A 20" F3.3 for Paul in Ewa Beach, Hawaii...

Here's a fun project -- a 20" F3.3 for Paul in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. The optics will be a Hubble primary, an observatory grade curved-vane spider and Antares heavy-lift focuser. Note the 9-point mirror cell is made with laminated Baltic birch at 1.25" thick  -- less weight than an aluminum cell, but just as rigid. This will be an 8-tube truss telescope.

(Note the yardstick at the bottom for a size comparison).

A 6" Edmund Scientific Newtonian . . .

The equatorial mount for my 6" Edmund Scientific telescope
including a hard-to-find clockdrive.

After a good number of years in storage, the
telescope is in excellent condition.

The equatorial mount for a 4" Edmund Scientific
telescope. I have the complete telescope for sale.

 

Nick and his 14" F4.5 Telescope . . .

Nick and Larrisa dropped by from the Bay Area to pick
up his 14" F4.5 telescope. A most enjoyable visit!!

Yep, everything fits into his Honda CRV just right!!

 

A Visit by Richard from Sausalito, California

Richard happened to be in the Palm Desert
area for a few days. We had a delightful visit,
talking telescopes and astronomy

That's a 10" F4.5 Richard bought from the
original owners a couple years ago.

 

Larry and his Completed 13.1" F4.5 Telescope . . .

A super assembly job from one of our strut kits!!

 

Dave's 10" F6 Completed...

Dave's 10" F6 with Swayze Optics premium mirror.
Note the strings, full UTA, Easy Transport with intermediate
ring and dew shield. A full Sky Commander is included.

The focuser is an Antares "Heavy-Lift" 2-speed while
the spider is a Destiny 3-vane curved-vane.

 

A Note from Matt and his 12" Lightbridge...

We built a Lightbridge rocker box kit for Matt in Chattenooga, Tennessee -- the assembly and result are outstanding. Here's a note and a few pictures from Matt:

UPGRADES! I’d been wanting to make some upgrades to the rocker box after seeing all the nice custom dobs at my local society’s star party and when I heard about Dobstuff, I made the jump. I should say- a well placed step on my existing rocker boxes eyepiece holder by a rambunctious little 8 year old might have rushed me along. Here’s a photo of the pieces I ordered. I went with a minwax Sedona Red stain and finished it off with four coats of clear satin polyurethane.

The finished product resembles an old Chris Craft boat and I love it! I’m sure everyone has a preference to wood tone, but this was mine. I sanded between coats with 600 grit paper and gave it ample time to dry. One nice thing is that Dennis provides all new hardware. I did however opt to use my existing plastic feet and the lazy susan bearing from my old dob as they worked perfectly well.

I am very happy with the finsished product and can’t wait to take it to our annual “SHOW AND TELL” astronomical society meeting next month! On top of it being one of my favorite meetings of the year, it’s also our FIRST in-person gathering since the pandemic started. Here’s hoping the numbers stay low and we can enjoy some astronomical socializing!

Daves' 10" F6 ...

Dave's rocker box is in its early stages of
construction. The fit is "just right" <5/29/21>

5/31/21 Getting close to completion.

Near complete is Daves' 10" F6
OTA. I notice it's a bit "front heavy"
so I'll need to add some weight to 
the rear of the telescope -- counter
to the "ultra-lite" philosophy. but
it's gotta balance!!!!

 

A Beautiful 13.1" F4.5 -- "KIT"....

Jim's 13.1" F4.5 from one of our kits by Jim in 
Branford CT. Beautiful color and varnish. 

Great job Jim....

 

A 10" F6 with Premium Optics...

Underway is a 10" F6 with Swayze Optical primary 
for Charles in Huntersville, North Carolina. This 
telescope will feature a full UTA, Sky Commander
system and strings.

 

A Note From Jim in Branford, Connecticut:

The color is "Cognac"

 Hi Dennis, 

After many days of cool, wet weather, we finally had some drier days.  I finally managed to get all of the parts stained. One thing that I discovered is that the stain somewhat obliterates the pencil marks that tell me right from left pieces and other defining orientations. I ended up using a set of numbered punches that I had to mark the wood in non visible places in order to maintain the correct orientation of the parts. I did manage to get the ground board stained and sealed. You can see the Teflon in one corner. 

We’re going into another wet spell, so I’ll be waiting a bit to polyurethane the parts. Just need some more good days to get this all finished up. 

Regards,  Jim

A Note from Larry in N. Salt Lake City, Utah . . .

 A note and photo from Larry in N. Salt Lake, Utah:

Hi Dennis: Finally some warmer (non-snow, rain, wind) weather. After hand sanding quite a bit, my son told me he had a sander.  Larry

A Note from David in Phoenix, Maryland....

Hi Dennis,  I got the rocker box today!   Everything arrived safely and the scope fit like a glove.   I haven’t had chance to take it outside yet but took few pictures inside.  Thank you so much!

David...

Dan's 17.5" F4.5 Telescope Completed . . .

A full Sky Commander system is installed, configured
and tested.

