Today I started working a quick project that's going to be a Christmas gift for a friends son. It is going to be a 6" reflector telescope that does not have a tube. My friend didn't want a telescope he would have to hide in a closet but instead keep it out where people can see it. This is what I consider a weekend project because the wood cutting is kept to a minimum. As with any wood project you can keep this as plain or as elaborate as you want. The most difficult parts of this project is making the octagon mirror box and ensuring the focal lengths are correct. I added pictures of what the scope will resemble when this project  is assembled. I haven't decided the color of the stain yet. I will post pictures as the work progresses.

Looks like modern art and more than a weekend to me. Do you have a picture showing the view it will pickup?

Cool! What Gerald said about the about the view an observer would see.

11 hours ago, Monkey Paws said:

I will post pictures as the work progresses.

Please do!! Your creativity is outstanding!

Looks to be about and 8" main on that.   How are you going to suspend it?

I am using a 6" mirror so I will use a simple mirror cell. More likely than bot I will use the Riss Sackett design

18 hours ago, Gerald said:

Looks like modern art and more than a weekend to me. Do you have a picture showing the view it will pickup?

With a 6" reflector telescope you should be able to clearly see the rings of Saturn, The Great Red spot of Jupiter and four of it's biggest moons. Some of the classic messier objects like the Orion Nebula, Ring Nebula and the Andromeda galaxy to just to name a few and of course the moon. This telescope will be a table top model. For the budding astronomer, it should take a while before you want a bigger telescope. Believe or not small scopes like this are generally used more that the larger instruments mainly because of the setup time. It would be easier to grab this scope and go outside than lug a three piece, 60 lb scope to the same area. Here is what you should be able to see.

 

 

Well work on the telescope went well today. I manage to get the curved side bearing attached to the octagon rocker box which hold the main mirror. The rocker box and focusor board alignment checked out good. You can see the beginnings of my mirror cell (Round thing with holes attached to the octagon thing.) The box tubing on the finished scope will only be about 23" long so the scope will be much more compact. The octagon rocker box came out good and should look good with a nice red mahogany stain. More sanding, much much more sanding.

 

For a "cool" factor, this thing is way off the charts! 

22 minutes ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

For a "cool" factor, this thing is way off the charts! 

YES!!!

The technical aspects of this build boggles the mind. 

I had to do a lookup on Ross's designs.   Looks like some have a cover to protect the main mirror.   That's looking good. 

 

5 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

The technical aspects of this build boggles the mind. 

It's  not as difficult as one would think. I am using a 6" main mirror with a focal length of f5. So you multiply 6X5=30. This means your mirrors focal point is approx 30" from the front of the mirror. As long as you arrange the main mirror, secondary mirror so that the focal point is at the eyepiece you are golden. I have seen guys use toilet seats to make scopes. I use a MS Access based program for scope design.

 

 

Kenny that is interesting . I had no idea such sites existed, anyway I presume you got that data off the web. Is it interactive so you can talyor to your own needs.

14 hours ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

For a "cool" factor, this thing is way off the charts! 

I agree now I have to pick my jaw up off the floor!!

Edited November 2, 20187 yr by Larry Buskirk

Okay so I made some more progress today working on the new scope. I bought some 1/64" plywood sheets for the round light shield that is mounted near the eyepiece. I needed to put a permanent curve in the plywood to make the shield and since  I don't have a steam box for bending plywood I did the next best thing. I wrapped up the plywood in a hot wet towel. After I let them soak for a while I applied gorilla glue to all of the surfaces and pressed them together. To get the curve I needed I took rubber bands and attached the wood to a five gallon can. This will sit overnight and it will be ready to go tomorrow have to. I did a test assembly today and noticed a stability issue with the single side bearing on the base. I really like this design but I don't like stability issues. What  may end up doing is taking off the side bearing (curved wood thing that looks like a boomerang) and replace it with an upright that matches the other one thus turning it into a fork base. To make it easier to turn I installed the aluminum lazy Susan bearing on the base.

 

Enjoying the progress updates. Very interesting build.

Hello All,

I went ahead and made the changes to my design today so stability will longer be an Issue.  I remembered that this scope is going to a 10 year old boy so I think the changes were a good thing. I did a test assembly to see if everything works like it should and was surprised it actually did. Now I have to finish the mirror cell, fabricate a mirror dust cover, build a secondary mirror holder and support. Still I think the project is coming along nicely. 

 

Very nice pictorial. Your photography skills rival and, certainly compliment, your other considerable abilities. 

 

3 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

Very nice pictorial. Your photography skills rival and, certainly compliment, your other considerable abilities. 

 

+1