minutes ago, Timebandit said:

Hello Mike just wondering if anything to update on the post and "Big" mirror from OOUK?

Were you ever tempted to try grinding your own mirror on this build? I am not sure where you start on doing a home made mirror,  I suppose a very Big and thick piece of glass comes into the equation somewhere. I am sure I have read some chaps still do grind their own, and if I recall correctly then the old timers used to have to make their own mirrors due them not being commercial available at that point in time for there requirements. I am not sure how easy it is though.

Maybe that's why your mirror has taken so long from OO, maybe there is some skilled craftsman with a  big circle of glass in front of him and lots of grinding paste carefully polishing to 1/10 for you?

Have a read here if you want to know why Mike didn't grind his own 

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/237343-the-22-mapstar-mirror/?page=1

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I believe Mike is away at the moment so feedback / responses may be limited :icon_flower: However, the Welsh are pretty rude as a nation and he may simply be ignoring any contributions to his thread :hello2:

Edited by Pig
capital "W"
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Just now, rockystar said:

@mapstar I'm only page 3 of your mirror grind thread, I already feel like I've been through a very long and painful journey with you - is this the mirror that ended up in your current scope?

Yes it is Lee 

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7 minutes ago, rockystar said:

I'm now even more impressed with it. Mucho kudos to you :hello2:

 

Cheers Lee.

I'm sure Mike's mirror will be here soon so he can update us all and complete what has been a very enjoyable and impressive build journey.

These big dobs are things that take time, patience, skill and passion to build and when it's as good as this one it deserves a mirror to do it justice.

These things take some creating  .:headbang:

Edited by mapstar
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32 minutes ago, rockystar said:

@mapstar I'm only page 3 of your mirror grind thread, I already feel like I've been through a very long and painful journey with you - is this the mirror that ended up in your current scope?

I got to about half way down page two and fainted. How you guys take these jobs on is beyond me.

I found out a few weeks ago that a very good friend of mine studied astronomy at university. For as long as I've known him he has been an accountant in my head so I was stunned when he told me that as part of his final exams he made a Newtonian telescope from scratch, including grinding a concave mirror using a stone on a variable height pendulum he constructed himself. 

Doff hat to the ingenius and gifted amongst us - the rest of us need you :wink: 

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On 23/07/2016 at 20:29, mapstar said:

Have a read here if you want to know why Mike didn't grind his own 

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/237343-the-22-mapstar-mirror/?page=1

 

Woooow. All is forgiven Faulksy I can see why you got Orion Optics UK on speed dial on your phone ASAP. 

From bits I have read before about mirrors I knew there was a bit of work involved in them, but had no idea how much of a job it was. Taking numerous weeks to sand and grind the mirror into shape did really take some patience and perseverance and skill ,well done Damian, so I take my hat off to you. And I suppose you add up all the materials involved from the blanks onwards and then the labour costs involved (if you added your own time into the equation) then I can see why it does not make sense really to make your own mirror,if there's a reasonable cost commercially available option. Just image if you where half way through that DIY mirror grind and you dropped the blank or for some reason ground it out of shape and had to start all over again? . 

After seeing this post about the mapstar build, it makes me realise how lucky we are nowerdays to be able to buy large mirrors or telescope if we want them. Look on net ,choose item, pick up phone, pay, wait for delivery lorry. Job done.                                          But seeing Mike's and Damian building there scopes is very interesting all the same and I admire them for doing there scopes to the facts and figures they like, custom building, But I am so glad my OOuk 14 was ready made, as it has tired me out reading how to make/grind a mirror, never mind make a whole scope. Well done lads?

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Cheers guys we try our best.

Now back to Mikes build as we don't want to hijack it further with mirror making talk except when OO have completed their end of the build.

Watching with interest. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

small upate, fitted my dsc today with new improved hardware and new bespoke cables from serge at astrodevices

azy encoder

DSC_0243_1.jpg

alt encoder

DSC_0242_1.jpg

Edited by faulksy
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Great project. A real masterpiece. I am loving everything about it, even the fantastic finish. Look at the gloss on it!!

I am interested in those sturdy aluminium poles - can you tell me which suppler you used?

Also, where did you get those (plastic?) pole attachments, the ones attached to the mirror box?

My 2L 'dobmobile' was written off in an accident on Tuesday (mechanical failure, RIP 306) and the next car is not an estate :( - I am thinking of converting one of my dobs into full truss. :)

 

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