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| Completed is a custom rocker box for Jack's 12" Lightbridge telescope. Note the Sky Commander and "break" -- |
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I include a "break" on each of my Lightbridge rocker
boxes to help in the balance of the telescope.
Jack lives in Purcell, Oklahoma...
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| Custom rocker boxes for a Lightbridge 12" telescope. One is a kit. |
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| The kit and completed version of the Lightbridge rocker box start out the same. The kit is almost completed. |
"Hi Dennis: This is a follow up from last fall....temps finally got warm enough here in Ohio for me to refinish the wood on my scope I used the Helmsmen Poly oil base and the wood looks amazing!!! It's nearly 10 years old now and looks brand new!! Here are some pics of my freshly refinished scope....I was procrastinating for a few weeks ...I didn't want to botch the finish..but it came out beautifully!! I used the Helmsman Minwax oil base gloss. Three coats. I coated it in the garage with the door open for ventilation and used the dehumidifier to help with cure time. Looks awesome for a 10 year old scope!!
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| Custom rocker box, with Ebony custom color for Tom in Indianapolis, Indiana. |
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| 10K encoders installed for Tom digital setting of choice. |
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| I like to call attention to the unique tube-rings. Neat!! |
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| Almost completed is Tom's 10" solid- tube telescope rocker box. Note the beautiful "Ebony" custom color. |
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| I especially like the cool tube-rings for Tom's telescope. |
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| In the early stages, and getting underway is a rocker box and altitude bearings for Tom's 10" telescope. Note the unique tube rings. Tom lives in Indianapolis, Indiana. |
Hello Dennis, |
| A 12.5" F8 made in the 50's as seen on Cloudy Nights recently. It reminded me of my own early telescope making efforts. |
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| That's me in the early 80's with a 12.5" full-thickness pyrex mirror with an F8 focal length. The OTA was welded electrical conduit made with the help of a high school metal shop teacher. The mounting was made from 4", 3" and 2.5" pipe fittings with babbit bearings. (ala Making Your Own Telescope by Thompson) |
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| As I zero-in on completing two 16" strut-kits, the rocker box is one of the last components to put together. Here the sizes are tested for fit. |
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| Sam, in Beaver, Pennsylvania, needed an iPad stalk and mount for his 16" Lightbridge. He reports that it works great. That one of our custom rocker boxes for the Lightbridge. |
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| A very nice set of Orion 10" astrograph optics make this beauty a delight to use for deep sky observing. That's a Kinoptics helical focuser. |
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| Installed is a red-dot finder and 10K encoders for Sky Commander or any digital setting circle system. |
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| The standard 9-point Orion mirror cell and custom mirror cover. The rocker box weighs 21# while the OTA, with mirror cover is 33#. |
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| A 3-vane and 4-vane spider on the 16" strut telescopes for Bob and Ron. Both of these spiders are heavy-duty "Observatory Grade" unit from Destiny. |
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| An example of the completed telescope. |
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| About 2/3 complete, two 16" strut-kits with Easy Transport Telescope is coming along. One "string" and one string-ready. Both of these will have a Moonlite 2-speed focuser. Nice!! |
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| Starting with Tom's tube-rings, the altitude bearings for his custom rocker box are underway. Check out the unique tube-rings. Nice!! |
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| Tom has chosen an "Ebony" stain as a color. The black stain brings out the beautiful wood-grain of this Baltic birch. |