All of my telescopes include a custom-fitted
mirror cover to keep the optics clean and safe.

The heaviest components of this beauty is
the primary mirror itself. Features include
an Observatory Grade Destiny spider, 9-point
flotation mirror cell, Sky commander and 
Moonlite 2-speed focuser.

 

Jim and his 13.1" Truss Kit...

Jim's OTA is looking just right. Nice job
assembling the kit. That's a Moonlite 2-speed
focuser and Destiny 3-vane spider on the top ring.

Rocker box, mirror box and top ring.

This is gonna be a super telescope!!

 

A Rocker Box for a Takahashi MT-160...

A "dob" mount for David's Takahashi MT-160
Newtonian reflector. It stands a scant 20" high
from the base to the center of the altitude 
bearings. David lives in Phoenix, Maryland.

Those are Parallax tube rings. Nice n' heavy duty.

 

A "First Light" from Al in Appleton, Wisconsin . . .

 Hi Dennis:

Well, you wouldn't think that it would take almost eight months to have first light with the amazing 16" dob you built for me, but what with several plans foiled by weather and the pandemic, it did.  My friend Steve and I drove it 1400 miles and finally set it up in Durango, Colorado two weeks ago under stunningly dark skies at 7,500 feet and had a wonderful, inspiring two nights of viewing.  First object was Sirius, to focus in and verify collimation, and then the little open cluster M41 just below it when the sky was still blue... and it was quite wonderful! 

And it only got better from there.  What I see through the eyepiece now is what I always wanted to see: globulars resolved to the core, open clusters rich with bright and faint stars, the bright wings of M42 as well as the core nebulosity, faint galaxies that had previously been too dim to see, and on and on.

So thank you!  Thank you for creating such a fine framework for the f3.9 mirror I got from Orion Optics in the UK.  The scope was easy to put together, impressively steady yet easy to move, and with the cables, holds collimation in all positions.  I have yet to hook up the Sky Commander because we ran out of clear nights before I could do so, but that's next.

Thanks again, Al.

A Completed 10" Kit and Near Completed 17.5" Telescope...

Aaron's 10" strut kit with "Easy Transport" completed.
Aaron's spider, mirror cell and focuser pre-mounted for him.

Dan's mirror box, altitude bearings and 
rocker box are pretty close to completed.

Lookin' great!!

 

Larry and his 13.1" F4.5 Strut Kit ...

It's always a pleasure meeting my customers. Here's 
Larry, from N. Salt Lake Utah, picking up his 13.1"
F4.5 strut telescope kit.

Have fun assembling the kit, Larry. It'll be an 
enjoyable experience. The primary was tested by,
and evaluated by Swayze Optical.

 

Aaron's 10" Kit Nearing Completion . . .

Pretty much completed, Aaron's kit include his mirror cell
mounted on the mirror board, 4-vane spider and focuser.
This will be the "easy transport" version of the strut telescope.

The rocker box for Aaron's kit as well as one of the 15"
altitude bearings. Looking GREAT!!

 

Dan's 17.5" F4.5 Strut Telescope --

A "good size" telescope with struts that
stand 70.25"!! It's a big 'un!!

 

Rich and his 12" GSO Telescope

A rocker box "kit" for Rich in Sewell, New Jersey.  The kit 
was "just about right" with a bit of "tweeks" needed on the
side-bearing openings.  I sure do like the color.

 

More on a 17.5" and 10" Strut Telescope...

Here are the top-rings for Dan's 17.5" strut-telescope, with
an "observatory grade" curved-vane spider and Aaron's 10"
strut-telescope with his 4-vane spider. Note the focusers
are affixed to the rings as well. Aaron's telescope is a "kit".

 

The "mirror board" and top ring are completed and ready to
test under the stars.  Date 4/10/21

That's a Moonlite 2-speed focuser and Observatory Grade
Destiny spider with 3.5" secondary. The primary is mounted
on a 9-point flotation mirror cell of our own design. Date 4/10/21.

THANK YOU TO SIDDHESH for His Note:

Here's a note about his telescope. I "so appreciate" a note from him:

Hi Dennis, I hope this message finds you very well! Now that the winter has wound down, I've been able to use my new dob more often than in the past few months. Man, do I love this scope! As one who has practically always used refractors, it is so nice to have a bit of aperture! It's like a whole new universe up there :-) I can picture myself requesting you to build a 6" f/4 for me in the coming year or two. But, for now, I'm simply relishing what I have. Thanks for building me a great scope!

With warm wishes, 
Siddhesh 

Three Projects Underway...

A 10" kit underway for Aaron in Delaware, Ohio. I've
mounted his mirror cell and spider so far.

Here's a 12" GSO telescope rocker-box kit for Richard
in Sewell, New Jersey. Richard asked me to apply the
custom color and varnish to his kit. The Red Chestnut
color is beautiful and, when varnished, really "pops"!!

Not shown is the 17.5" telescope for for Dan in Wheatley, Ontario,
Canada. It's the early stages of construction as yet.