New Scope - Darkstar 10" - Restoration Project

[Tonyhaz]

Your going for it big time, mine is  unusable at mo, so I popped to B&Q and I’m there offcuts bin were so kitchen unit doors so I had them and will knock up something quick just so I can use it again, will be very heavy but better than nothing. 

[AdeKing]

Apologies to @Stub Mandrel, I didn't mean to Hijack your thread.  

Your thread has however inspired me to get my posterior in gear, drag my 12" Dob out and complete the renovation job that is part finished.

Ade

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, AdeKing said:

Apologies to @Stub Mandrel, I didn't mean to Hijack your thread.  

Tosh! I've been enjoying hearing about yours and @Tonyhaz's scopes.

Dark Star Owners of the world unite!

[Tonyhaz]

16 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Tosh! I've been enjoying hearing about yours and @Tonyhaz's scopes.

Dark Star Owners of the world unite!

I’m thinking of painting my tube, make it feel like a new scope ? I’ve  cut my wood and ready to put together now,  it won’t look nothing like I’ve seen on here, I’m just doing same style base with cheap wood, I’ll get some pictures done once it’s finished and painted.

what base you gone for Stuby ? 

[Stub Mandrel]

I've got the original Dark Star base, just replaced the bottom panel of the top part, if that makes sense.

I need to get some 'whole thing' photos.

Here's a few mods, a decal to make it pretty, heatproof black paint and an Orion double speed crayford focuser:

You can see how black this is by how over-exposed the background is! Heatproof paint, which apparently absorbs IR as well as visible light.

Problem with the new focuser is I feel the need to buy a small mirror set to use the old one :-0

 

P.S. that's my workshop, not my living room...

Edited October 4, 2018 by Stub Mandrel

[Tonyhaz]

That’s looking  very nice, good tip on the paint, where did you get it ? 

That a new spider ?  And the decal looks good, looking forward to see it in full and reports on how it performs.

 

[Stub Mandrel]

Original spider. The paint from The Range, but B&Q etc. sell similar.

[Tonyhaz]

Meet Bob the Dob 

total badket case at present,was going to get another scope, but thanks to Neil’s posts I been inspired  to rebuild it.

primary has lots of marks, but still useable, whole thing was held together with duct tape ?  

Cheers Neil for your thread, another darkstar lives 

(well almost ) 

[Stub Mandrel]

Ah, your mirror has the same wriggly marks as mine, but mine doesn't have clips.

My cell is MDF not Hollywood and the screws had split it, I glued teh splits shut and fitted flatpack barrel nuts instead.

Your base is virtually compost!

Edited October 5, 2018 by Stub Mandrel

[Tonyhaz]

Strange how Mirrors are the same, maybe it’s common with these, Galvoptics did there best with mine but said need stripping back, yeah my base is bad, the sides had warped out so scope didn’t sit on it as all, box section around the tube is rotten too, very wet to the touch, but has say in garden for 5 years ?, I’m going do do away the tube box and try something different, also painting it white or maybe red, I also want to add a bit to put my eye pieces on. 

[AdeKing]

Looks very similar to my primary mirror cell with the deflated bubble wrap between the mirror and wooden primary holder.

My base is in very good condition, but the mirror is slightly sorry for itself.

[Tonyhaz]

Looks foggy Ade, have you had a quote to get it done ? 

Your tube looks massive, how long is it ? 

Base looks very good, did u make it ? 

 

[Stub Mandrel]

Vacuum Coated Scientific Mirrors did my 10" and secondary very reasonable cost. That included stripping it twice trying to remove the marks.

 

Sheesh! Those finders are a joke - bits of broken binoculars and some waste pipe, no crosshairs and super wobbly supports!

At least I got a proper R&P focuser with mine.

Try a wanted ad here on SGL you may be able to get a skywatcher or similar crayford at a decent price where someone has upgraded.

 

Is that a tool rack I see? I've got a slightly shorter one ready to fit.

Edited October 5, 2018 by Stub Mandrel

[AdeKing]

 

1 hour ago, Tonyhaz said:

Looks foggy Ade, have you had a quote to get it done ? 

Your tube looks massive, how long is it ? 

Base looks very good, did u make it ? 

