Steve's 11" Complete . . .

Steve's 11" F4.5 is complete. The primary is a Lightholder -- a real beauty.
Note the Sky Commander system, strings, Moonlite 2-speed focuser and primary
dew shield. The secondary is an 1/20th wave Antares. Nice!!

The Sky Commander on its "stage". The primary was coated by Spectrum
and is center marked for easy collimation.

A Note from Kristian and his 13.1" Telescope . ..

Dennis,

Last night I had my first opportunity to use the 13.1 dob you made for me at our club’s first star party of 2020. I attached a photo of me (orange shirt) dialing in the colllimation with my friend Rene.  He’s know in our club as “the human goto”  mount for his skills at finding dso.  Everyone was impressed with your workmanship and quality.   The views were amazing.  Very nice crisp stars with the Paracorr 2 and Nagler eyepieces.  It’s the best views and smoothest moving scope I have owned.  It’s a lifetime keeper scope for me.  Thank you for recommending this size for my needs per our discussions beforehand.  It is the perfect scope for me.  I should have done this a long time ago.

Thanks again,

Kristian

William's 12" Lightbridge Rocker Box . . .

Nice job putting the kit together. I really like the color.

Note the "break" just under the altitude bearing.

Steve's 11" Telescope -- More Yet...

The rocker box and mirror box w/altitude bearings  fit just
right. The motions are smooth and buttery....

Steve's 11" -- Gettin' Close...

A great fit and getting ready to apply the color, Steve's 11"
F4.5 string-strut and the rocker box. Perfect fit....

Steve's 11" F4.5 OTA . . .

The "mirror box" for Steve's 11". Note the "hooks" which will anchor
the strings. I'll add a dew shield a bit later.

The optical tube assembly (OTA) is assembled. Yet to be added are the
altitude bearings and strings. Those will come next. Then on to the
rocker box, Sky Commander and completion....

A Note from William . . .

Hey Dennis, thanks for the meade lightbridge rocker box kit.  Well designed and having a blast working on it.  Wanted to ask what color stain this scope was and what kind and brand of stain you used on this one.  What do you recommend for a pre stain?  Thanks so much

A 16" Strut Telescope . . .

As I work on Steve's 11" telescope, and wait for varnish to dry, it gives me
a chance to work on other projects. Here's the top ring, with spider and
focuser for Chuck's 16" strut telescope with Easy Transport and Sky Commander.

An 11" for Steve -- Continued . . .

Steve's 11" Lightholder primary sits on a 6-point flotation mirror cell.
The custom color sure makes the Baltic birch "pop"!!

The mirror board, mirror installed and custom fitted mirror cover.

The focuser is a Moonlite 2-speed 2" crayford and
spider is a 3-vane, curved vane by Destiny. The
secondary is an Antares 1/20th wave mirror.

An 11" and Two 16's . . .

Cuttin' some wood!! On the left is a 16" truss with full upper cage assembly
for Tom in Salt Lake City, Utah. On the right is a 16" parallel-strut for
Chuck in Lakewood, Washington (this will have the Easy Transport
Telescope option -- The 12" ruler is for "scale". 

Steve's 11" just before applying the "custom color" and installing
the focuser -- the spider is curved-vane with spring loaded collimation.

An Update from Kristian in Lake Placid, Florida . . .

Dennis,

Just wanted to let you know I love my 13.1” dob.  I am very happy with the smoothness of the motions it is all of such high workmanship in the design.  I finally got a site tube and aligned my secondary mirror to the focuser.  Last week I had the scope out for 7 hours and the dew heater you installed worked perfectly.  I am still waiting on my Paracorr 2 but it has shipped and will be here soon.  I’ll let you know how things go when I get my coma corrector.  Thanks again for building me such a nice scope.  It’s perfect “for me”.

Cheers

K

And, a Bit More on Steve's 11" . . .

The rocker box sides and altitude bearings for Steve's 11"
telescope with Lightholder primary -- nice!!

An 11" for Steve . . .

The OTA rings for Steve's 11" Lightholder primary mirror is underway.
Steve lives in Berkeley, California.

A Rocker Box Kit for a 12" Lightbridge . . .

Completed and packaged is a kit for William's 12" Lightbridge
telescope -- William lives in Arcadia, California.

Tony's 6" Kit -- Completed . . .

A complete 6" F5 kit for Tony in Rochester, New York. The kit includes
optics, curved-vane spider, single-speed focuser and mirror cell.