Astronomy stuff made of wood?

"Mark Jerde" <[email protected]> writes:
> Mike W. wrote:
> > I am in Southwestern Ohio. I live in the distant suburbs of
> > Cincinnati. I just built a house out in the country where I can
> > actually see the milky way cloud.
>
> I knew him well in South Dakota but haven't seen him in Maryland. <g>
>
> > I was in Hawaii a few years back
> > out in the boonies at night and could make it out easily,
>
> One of many reasons to live in Hawaii!
>
> > and when in Denver near the base of Pikes Peak,
>
> I made it to the top in 1963 as a little kid. At that time there was
> Denver, then a large dark place to the north, then Boulder. Now it's
> basically lights from Denver north to Wyoming, but IRC when it wasn't so.

The lights must extend quite a ways south if you lived
in Denver at the base of Pikes Peak. The last known
location for Pikes Peak is about 60 miles south of
Denver. There is a burg named Colorado Springs which
usually claims to be at the foot of Pikes Peak.

Now when the Rocky Mountain Arsenal was greasing the rocks,
Mother Nature was threatening to move the Rockies into
Kansas, but I wasn't aware of any north/south movement.

Mike W. <[email protected]> wrote:
: Hi all.


: So the question I have is, do and of you woodworkers dabble in astronomy?
: If so, have you built anything to speak of? I have a grand design in my
: head for an awesome 10" Dobsonian scope (Cherry or Apple ply... brass
: hardware... droool), and I will someday actually build it. But for now I'm
: just gathering the skills and tools that will be required to build it.

: I'd love to hear about or see some of the things you've built to support
: your addiction... I mean hobby.

: Thanks,
: Mike

Hi Mike,

You might consider a simple but interesting astrography project - a
Scotch Mount for a 35 mm camera:


http://www.astunit.com/tonkinsastro/atm/projects/scotch.htm

--- Gregg
"Improvise, adapt, overcome."
[email protected]
Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Phone: (617) 496-1558

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On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 00:08:50 +0000, Mike W. wrote:


> So the question I have is, do and of you woodworkers dabble in astronomy?
> If so, have you built anything to speak of? I have a grand design in my
> head for an awesome 10" Dobsonian scope (Cherry or Apple ply... brass
> hardware... droool), and I will someday actually build it. But for now I'm
> just gathering the skills and tools that will be required to build it.
>
> I'd love to hear about or see some of the things you've built to support
> your addiction... I mean hobby.

Yes, I dabble with a cheap store bought POS scope. Went to Kitt Peak
several years ago and picked up several books. One in particular should
be of interest to wooddorkers:

"Build Your Own Telescope" by Richard Berry's, ISBN 0-943396-42-5

Building a scope based on plans in the book is somewhere in the top 3rd of
my long list of round tuits. I sure hope I get the top third done before
I croak.

-Doug

I am in Southwestern Ohio. I live in the distant suburbs of Cincinnati. I
just built a house out in the country where I can actually see the milky way
cloud. I was in Hawaii a few years back out in the boonies at night and
could make it out easily, and when in Denver near the base of Pikes Peak,
but never dreamed in my own back yard. Unfortunately I live in a
development where I am the first house in (2 acre lots), but people are
starting to build. So I'd bet my Milky Way viewing days are done.

Thanks,
Mike W.

"Mark Jerde" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Mike W. wrote:
>
> > With all the
> > talk about 'scary sharp' and such around here, I'd bet theres a few
> > folks who could do it, though... lots of creative minds here.
>
> Where are you located?
>
> <mental meandering>
> I grew up in western South Dakota. I spent a lot of time where the
nearest
> neighbor was > 1 mile away = no light pollution. For about 10 years I've
> been in the Washington D.C. area, and even on the clearest, coldest,
> brightest night, there aren't that many stars in the sky.
>
> Last week I was in TX and OK and at about 1:00 am I stopped on the two
lane
> road in TX for 10 minutes and looked at the stars. It was somewhat cloudy
> but I could still see more stars than anytime in Maryland.
> </mental meandering>
>
> Where are you located?
>
> -- Mark
>
>

Mike W. wrote:
> I am in Southwestern Ohio. I live in the distant suburbs of
> Cincinnati. I just built a house out in the country where I can
> actually see the milky way cloud.

I knew him well in South Dakota but haven't seen him in Maryland. <g>

> I was in Hawaii a few years back
> out in the boonies at night and could make it out easily,

One of many reasons to live in Hawaii!

> and when in
> Denver near the base of Pikes Peak,

I made it to the top in 1963 as a little kid. At that time there was
Denver, then a large dark place to the north, then Boulder. Now it's
basically lights from Denver north to Wyoming, but IRC when it wasn't so.

> but never dreamed in my own back
> yard. Unfortunately I live in a development where I am the first
> house in (2 acre lots), but people are starting to build. So I'd bet
> my Milky Way viewing days are done.

Maybe you need a bigger apature. <g> Vacations are also great. I grew up
in western South Dakota but have been Maryland for about 10 years. With the
light pollution and close horizons, there is virtually no stargazing in MD.
Last week I was in TX and OK. It was a semi-cloudy night, but about 1:00 am
in north Texas I turned off the rental car and got out and looked at the
stars for about 10 minutes. It wasn't outstanding -- I couldn't really make
out the MW cloud -- but it was still a lot of fun.