 

That was the image when I first received it and it was covered in dust. I have now cleaned it so it's slightly less hazy now but does need recoating.  

The Base came with it, I think it's the original Base. However the dodgy wheels and barrow handles have been disposed of.

The "tool rack" on the side is actually a small handle to assist with lifting it there is one on the other side and a third on the box work around the tube.

It's a 12" mirror but the tube is either 14 or 16 inch diameter and about 1600mm long.  I'm 1.8m tall and the whole assembly is about 4" taller than me.



[Trikeflyer]

10 minutes ago, AdeKing said:

 

That was the image when I first received it and it was covered in dust. I have now cleaned it so it's slightly less hazy now but does need recoating.  

The Base came with it, I think it's the original Base. However the dodgy wheels and barrow handles have been disposed of.

The "tool rack" on the side is actually a small handle to assist with lifting it there is one on the other side and a third on the box work around the tube.

It's a 12" mirror but the tube is either 14 or 16 inch diameter and about 1600mm long.  I'm 1.8m tall and the whole assembly is about 4" taller than me.



Hope to see this at SGL star party next year Ade.  

Steve 

[AdeKing]

38 minutes ago, Trikeflyer said:

Hope to see this at SGL star party next year Ade.  

Steve 

Not in its current form I don't have a long enough vehicle to transport it. Even my Navara pickup was too short unless you left the tailgate down.

Possibly will convert it to a Truss Tube eventually or maybe a split tube like @Moonshane did to one of his solid tubes.

Edited October 5, 2018 by AdeKing
Spelling

[AdeKing]

I have successfully hijacked the end of this post, so I'm going to resurrect my old threads with updates now that I've been inspired to tackle it again.

More info here too:

 

 

[Stub Mandrel]

?

I've attached my counterweight magnet. i shoudl have done it before fitting the mirror cell. I had to blu tac a nut on the end of a bit of wood, poke it round the mirror and line it up with the far hole.

Holds an 8oz weight nicely, I wonder if anyone will notice if I nab the 1lb and 2lb from the kitchen scales...?

[Tonyhaz]

Balance is my main concern, but I’ll tackle it once it’s all done, got a few ideas to try.gave up looking for a new spider,So I dug the welder out &  I managed to weld for new tiny bolts onto my spider that had nothing on it, only had heavy wire but managed to no blow the on of the sider off ? looks a bit lumpy but it’s solid so not grinding it to much. The base is almost done, just needs painting, waiting on paint now, also I The place I use for spray paints has the black heat paint in Matt 400ml £1.99, so I got some & all me paint to do base etc, it’s coming in next few days so looking forward to getting it done.

you done anymore of yours ? 

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, Tonyhaz said:

 I managed to weld for new tiny bolts onto my spider that had nothing on it,

Well done. I think it would be beyond my welding skills. I think it must have been the original Dark Star nbuilders's strong suites!

I think my scope is sorted, at least until I have some practical experience with it.

[Tonyhaz]

Don’t forget some full pix for us all to see. 

[Tonyhaz]

Hope you dont mind stubs, I want to keep the Dark Stars in one place.

Well, I finally finished my Re-build of my 12” dark star, almost didn’t bother but reading stubs posts I thought why not join him and rebuild my rotten Dob.

i got some wood from the scrap bin in B&Q, where you just donate to charity, bought some Matt black and gloss white, used old base as a template, I then thought I wonder if I can get shot of the ugly box around the tube, so had a think and a idea and it seems to have paid of, I also added a shelf to put E/Ps on, and then added some wheels my neighbor gave me. Had to re weld the spider as old welds had fallen off and welding wire used to secure it, 

Just finished putting Bob the Dob back together, I think it looks loads better now, I’m not a carpenter just a basic DIY-er.

The stencil I designed and got a guy on eBay to stencil it for me, I got two done so may put other one on the base, just can’t decide where ? 

Sorry if it’s now cloudy for the next month ? 

[Stub Mandrel]

Excellent.

I'll drag mine out for a photo soon.

[AdeKing]

I really need to get a move on with mine but need to magic some spare time to do it from somewhere.

[Nicola Hannah Butterfield]

My first real telescope, and boy/boi/gurl/girl best views I ever has of the dark skies at the time.