All hardwood 5 inch solid tube Dobsonian.

[astrolunartick]

Hello again folks

Ive had this design idea in my head for about 5 years as a nice looking solid hardwood telescope that would be a pleasure to use sat on a stall and will sit nicely in a room or conservatory rather than a plain metal tube. Sometime has past and I had to put the project on hold. Now Ive had a friend ask me to make him one so its been a push to get it finished.  My friend has requested a carving of a quote that means something to them somewhere on the telescope. So that should be fun.

This scope is nice sturdy design with segmented tube made from beech and mahogany. The rocker box made from birch plywood and mahogany, with a eyepiece and accessories compartment in the rocker box.

I have an intention to make a build video of this design uploaded to my youtube channel for all to see.  Videoing the process slow the construction down a bit and i have a deadline for this so a build video will have to wait for when i make another one. But for now i will upload Photos of the finished scope in the next couple of weeks. 

Thanks for reading

AstroPete

 

Edited August 19, 2019 by astrolunartick

[andrew s]

Things of beauty and craftmanship.  I hope you have success with them.

Regards Andrew 

[Carbon Brush]

They look fantastic.

Your woodworking is in a completely different league to mine.

I hope to see one of your scopes at some point.

Wishing you every success.

David.

[JamesF]

31 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:

They look fantastic.

They do indeed.

James

[Chriske]

That is a combination of science, art and skill...
I'm drooling man...!!!

[upahill]

Works of art and a great display of your craftmanship. Im sure they will be treasured by their owners.

[astrolunartick]

Thank you for your kind words fellow stargazers. 

Edited August 19, 2019 by astrolunartick

[mapstar]

Lovely efforts there Pete and really well thought out. Almost too nice to use. 

Look forward to the you tube vid and keep up the good work. 

 

[astrolunartick]

1 minute ago, mapstar said:

Lovely efforts there Pete and really well thought out. Almost too nice to use. 

Look forward to the you tube vid and keep up the good work. 

 

Thanks Damian. Hope all is well with you. 

[mapstar]

8 minutes ago, astrolunartick said:

Thanks Damian. Hope all is well with you. 

Yeah good nearly able to get my workshop up and running. 14" build coming soon 👍

[Chris]

Stunning craftsmanship Pete, such a pretty scope! I might pass on the Quality Street though  

[JeremyS]

Now that is a thing of beauty!

And I can almost smell the wood 🙂

 

[Gina]

Sure is!  Lovely job.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Great craftsmanship !!  How much will the final scope weigh in total ???

[astrolunartick]

4 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

Great craftsmanship !!  How much will the final scope weigh in total ???

Hey Dr_Ju_Ju 

The final weight is 13kg. the tube comes of the base, thats half the weight.  

[Dr_Ju_ju]

I'm amazed its that low...  👏👍

[astrolunartick]

Today Im very chuffed with myself.  Finally got the design down for the wooden red dot finder. This was a very tricky thing to make. Ive made several attempts at this before and I think Ive finally got it sorted. The adjustments work perfectly. Ive used a 3v Red LED with a small piece of fibre optic attached on the end, all wrapped in some small heat shrink and powered by a 2032 3v battery. The same as what is powering the collimator my friend will be using. Ive also been trying to make a wooden focuser, but with my deadline approaching Ive not got the time to iron out the issues with that. Just need to do the letter quote carving on the scope some where. then its strip the whole thing down, sand and varnish then its final assemble and proper first light test.  I had a quick look at Jupiter the other night through it and thankful the view was sharp and the eyepieces came to focus with the focuser half way in. so Im happy. 

[JamesF]

I reckon if John Harrison could make a clock out of wood hundreds of years ago then you ought to be able to make a wooden focuser :D

Love the red dot finder though.  Really nicely done.

James

[johninderby]

Perhaps a plywood focuser? 😁

http://telescopelemay.com/language/en/a-dshc-you-can-make-at-home/

[Chriske]

[Mr Spock]

My that's a thing of beauty. Must be a pleasure to use.

[astrolunartick]

Well Ive managed to get the scope finished with the carving inscription that my friend asked me to do. I applied 3 coats of yacht varnish. Yacht varnish isn't the nicest finish to apply but it is perfect for the conditions the scope will be under. The first proper collimation went very well. The secondary mirror only needed adjusting away from the spider a little to bring it to the centre of the light path. Its very satisfying when you look in the focuser and see your eye looking back perfectly framed and centred by both mirrors, with the primary centre donut decal bang on your pupil. then put a laser collimator in and its dead centre with no adjustments. I must be doing something right. 

I took the scope home last night and set it up outside. I only had a little time to test it out. It wasn't dark but i could see Jupiter and Saturn so those were the targets. I started with Saturn. Saturn and Jupiter were nice and sharp with the 23mm eyepiece considering the planets low locations in the sky. I could make out the Cassini Division and Jupiters belts with one of Jupiters moons just on the edge of the planet. With the 10mm eyepiece both planets were twice the size than when i was using the 23mm eyepiece. The view was a little blurred but that was dew to the altitude of the planets from the horizon. If i get the chance i will test again tonight with darker skies and on some deep sky objects. i want to see the moon through it but that mean being awake at 4 - 5am tomorrow and i have work. 

So heres some photos of the scope out in my gazing spot. 

[Gina]

That is a thing of beauty

[wookie1965]

Wow just wow fantastic build real work of art.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Magical, It should be sites @ the Greenwich Observatory !!