12" F6 dobsonian build.

[MikeMS]

All.

I have completed the build of a dobsonian around a 12" F6 55mm thick mirror. The conclusion, 55mm of glass is very heavy and F6 is very long.

The az bearing is an old 12" vinyl record and teflon on the altitude bearings. The bit I am most pleased with is the captive nuts in the aluminium tubing!!

There are hopefully 5 pictures of it attached. I am going to have a go at building a vns platform to support it.

Kind regards,

Mike MS

[MikeMS]

sorry the focuser picture is so poor, here is another one.

[beamish]

That looks lovely, wish I had the time ,patience and importantly the skills to produce anything like that. Did you grind your own mirror or am I now taking the mick?

Either way well done !!

[swamp thing]

Hi Mike

Your right that f/6 sure is llllloooonnnnggg.

Nice job she looks grand.

How does she perform?

Regards Steve

[MikeMS]

Beamish.

I purchased the entire the mirrors in a home made frame from ebay last year. As I live aboard I could only bring the optics back, hence the rest of it being built by me.

If you have a router (£25 new on ebay) you can cut plywood to a high standard.

I am trying to source a porthole glass to have a go at grinding a mirror but I doubt if I would have the skill to do it.

All the best.

Mike.

[MikeMS]

Steve.

I have only used it once so far and that was under a dusty sky. The mirror is of high quality, I have a bill from the first owner for £600 in 1991. My house was not that much more in 1992.

Sadly clear nights are very rare here in Riyadh, there is always sand in the atmosphere so it will not get a real test. I will try and image Saturn with it later.

Kind regards,

Mike.

[MoonNut]

Awesome! You don't actually need to use something like that, just stick it in the corner of your lounge and look at it!

I know what you mean about the sky, I am in Bahrain, it is the reason I have evolved into a Moon Nut. Apart from the poor sky, the dust is the thing that really pees me off.

David B.

[swamp thing]

Mike

I should imagine she'll be an absolute planet killer.

Look forward to reading and seeing (hopefully) what you can produce.

Clear skies.

Regards Steve

[Grenfell]

That is a work of art! I wouldn't know where to start with something like that. Would love to see the results.