8 Inch Telescope

This is a great job. Looked at the other pics on the website. Most impressive.

-- Carpe Lignum; Tornare Lignum (Seize the wood, to Turn the wood)

What a fantastic idea! I didn’t even know you could build your own telescope, much less make it such a beautiful woodworking project.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Very interesting project! Your wife is to be commended for support and “authorizing” quality parts!

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

A piece of art Jerry. Beautifully executed. This is not something I would think of doing in wood. Outstanding piece and thanks for posting it.

-- Better to say nothing and be thought the fool... then to speak and erase all doubt!

Impressive engineering – I enjoyed the accompanying article also – well done

-- Tony - All things are possible, just some things are more difficult than others! - SKYPE: Heron2005 (http://www.poydatjatuolit.fi)

We have a fella down the street who is loves telescopes and grinds or shapes? his own mirrors. I would love to try something like this.

-- If knowledge is not shared, it is forgotten.

A beautiful piece of craftsmanship.

It looks like your whole family enjoys it.

-- -** 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

I just stumbled across this. I guess maybe I’m not an oddball that built his own scope. lol

I built a 6” Newtonian on a Dob mount originally but last year converted it to a pipe Equatorial mount. Works great now.

Great job on the scopes BTW.

-- Just remember,it was a lone amatuer that built the ark, and a team of experts built the Titanic.

Beautiful job. Thanks for the link.

-- "Checking for square? what madness is this! The cabinet is square because I will it to be so!" Jeremy Greiner LJ Topic#20953 2011 Feb 2

I have been sanding and finishing wood floors professionally for 32 years. In your case, any surface finish like polyurethane will end up cracking. You want a really good penetrating finish like Waterlox. It soaks into the wood and is very water-resistant. There are a lot of other brands of penetrating sealers to choose from which will work fine. Any time the finish is needing a little care, you can just rub some on with no preparation. It will always look nice. Surface finishes are best for temperature- and humidity-stable environments where a lot of physical wear is expected.

-- Leroy

Leroy,

I wish you had told me that 5 years ago :). The finish is indeed cracked. At this point I think the only way to fix it is a total rebuild. However, the scope still works as well as the day it was built so if I was going to spend a few months building a scope it would be a lot bigger! I looked at the Waterlox website and I’ll put that on my list for the next project. Thanks for the info.

-- Jerry L.