6" F5 Telescope- Baltic Birch in a light globe

Jerry, Again, thanks. This is great. I also have thought of purchasing an astro-scan. It is great to see that you have created your own. Nice work! My ATM project right now however is an eight inch Dobsonian. I have ground the mirror and now I am at the pitch/polish stage. Instead of the straight dob mount I have thought of making a split ring instead.

-- John

Very nice…...now all you need to build is the observatory….

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

Very nice, looking at the third image, it looked like the wood was on the exterior of the globe, until I enlarged it. Optical illusion ?

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

amazing. You must be pretty excited—I mean, metal-flake blue!!! ;)
quite the creation.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

That is a very interesting project.

-- Jesus is Lord!

Thanks for the comments. It’s almost a shame that the inside is painted flat black. No one can see the components :-(. On the filp side it get’s used when it’s dark anyway.

Dick, you are right about the optical illusion. The camera had a tough time with the clear globe.

-- Jerry L.

wow…talk about the precision need to make this…amazing! how well does it work? were you pleased with the results in terms of making your own vs. buying? i never took an astronomy class in college…but when I get away bckpackng in the summers i cant wait to see the stars without city lights…very cool project.

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

Very Cool!! Now that you’ve got me hooked, where can I get the plans? Does McMaster-Carr have them, or just the components? I’ll check them out. Thanks for sharing this.

David

Precision, yeah, that’s what it’s called… Actually a little relative dimensioning and a some felt applied before assembly makes sure it all fits nice and snug ;-). The cool thing is that there are only six screws in the whole thing. Four through the top ring into the spars and two in the bottom ring just to make sure it’s held to the spars. No glue.

As far as functionality, I still don’t have the mirrors. They have been on order since January :-(. I’ll make sure to follow up with a first light report after they arrive.

David, as far as plans, it’s an amalgamation of designs based on some reasearch done through the Yahoo group called “roundscopes”. A quick Yahoo group search will turn it up. I’d say do some reasearch first on basic telescope design before you start something like this. And get good at cutting circles! I can send you a few more pics and more ideas if you want. Send me PM if you are interested.

Finally, McMaster-Carr is an industrial parts supplier. You name a part, thing, or gadget and they have it. The trick is knowing which gadget to get :-).

-- Jerry L.

What an interesting project! Well done. Thanks for the McMaster-Carr link – always good having resources for components.

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

Wow intense

-- Wood and Glass they kick (well you know) Have a great day - Dug