George's Telescope... Finished!

[David DeCristoforo]

Almost three years to the day I started this, the telescope is finally finished. I’ve had to make a lot of changes along the way. Refinements, tweaks and modifications abound. I really never intended to do anything this complicated but the thing just kind of took me over. My sense of relief at having finished it is colossal.

I am aware that I’m going to get totally raked over the coals about these images. At some point I will have to get better photos. But the weather is crappy here and I have no “studio” to photograph in so I had to kind of fake it.

I still need to adjust the scope (collimate is the correct term) but that will have to wait for some decent weather as it has to be done outside and takes a bit of time. But the thing balances well (that was a fussy process in itself) and the movement is smooth and stable in all directions. I needed a lot more counterweight than I originally thought so I had to whack my counterweight and fill in with some cast iron weight plates. I needed twelve pounds to counterbalance the scope and there was no way to cram that much shot into my wood weight.

So, anyway… for what it is worth, here it is and now I can get on with the other part of my life!

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[Robert Hayward]

Have you called the Smithsonian and told them it is time to pick it up ? This masterpiece is going to a museum, isn't it ? :D

[Larry Frank]

This is an outstanding piece or artistic woodworking.

[Mel Fulks]

A colossal achievement and worthy Creeker bus trip destination! I hope you can take pics through it ,and will share them.

[Len Mullin]

David, it is an amazing feat, to be able to build something like this. Not only is it beautiful, but it is also functional. A lot of times things like this are built for looks only, they mostly just sit on display somewhere unused. Hopefully, this piece will be put to good use, it's most definitely a feather in your cap and something to brag about.

Len

[Tom M King]

Gorgeous! What size is it again? A 6" f/8? Do you have to be a member here to view pictures? I'd like to send the link to my Astronomer friends, so they can see it, but I know they're not members here.

[David DeCristoforo]

Gorgeous! What size is it again? A 6" f/8? Do you have to be a member here to view pictures? I'd like to send the link to my Astronomer friends, so they can see it, but I know they're not members here.
8” f6 I posted the pics on the woodturnersunlimited Facebook page. Might be able to see them there.

[Tom M King]

From what I can see, the diagonal mount looks pretty complicated. Did you make that too? Is the equatorial mount motorized? Does it come off of that base with casters under the legs?

[David DeCristoforo]

From what I can see, the diagonal mount looks pretty complicated. Did you make that too? Is the equatorial mount motorized? Does it come off of that base with casters under the legs?

Yes, I made everything except the mirrors. Here's the thread on the whole build:

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?243872-George-s-Telescope-Consolidated-Threads

No the mount is not motorized but it was built in such a manner that it could be at some point in the future. It's quite stable although the casters will be replaced with something a bit more elegant very soon.

[Peter Blair]

Unbelievable is the only word that comes to mind David!

[Wayne Jolly]

No the mount is not motorized but it was built in such a manner that it could be at some point in the future.

This tells me that you really are NOT finished yet. :D:D Bottom line though . . . a spectacular piece of work that will yield some spectacular viewing!

Wayne

[Ed Davidson]

Workmanship and design skills shine through on this project...very well done! Do you have any concern with wood movement messing with the optics/resolution?

[David DeCristoforo]

Workmanship and design skills shine through on this project...very well done! Do you have any concern with wood movement messing with the optics/resolution?

Unlikely. The shafts ride on steel bearings

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so they should be fine. The scope tube laminated plywood so that should be pretty stable also.

There is a pretty complete documentation of the whole process own pdf format if you want to take a look at it. Warning... it's long!
http://www.daviddecristoforo.com/misc/telescopethread.pdf

[Jeffrey J Smith]

David - I can only mirror previous comments - incredible. Thanks for sharing your build on this over the past couple of years. It's been a journey.
Did you leave a spot for one of your signature finials? Perhaps the sighting tube?

[Tom M King]

I never owned a motorized one either, back when we were building telescopes, when I was a teenager in the '60's. We ground the optics, and everything else was just thrown together. My first one was a 4-1/4" f/15, and was just mounted on a 2x6 with the optic mounts hanging off the side. That one was not much good for anything but looking at the Moon, and was reground into a 4-1/4" f/4.

I have some Kodachrome slides I took, for exposures of like 20 minutes, using a handwheel on a flexible shaft, with the little 4-1/4", and an eye on the finder scope crosshairs following a star.

My friends, one that built telescopes with me when we were teenagers, are lead scientists on the James Webb (I sent them a link to your build). I ate dinner with a group of Astronomers, including these friends of mine, and some of the people who I had never met before asked me who I was. I said that I used to build telescopes with my friend when we were teenagers. He said, "Yeah, he still is".

[David DeCristoforo]

I never owned a motorized one either, back when we were building telescopes, when I was a teenager in the '60's. We ground the optics, and everything else was just thrown together. My first one was a 4-1/4" f/15, and was just mounted on a 2x6 with the optic mounts hanging off the side. That one was not much good for anything but looking at the Moon, and was reground into a 4-1/4" f/4.

I have some Kodachrome slides I took, for exposures of like 20 minutes, using a handwheel on a flexible shaft, with the little 4-1/4", and an eye on the finder scope crosshairs following a star.

My friends, one that built telescopes with me when we were teenagers, are lead scientists on the James Webb (I sent them a link to your build). I ate dinner with a group of Astronomers, including these friends of mine, and some of the people who I had never met before asked me who I was. I said that I used to build telescopes with my friend when we were teenagers. He said, "Yeah, he still is".

My original intent was to make a simple Dobsonian base. But then I got the idea to make the GEM mount and suddenly things got complicated! Motorizing the mount was never in the plan but I thought I should build it in a manner that would allow for a retrofit at some point. I will never do this myself but future owners might want to. I have gone so far as to play with a design for a worm gear and stepper motor arrangement that would hide inside the shaft tubes. There just might be enough room inside the 6" diameter shaft tubes to make this work. But that's going to be a project for someone in the future!

[John K Jordan]

I just thought of something - do you plan to add these pictures to the "combined thread"? Or should this thread be appended to that at some point?

JKJ

[David DeCristoforo]

I just thought of something - do you plan to add these pictures to the "combined thread"? Or should this thread be appended to that at some point?

JKJ

Oops! In my excitement over having it finished, I totally forgot about that! Should I just add to that thread or do you want to move this one! Either way is fine.

[John K Jordan]

Oops! In my excitement over having it finished, I totally forgot about that! Should I just add to that thread or do you want to move this one! Either way is fine.

Either way. Adding to the other simplifies things and makes it easier to follow. Combining threads brings in the conversation about bearings, motor drives and such.

If you had a bunch of extra time a new thread with just the pictures and your comments would be a beautifully concise thing to read, showing the linear progression and preserving the impact of your accomplishment, sort of a blog. Could include drawings, shots you working on it in the shop (if you have those), comments on problems solved, tradoffs, etc. But..., that would be... pretty much an article! Did I mention I thought this would make a good mag article? :D

JKJ

[David DeCristoforo]

I tried to PM you to ask if you could append this to the combined thread but for some reason I was not able to get it to work. So I just added the post to the combined thread. That way everything will be in the same place.

[John K Jordan]

I tried to PM you to ask if you could append this to the combined thread but for some reason I was not able to get it to work. So I just added the post to the combined thread. That way everything will be in the same place.

I think the forum has been changed to limit private messaging to contributing members, a minimum of $6 per year to help keep the doors open!

JKJ