Restoring circa 1930's telescope

Hi gang,

StarForge is restoring a donated telescope and we are trying to document as much about it as possible. At our last meeting we talked about sources to contact and I know that AstroMart is a good place to find knowledgeable folks. The telescope is an 8" with a beautiful mirror and with our current information we are pretty sure it is a Mellish telescope and that John Mellish is responsible for the mirror. It appears as if some pieces may be missing and some look tweaked. We have created a page for the project with some initial pics. If you can help us in any way (documentation, help us figure out what needs to be done, how to repair/get parts, etc.) please give me a shout.

http://www.spaceandastronomy.org/mellish.html

We are hoping to have this scope returned to its original glory (so much beautiful brass!) so we can use it for outreach as well as at our member star parties.

Thanks for any information/comments/thoughts.

Dawn Grove
President and grunt for StarForge Astronomy Association

Hi Dawn, that will be a beautiful instrument when restored and worth the effort. It certainly appears to match the scope in the early photo.

Holy cow! Is that a forerunner of the Losmandy dovetail???

Greg N