Wooden Eyepiece case or box?

[Louis D]

2 hours ago, FLO said:

Interestingly, when it comes to machined astronomy hardware, the reverse is true. I.e. American-made ADM accessories are plain and functional when viewed alongside similar European products. European-made equivalents tend to have bright anodising and rounded edges.

This is probably true.  For example, anyone who remembers Van Slyke Instruments can attest to his very functional looking, but exquisitely engineered products.

[Stub Mandrel]

I see LOTS of home made tooling. In the UK people love iron castings, and if not fabricate from steel. Americans use aluminium alloys for almost everything.

We tend to look for function before form and see ornate decoration of practical objects as pretentious which is not to criticise.  As an example I've seen excellent tooling where every surface is hand scraped, a great demonstration of skill but many would consider it a waste of time.

Yet as FLO say, there are plenty of UK people who will pay several times over the odds to buy something functionally identical but in red with a made in Italy sticker...

[FLO]

29 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Yet as FLO say, there are plenty of UK people who will pay several times over the odds to buy something functionally identical but in red with a made in Italy sticker...

I am confident I didn’t say that 🙂

Though I fully understand someone choosing to pay more for premium craftsmanship and engineering. I.e. a fountain pen, not a ballpoint. 

Steve

[Stub Mandrel]

16 minutes ago, FLO said:

I am confident I didn’t say that 🙂

Though I fully understand someone choosing to pay more for premium craftsmanship and engineering. I.e. a fountain pen, not a ballpoint. 

Steve

Sorry the sentence got changed a few times and drifted in its content...

What I really want to know is - who is it who needs a case for their  wooden eyepieces?

 

[FLO]

6 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

What I really want to know is - who is it who needs a case for their  wooden eyepieces?

I don’t need a wooden case for my eyepieces, but I’d happily buy one 🙂 

Steve

[Stub Mandrel]

16 minutes ago, FLO said:

I don’t need a wooden case for my eyepieces, but I’d happily buy one 🙂 

Steve

No... read my post very slowly and carefully! 🙂

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

No... read my post very slowly and carefully! 🙂

Watch out for splinters in your eye. 😋

[johninderby]

41 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Sorry the sentence got changed a few times and drifted in its content...

What I really want to know is - who is it who needs a case for their  wooden eyepieces?

 

Hmmmmm.........good question. 🤔

[Louis D]

5 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Americans use aluminium alloys for almost everything.

Probably because it's easier and faster to mill than steel, and you end up with a lighter product.

[FLO]

11 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

No... read my post very slowly and carefully! 🙂

Ah. Oops. 

🙂

[Ags]

Nice wooden boxes here! But don't judge a box by its cover...

Pretty, pretty...

Ugly, ugly...

Edited April 23, 2020 by Ags

[F15Rules]

 

Oops! 

Phone crashed and lost text..will redo soon 🙂

Dave

Edited April 26, 2020 by F15Rules
Phone crash

[F15Rules]

On impulse, after reading this thread, I placed an order with Hobbycraft for this box..it cost £8 plus £4.50 shipping! (See below).

I don't kid myself that this will last for ever or be of top quality, but it is giving me a small diversion from "The List"...(that self propagating piece of paper containing various tasks to be done during Lockdown, and assigned to me at the start of Lockdown by my other half, and which seems to add 3 new tasks to the bottom of the list for every 1 task at the top of the list which is successfully completed!)..

I've done the first coat of mahogany stain (too sticky to photograph yet), and added some pluck foam for the base. This will give the box a capacity of up to 15 x 1.25" eyepieces.

I will probably upgrade the hinges and clasp to more robust parts.

My thanks to MikeDnight for his advice and practical tips, especially his technique for making the holes in the pluck foam to seat the eyepieces

Dave

Item No. Variant No. Description Quantity Unit Price Sub Total 617374 1000 Wooden Storage Large 1 £8.00 £8.00

[DaveL59]

if only they did super-size ones so I could house my TAL100RS and TAL-1. Expect I'll either have to make one one day, or persuade daughter's OH to do it so it'll at least look right  

[Ags]

13 hours ago, F15Rules said:

On impulse, after reading this thread, I placed an order with Hobbycraft for this box..it cost £8 plus £4.50 shipping! (See below).

