Show me your home-made solar filter

[JOC]

I had an entertaining couple of hours yesterday making a holder for my purchased solar film and am pleased with the result (below).  I kind of suspect that I am not alone in making one, but given that I sort of did my own thing, and ended up with something that looks nothing like the 'one on the box', I bet I am also not alone in customising mine.  So I'd be interested in seeing what you have all constructed.  Mine is 18cm of film wide and is for my 200P flextube (which has a central cover), I'm making one for the finderscope later in the week.

 

 

[Owmuchonomy]

Here you go:

 

[JOC]

8 minutes ago, Owmuchonomy said:

Here you go:

Very neat - I did have in mind to try and make mine as professional as I could (like yours is), but try as I might I couldn't find anything here that would go over my outside diameter (which approaches 9").  The eyelets in mine are for attaching it securely to the rest of the tube - I've ordered some of the smallest bungees I can find to see if they will work and hopefully fit over the first end of the truss tube under my middle cover.

[Davey-T]

Here's mine for 10"SCT.

Made from double glazing plastic cloaking strip.

Dave

 

[JOC]

18 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Here's mine for 10"SCT.

Made from double glazing plastic cloaking strip.

Dave

10"!! You must have found some wider film mine was A4 and at that only just wider than 8".  Two very impressive holders above - I was quite pleased with mine, now I'm thinking I'm in the 'could have done better camp!' LOL  I think I'm going to see if I can find something like an old lens cap to see if I can make something like the ones above for the finder scope though.

[Davey-T]

1 minute ago, JOC said:

10"!! You must have found some wider film mine was A4 and at that only just wider than 8". 

Bigger sheet £50.00  but you get lot's left over 

Dave

[JOC]

1 minute ago, Davey-T said:

Bigger sheet £50.00  but you get lot's left over 

Ouch, sounds like what I needed was a friend with a 10" scope ;-) LOL  I paid £17 and have enough left for a couple of finderscopes out of mine.

[PaulJD]

Made mine from metal. Cut 2 rings from a piece of sheet metal and bolted them together with the film in between. The 4 lugs are adjustable to ensure a tight fit over the end of the scope.

[JOC]

14 minutes ago, PaulJD said:

The 4 lugs are adjustable to ensure a tight fit over the end of the scope.

Nice job, I toyed with idea of lugs - my Bahnitov (sp?) mask has four pins to adjust for a good fit inside the scope and I also wondered if I could apply that to the filter, but in the finish it was easier to go with the band around the tube.

I love the way that so far no-one has made theirs as per the directions on the pack LOL

[HughP]

Made mine from 3 lamination's of balsawood (1/16") for the tube ( wetted & left to dry around the dew shield - protected by cling film). The filter holder itself from 1/8 lite ply. I then used some litho plate to make a shim so that the solar film would be not be under tension. I used 2mm nuts and bolts to hold the filter rings & litho plate together. To make a good fit I used some baize material on the inside of the tube. I was worried that film my fall out but it seems the litho plate was just right.

My other hobby RC Model Aircraft skills came in handy!

Does it work - of course it does, have a look at the first light image.

Made for my Altair Wave 102 the filter stores in a Haribo sweet container that cost £2 from a discount store. The Baader film needs replacing now as it was the first trial version and has a few marks on it.

[Vox45]

2 ventilation fitting, some knurled screws and felt wallpaper + Baader AstroSolar Film

The initial project was for a flat panel and I ended up with a dual purpose flat panel and solar filter thank to the knurled screws. Quick and easy to switch from the flat panel to the solar filter

[gtis]

Here's mine photos not bright 

[Merlin]

We must sometimes wonder how safe this filter material really is for the eyes. Every time I shine a torch through the back of a piece, there always seem to be plenty of pinholes to let the light through. Check it for yourselves.

[Merlin66]

Merlin,

I've used the Baader solar film for many years and never felt unsafe.

It works 100% for me. My oldest filers must be over ten years old and still as good as new.

when not in use they are stored in sealed containers.

 

[Alien 13]

I am thinking of making one to fit into a standard 77 mm camera filter but not sure which grade to go for (ND 5 or 3.8) the info on FLOs site suggests the 3.8 for imaging but would that still be true if running a f/2.8?

Alan

[HughP]

Alan, I would go for the ND5. Have a look at my image above. @ f7  and iso 100, I was still shooting @ 1/3200 sec!!

HughP

[Alien 13]

16 minutes ago, HughP said:

Alan, I would go for the ND5. Have a look at my image above. @ f7  and iso 100, I was still shooting @ 1/3200 sec!!

HughP

Thanks Hugh, that is useful info.

Alan

[Vroobel]

Ok, so it's time to introduce my concept of solar filter frame. I hope the set of pictures shows everything clear. If not - just ask for details.

This is solar filter having about 310mm of diameter, so it is able to fit over inlet of my 10" Newt. I used ND5.0 Baader foil. And some epoxy resin, black strong tape and 3 bolts and nuts to mount it safely on the tube. The frame is made of long L-shape plastic section, the shorter side has 100 teeth to allow bent it to inside. Finaly I used plenty of small pieces of double sided sticky foam and thick carton ring (I don't have it's picture) to close the ND5.0 foil inside the frame. 

[Chriske]

I made a set from a few leftovers for my bino 10x50. I use it for quick viewing to see if there's any activity or not. (3D printed of course...)