Restoring a very old 77mm refractor.

[Chriske]

Hi,

The previous owner of this refractor was planning to throw it away so I took it home with me to see if it could be repaired.
I decided to give it a complete 'overhaul'.

This is what I did with it... using a 3D-printer.

New tray.

 

A set of tube clamps

 

Knobs for decl. axis.

 

Adaptor rings for, well, what does it look like...😁   Counterweights yep..

 

Under these setscrews I put a new set of gliding pads(also printed of course)
All the focusing tubes had LOTS of play.  The old pads were all gone.

 

Collapsible focuser. It fits around my eyepiece so I can take pictures with it through my smartphone.

Picture of the sun with the aid of that special focuser.

 

Dewshield

Dewshield and Bathinovmask

I put this unit in my hollow polaraxis shaft.

It contains a powerfull green laser to quickly adjust the mount's polar axis before observing sessions.

1 1/4"  to Canon EOS bajonet adaptor

I also took the lens apart to clean both the lenses. Luckily there is no trace of fungus.

Needles to say, I had lots of fun restoring this old thing.
Let's hope it is worthed.

[fozzybear]

2 minutes ago, Chriske said:

Hi,

The previous owner of this refractor was planning to throw it away so I took it home with me to see if it could be repaired.
I decided to give it a complete 'overhaul'.

This is what I did with it... using a 3D-printer.

New tray.

 

A set of tube clamps

 

Knobs for decl. axis.

 

Adaptor rings for, well, what does it look like...😁   Counterweights yep..

 

Under these setscrews I put a new set of gliding pads(also printed of course)
All the focusing tubes had LOTS of play.  The old pads were all gone.

 

Collapsible focuser. It fits around my eyepiece so I can take pictures with it through my smartphone.

Picture of the sun with the aid of that special focuser.

 

Dewshield

Dewshield and Bathinovmask

I put this unit in my hollow polaraxis shaft.

It contains a powerfull green laser to quickly adjust the mount's polar axis before observing sessions.

1 1/4"  to Canon EOS bajonet adaptor

I also took the lens apart to clean both the lenses. Luckily there is no trace of fungus.

Needles to say, I had lots of fun restoring this old thing.
Let's hope it is worthed.

great job done there in the resurrection  

[Roy Challen]

Good job! Did the mount come with it too? I can't remember my Japanese manufacturers marks right now, but it looks like a Yamamoto, perhaps someone with better memory than me can confirm. It should be pretty good at night too.

[Chriske]

7 hours ago, Roy Challen said:

Good job! Did the mount come with it too?

Nope, that (almost) 40 years old Vixen mount is mine.
But that needed to be restored a bit too...