In article <[email protected]>, The Other James
<[email protected]> wrote:
> Howard wrote:
>
> >
> > I would love to build one from scratch, including grinding the mirror.
> > About 12 years ago, I searched high and low for information on how to
> > do that, without success.
>
> Howard, join up with a local astronomy club. It is going to be your best
> source
> of information for what is available in your area. I found out that John
> Dobson
> teaches a class 20 miles from here about once every year. I would have never
> found out about it without being involved in the club. I have not done it
> yet,
> but I know several people who have. Don't give up!
I have had the pleasure of knowing a few "country geniuses" in my life.
One of them was my father, and two more were two of the three men he
ever called "true friends". By that I mean they shared a special
kinship, a bond of spirit and intellect. I only left the third friend
out because he was from California and had a college education; he was
no less a genius, only more traditional and less remarkable.
Anyhoo, one of the friends made an 8" reflector when I was a young
teen. I was fascinated by the process. He ground his own mirrors, and
purchased a hospital-surplus autoclave, in which he silvered them. He
made his own collimator, and explained to me the collimation process.
After it was completed, we viewed with remarkable clarity the Queen
Wilhelmina Inn atop Rich Mountain (Arkansas), some 20 miles distant. I
never viewed stars with it. I don't know that he did, either; he
tended to be driven more by fascination with process than with the end
use of the product.
The last time I spoke to him, sometime in the 1980's, he was busy
excavating a hole to bedrock. It was a hole he would fill with several
cubic yards of concrete, to serve as a stable platform for his latest
surplus purchase: a scanning electron microscope.
If you'd asked him why he needed an electron microscope, you'd have
gotten a puzzled stare. Does "need" matter? It's interesting!
He and my father were graduates of Hatfield, AR, High School. When I
graduated HHS 32 years later, my class had 24 graduates, the largest in
the school's history (my sister graduated 4 years earlier, with 11 in
her class).
Neither man had further schooling, although casual acquaintances would
assume they had advanced education. They were like that, you see.
People with active minds are drawn together. Hence, groups like the
wreck. ;-)
Kevin
On Fri, 26 Dec 2003 01:56:34 GMT, Howard <[email protected]> wrote:
>"Brian" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Thanks for that post! I have a neighbor that took a class, actually
>>ground-by-hand a mirror and built one very similar. It is superior in every
>>way to the commercial version I bought (which can clearly pull in the rings
>>of Saturn, and the color banks of Jupiter). I've wanted to try my hand at
>>building one, but wasn't thrilled with the idea of hand grinding a mirror.
>
>I would love to build one from scratch, including grinding the mirror.
>About 12 years ago, I searched high and low for information on how to
>do that, without success.
Hang out in this news group for awhile.
sci.astro.amateur
Dozens of Dob builders hang out there.
[email protected] (Bobby) wrote:
>http://home.bellsouth.net/p/pwp-bobastro
>I'm still a novice woodworker, so be nice.
This is a restricted, unlisted site, and not available to anybody not on
bellsouth.net. Too bad; I'd like to see your picture(s).
If you would like real web hosting with your own domain name for about $5/month,
see http://www.procountinc.com -- or http://www.texas-domains.com
--
Howard Lee Harkness
Texas Certified Concealed Handgun Instructor
www.CHL-TX.com
[email protected]
Low-cost Domain Registration and Hosting! www.Texas-Domains.com
Howard wrote:
>
> I would love to build one from scratch, including grinding the mirror.
> About 12 years ago, I searched high and low for information on how to
> do that, without success.
Howard, join up with a local astronomy club. It is going to be your best source
of information for what is available in your area. I found out that John Dobson
teaches a class 20 miles from here about once every year. I would have never
found out about it without being involved in the club. I have not done it yet,
but I know several people who have. Don't give up!
Hi,
Here is a pic of my 8" f7 dob, with oak base.
http://home.bellsouth.net/p/pwp-bobastro
I'm still a novice woodworker, so be nice.
Regards,
Bob
[email protected] (T.) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> http://www.usno.navy.mil/8inchdob.html
>
> JOAT
> My last name is not, "Damn It".
> - God
>
> Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT
> Web Page Update 24 Dec 2003.
> Some tunes I like.