Maryland has robbed me of a lot of stars, but has put a lot of $ in my
pocket. <g>

-- Mark

On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 19:48:36 -0700, Wes Stewart wrote:


> Another one of "his" books is "The CCD Camera Cookbook", which was
> really written by two close friends and former co-workers of mine,
> John Munger and Veikko Kanto. I got both of them into ham radio, but
> they didn't get me into astronomy, although they did bring one of
> their 10" 'scopes and camera out to my place in the dark Sonoran
> desert for some lookin' once. Really neat.
>
> Neither of them are woodworkers but they do some nice machine work.

I _was_ into ham radio in the early sixties (K7OQF), and still listen in.
In fact, I sent a bunch of vacuum tube gear off to a fellow in the cold
climes of WI/MI (I hate CRS) since I'd been packing it around for 35
years without using it.

-Doug

On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 03:00:31 GMT, "Mike W."
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I did run across a guy or two that had ground his own glass for a mirror,
>but I dont think I've met anyone who has silvered or otherwise made
>reflective the glass they had ground.

Loads of times ! I did a degree in laser optics.


I'm starting to think that a wooden mirror would actually be a rather
nice thing. 8-)

Hah! Great... You can buy mirrors you know. :-)

I was thinking more along the lines of building the scope mounts,
accessories, chairs, etc.

I did run across a guy or two that had ground his own glass for a mirror,
but I dont think I've met anyone who has silvered or otherwise made
reflective the glass they had ground. With all the talk about 'scary sharp'
and such around here, I'd bet theres a few folks who could do it, though...
lots of creative minds here.

Mike W.

"Andy Dingley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 00:08:50 GMT, "Mike W."
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >So the question I have is, do and of you woodworkers dabble in astronomy?
>
> I'd like to, but you have to sand to one hell of a fine grit and
> silvering it is even harder.
>
>
>
> Mind you, I think you _could_ do this, if you tried hard enough....
>

On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 00:08:50 GMT, "Mike W."
<[email protected]> wrote:

>So the question I have is, do and of you woodworkers dabble in astronomy?

I'd like to, but you have to sand to one hell of a fine grit and
silvering it is even harder.



Mind you, I think you _could_ do this, if you tried hard enough....

On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 00:07:30 GMT, Doug Winterburn
<[email protected]> wrote:

|On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 00:08:50 +0000, Mike W. wrote:
|
|
|> So the question I have is, do and of you woodworkers dabble in astronomy?
|> If so, have you built anything to speak of? I have a grand design in my
|> head for an awesome 10" Dobsonian scope (Cherry or Apple ply... brass
|> hardware... droool), and I will someday actually build it. But for now I'm
|> just gathering the skills and tools that will be required to build it.
|>
|> I'd love to hear about or see some of the things you've built to support
|> your addiction... I mean hobby.
|
|Yes, I dabble with a cheap store bought POS scope. Went to Kitt Peak
|several years ago and picked up several books. One in particular should
|be of interest to wooddorkers:
|
|"Build Your Own Telescope" by Richard Berry's, ISBN 0-943396-42-5
|
|Building a scope based on plans in the book is somewhere in the top 3rd of
|my long list of round tuits. I sure hope I get the top third done before
|I croak.

Another one of "his" books is "The CCD Camera Cookbook", which was
really written by two close friends and former co-workers of mine,
John Munger and Veikko Kanto. I got both of them into ham radio, but
they didn't get me into astronomy, although they did bring one of
their 10" 'scopes and camera out to my place in the dark Sonoran
desert for some lookin' once. Really neat.

Neither of them are woodworkers but they do some nice machine work.

Mike W. wrote:

> With all the
> talk about 'scary sharp' and such around here, I'd bet theres a few
> folks who could do it, though... lots of creative minds here.

Where are you located?

<mental meandering>
I grew up in western South Dakota. I spent a lot of time where the nearest
neighbor was > 1 mile away = no light pollution. For about 10 years I've
been in the Washington D.C. area, and even on the clearest, coldest,
brightest night, there aren't that many stars in the sky.

Last week I was in TX and OK and at about 1:00 am I stopped on the two lane
road in TX for 10 minutes and looked at the stars. It was somewhat cloudy
but I could still see more stars than anytime in Maryland.
</mental meandering>

Where are you located?

-- Mark

"Mike W." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> So the question I have is, do and of you woodworkers dabble in astronomy?
> If so, have you built anything to speak of? I have a grand design in my
> head for an awesome 10" Dobsonian scope (Cherry or Apple ply... brass
> hardware... droool), and I will someday actually build it. But for now
I'm
> just gathering the skills and tools that will be required to build it.
>
> I'd love to hear about or see some of the things you've built to support
> your addiction... I mean hobby.

Mike:
I've built a half dozen Dobsonians and now own two, along with a couple of
other scopes. They have ranged in size from 6" to 17". Ping me and we can
talk.

Bob Schmall
>
> Thanks,
> Mike
>
>