Re: Dobsonian Makers

john shea said:

Looking for backyard garage dobsonian makers who are very good craftsmen. Any available? Looking for an alternative to the usual commercial businesses.

I guess it depends on your definition of commercial but I think all the premium dob makers like starmaster, obsession,etc are good craftsman and pretty much backyard operations.

How much do you want to pay for what?

Jon

As Jon said. You might have to be more specific about what you mean regarding "usual commercial businesses."

If you are referring to the commercial metal tube dobs or truss designs, then you might look into the premium options that Jon pointed out. Premium optics and premium craftsmanship with regard to the woodworking and movements.

They are commercial as well, but for most of them it seems it is a love of labor. I have not seen too many premium dobs that I was not impressed with. They are very beautiful to look at and with the excellent mirrors in most of them, they are a sight to look through as well. The movements in particular can really set them apart from the lesser dobs of the world.

One thing to point out though. If you don't have a lot of experience with dobs in general, you might want to find a buddy with a dob that you can "test drive". Dobs are not for everyone, plain and simple. Especially if you are accustomed to the tracking provided by an equatorial mount. Having said that, if you need tracking, EQ platforms can provide that too. And with a dob on an EQ platform, the eyepiece will never get in the strange positions it can on a normal EQ mount.

I don't know what your experience is, just putting this out there, hopefully it is of use. But you definitely want to try before you buy if you don't have any experience with dobs. It can be expensive to try out one of the premium dobs only to find out that dobs in general are not for you. Resale value on dobs, even the high end ones is not the best these days.

Personally I love dobs. Lot of bang for the buck and very comfortable to use, for me anyway. Good luck.