> http://community-2.webtv.net/Jakofalltrades/SOMETUNESILIKE/
"Brian" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Thanks for that post! I have a neighbor that took a class, actually
>ground-by-hand a mirror and built one very similar. It is superior in every
>way to the commercial version I bought (which can clearly pull in the rings
>of Saturn, and the color banks of Jupiter). I've wanted to try my hand at
>building one, but wasn't thrilled with the idea of hand grinding a mirror.
I would love to build one from scratch, including grinding the mirror.
About 12 years ago, I searched high and low for information on how to
do that, without success.
--
Howard Lee Harkness
Texas Certified Concealed Handgun Instructor
www.CHL-TX.com
[email protected]
Low-cost Domain Registration and Hosting! www.Texas-Domains.com
Thanks for that post! I have a neighbor that took a class, actually
ground-by-hand a mirror and built one very similar. It is superior in every
way to the commercial version I bought (which can clearly pull in the rings
of Saturn, and the color banks of Jupiter). I've wanted to try my hand at
building one, but wasn't thrilled with the idea of hand grinding a mirror.
"T." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> http://www.usno.navy.mil/8inchdob.html
>
> JOAT
> My last name is not, "Damn It".
> - God
>
> Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT
> Web Page Update 24 Dec 2003.
> Some tunes I like.
> http://community-2.webtv.net/Jakofalltrades/SOMETUNESILIKE/
>
This guy took the class somewhere in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. I believe
the instructor teaches at UNT.
"Howard" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Brian" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >Thanks for that post! I have a neighbor that took a class, actually
> >ground-by-hand a mirror and built one very similar. It is superior in
every
> >way to the commercial version I bought (which can clearly pull in the
rings
> >of Saturn, and the color banks of Jupiter). I've wanted to try my hand
at
> >building one, but wasn't thrilled with the idea of hand grinding a
mirror.
>
> I would love to build one from scratch, including grinding the mirror.
> About 12 years ago, I searched high and low for information on how to
> do that, without success.
>
> --
> Howard Lee Harkness
> Texas Certified Concealed Handgun Instructor
> www.CHL-TX.com
> [email protected]
> Low-cost Domain Registration and Hosting! www.Texas-Domains.com
Newport glass has mirror kits for making your own but don't expect to save
any money doing it. http://www.newportglass.com/
For building scopes see the ATM archives and mailing list.
http://astro.umsystem.edu/atm/
Or John Dobson's own plans. http://tie.jpl.nasa.gov/tie/dobson/index.html
Forget Sonotube and build a compact truss tube scope for travel and storage.
http://www.atmsite.org/contrib/Ravneberg/alice/
Dave
"Howard" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I would love to build one from scratch, including grinding the mirror.
> About 12 years ago, I searched high and low for information on how to
> do that, without success.
>
> --
Howard wrote:
> I would love to build one from scratch, including grinding the mirror.
> About 12 years ago, I searched high and low for information on how to
> do that, without success.
Look up Albert G. Ingalls's "Amateur Telescope Making," in three volumes.
The first volume will give you all the basics; the others will get you to a
lot of sophisticated stuff. Out of print, I think, but abebooks lists a lot
of used copies. Well worth having, even if you never get around to building
a telescope.
Owen Davies
Brian and Howard:
"Telescope Making" by Jean Texereau will guide you through the mirror-making
process. Beware however--it's a black art. I've done one successfully and
another a lot less so. I've also assembled Dobs by buying the optical and
mechanical components and building the cabinetry. Very satisfying. Email for
a discussion, since we're pretty OT here.
Bob
"Brian" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Thanks for that post! I have a neighbor that took a class, actually
> ground-by-hand a mirror and built one very similar. It is superior in
every
> way to the commercial version I bought (which can clearly pull in the
rings
> of Saturn, and the color banks of Jupiter). I've wanted to try my hand at
> building one, but wasn't thrilled with the idea of hand grinding a mirror.
>
> "T." <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > http://www.usno.navy.mil/8inchdob.html
> >
> > JOAT
> > My last name is not, "Damn It".
> > - God
> >
> > Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT
> > Web Page Update 24 Dec 2003.
> > Some tunes I like.
> > http://community-2.webtv.net/Jakofalltrades/SOMETUNESILIKE/
> >
>
>