Flocking

[PeterStudz]

@Spile interested to see how this goes. I’m thinking of doing my 200p in the near future as I’ve got to take the mirrors out anyway. 

[wookie1965]

When I had my 200p I flocked it the same way as @Stuhung down the tube and from both ends. 

[Spile]

I am very pleased how it has gone. I rolled out two 1m coils from each end and it went on easily with no bubbles or imperfections. That left a strip in the middle and I used two sections to fill that. My goodness it is dark in there now. I think Ozzy Osbourne would struggle with the lack of light. 
The secondary has been cleaned and fitted with the spider assembly. 
Next task is to take apart the primary, give it a wash and shampoo then refit.

[PeterStudz]

10 minutes ago, Spile said:

I am very pleased how it has gone. I rolled out two 1m coils from each end and it went on easily with no bubbles or imperfections. That left a strip in the middle and I used two sections to fill that. My goodness it is dark in there now. I think Ozzy Osbourne would struggle with the lack of light. 
The secondary has been cleaned and fitted with the spider assembly. 
Next task is to take apart the primary, give it a wash and shampoo then refit.

OK, you’ve convinced me now 😀 Can you tell me how much you used/needed to flock the whole tube?

[Neil H]

I flocked my OO vx8l I got the flocking from FLO they tell you how much you need and it's super sticky , makes contrast a lot better worth the effort

[Spile]

23 hours ago, PeterStudz said:

OK, you’ve convinced me now 😀 Can you tell me how much you used/needed to flock the whole tube?

Two 1m rolls were used.

[Spile]

Mirror washed and dried. Refitted (a very tight fit) to the OTA and collimated. Celebrated with some nice views of Venus, Saturn and Jupiter. 

[PeterStudz]

On 22/11/2021 at 22:37, Spile said:

Mirror washed and dried. Refitted (a very tight fit) to the OTA and collimated. Celebrated with some nice views of Venus, Saturn and Jupiter. 

Well done! The primary mirror cell is a tight fit. Harder to get back in than take out.

Any hits, tips, dos & don’ts when applying the flocking?

And can you see any difference/improvements?

[Spile]

3 hours ago, PeterStudz said:

Well done! The primary mirror cell is a tight fit. Harder to get back in than take out.

Any hits, tips, dos & don’ts when applying the flocking?

And can you see any difference/improvements?

I will write it up and publish on my blog but doing it from each end and filling in the middle worked for me. To get the circumference I used clothes pegs to hold the material to the edge of the ota.