Mirror's arrived and now the fun starts

[geppetto]

Thanks Gordon

The Telrad is easy to see through because it's right on the edge of

the OTA and at eye level.

Was going to put it side by side with the focuser but decided to leave it

on top, out of the way of cameras and cables.

Haven't got a quote yet Gordon, might leave it till after christmas now

when the post and everything else has settled down.

Might by then have found a second hand 63mm secondary

[GordonCopestake]

I've got a shaving mirror you can have if its any use

[Jaffa007]

Phil, that is one quality looking piece of kit!!! 8)

All the best for Orion views.

[geppetto]

Thanks Jaffa

I'm looking forward to Orion

[GazOC]

WOW! Phil, thats looking great. I'm sure it will do Orion justice.!!

Amazing work!

[Grant]

Phil that looks totally sweet! Great work and looking forward to hearing about those Orion views your going to get

[richard42]

i saw the scope yesterday in the flesh and it is a work of art!

very solid but perfectly balanced, can't wait for the moon to come out

[geppetto]

Well, bar getting the mirror coating sorted and a new secondary, the starGAZer 12 is finished :hello1:

Made the shroud today out of weed cover material from B&Q.

Each end has a strip of wood stitched to it with three holes drilled to simply hook onto three

metal studs fastened to one of the trusses.

Very simple job to hook one end on then wrap the shroud round the trusses and finish by hooking on the other end.

Really enjoyed making this scope and hope some of it might be useful to anybody contemplating doing something similar.

Thanks folks for the encouragement

[Caz]

Congratulations on a job well done Phil... :thumbup:

[MartinB]

That looks a beautiful job of work Philip. I feel a drive over to Bolsover coming on!

[GazOC]

the starGAZer 12 is finished :hello1:

[lunator]

Phil

Well done, a fantastic project.

Are you thinking of going into this full-time.

[geppetto]

Are you thinking of going into this full-time

My back says no

Having said that, I'm planning to build a proper OTA for the rather nice 60mm

Cooke triplet lens that I have lurking in a drawer.

Little light weight refractor shouldn't cause me too much grief 8)

[Kain]

Blood hell Phil, that looks fantastic!

I wish I had the know how to build a telescope, it looks very rewarding!

Without being rude, how much has it cost roughly to build mate?

Kain

[geppetto]

Without being rude, how much has it cost roughly to build mate

Not rude at all mate, plus or minus a penny, £81-70 (focuser was £30-00 inc P&P)

Of course, thanks to Gaz the mirrors and spider were just postal cost so the above

amount isn't realistic for somebody costing up a fresh build.

12" mirrors are expensive and I doubt you would better just going and buying a 12"

Lightbridge.

If you've got mirrors or lenses knocking about and you enjoy a bit of wood bashing

then it's great fun and very rewarding.

[Kain]

And there was me thinking about cutting up this massive mirror in the hall

80 odd quid for a 12" scope, I wish could do stuff like that.

I look forward to your FL report mate

Kain

[Jaffa007]

Phil, credit where credits due, you's da man! 8)

[hairymunky]

Now thats a sweet looking piece of kit.

Always fancied building my own Dob, so much so that I bought Texeru How to make a telescope,

many years ago ... I read as far as grinding the glass blank and got totally confused.

After reading this, I'm getting itchy fingers again, although I think if I do it, I'll buy the mirror kit

rather than attempt to craft them myself.

[geppetto]

Never fancied grinding a mirror myself HM but that's probably

because I haven't read up on it to understand what's what.

Good way to save money on the bigger mirrors though

[Martin 2]

Thats a great scope youve built there, I'm very impressed

M2

[hairymunky]

Good way to save money on the bigger mirrors though

Especially if you want arms like Popeye