Coincidentally I was looking at the same box, should be here in a few days. I am going for a base board with 32 mm holes rather than pluck foam though.

[F15Rules]

I've now painted the box with mahogany stain x 2 coats and added pluck foam for eyepieces.

Also added map of the Orion area of the night sky (my favourite)..

The box isn't perfect by any means, but I won't need to be precious about the box getting scuffed or damaged, and it will keep my old Japanese eyepieces safe.👍

Will still change hinges when I can source some better ones🙂

Dave

Edited April 28, 2020 by F15Rules

[JeremyS]

Nice job, Dave @F15Rules!!

So that's 15 x 1.25-inch EP's you can fit in?

Did you add a handle in the end?

[JeremyS]

On 27/04/2020 at 11:37, Ags said:

Coincidentally I was looking at the same box, should be here in a few days. I am going for a base board with 32 mm holes rather than pluck foam though.

I presume you'll cut the holes yourself in the base board? Would be interesting to see how you do that (I've zero, well -1 actually, woodworking skills).

[Ags]

I plan on using this:

https://www.gamma.nl/assortiment/piranha-speedboor-34-mm-x52195-qz/p/B435884

I have trepidations - drilling such a wide bore can be tricky with the drill bit potentially catching. I plan on drilling 12 holes in a 28 mm thick solid wood base board, I will just take it slow and be careful.

For carrying I plan on adding a pair of handles on the sides - I don't want the lid to take the whole load with a carry handle up top.

Edited April 28, 2020 by Ags

[F15Rules]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Nice job, Dave @F15Rules!!

So that's 15 x 1.25-inch EP's you can fit in?

Did you add a handle in the end?

Hi Jeremy

Yes, the box will hold 15 eps in theory. I don't have that many anyway but I do use a binoviewer, so have a couple of pairs for that use, and also a Barlow and couple of other 1.25" bits I may put in there..

I haven't fitted a handle so far, but will aim to do so. As Ags said, the lid section is probably a bit weak to carry the whole box fully laden.

I'm absolutely NOT a handy person, I just fancied "having a go", knowing I wasn't risking much cash if I completely fouled it up!😊

Dave

[JeremyS]

Excellent , Dave.

3 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

if I completely fouled it up!

No, that's my specialty 🙂

 

[Ags]

4 hours ago, F15Rules said:

Yes, the box will hold 15 eps in theory.

I am working on 12 eyepieces, given a 7 cm square per eyepiece.

EDIT: Looks like my maths was "a little" wrong - 15 eps is very reasonable.

Edited April 28, 2020 by Ags

[F15Rules]

I've now put 11 eyepieces in the box, 4 spaces left if needed.

Back row, left to right:

Carton Gen Japan 7-21mm zoom,  Carton Gen 10.5mm , Takahashi MC Ortho 18mm 0.965" in Vixen 1.25" sleeve with Baader Zoom 2.25x Barlow attached (the zoom converts the Tak Ortho to 8mm), Sterling 25mm Plossl, Carton Japan Gen 28mm.

I can also use the Hyperion zoom Barlow with the zoom, to convert it to a 3.1mm - 9.3mm high power zoom (delivering 111x - 335x in my FS128).

Middle row and Front row L/R:

Ostara 15mm plossl, Celestron Halloween 26mm plossl, Ostara 30mm plossl

The middle and front row pairs are all used for binoviewing

That's my lot.. I also have a nice Televue Japan 10.5mm smoothside plosslwhich I will be selling soon as the eye relief is just to tight for my ageing eyes.

Dave 🙂

 

 

Edited April 29, 2020 by F15Rules

[Ags]

I like the stain you chose, very retro. I have to ask: what is a Halloween Plossl?

[JeremyS]

33 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

4 spaces left if needed

Are you looking for suggestions, Dave? 

SGL'ers are always happy to help their chums spend their money 🙂

Looks to me like you need some 1-inch Pentax eyepieces.....