Well, this gripping telescope fever has taken hold so deeply and with such force that I basically feel like I will move anything in the way of getting towards a big scope. I can't explain why it's so quickly ballooned. December 25th 2014 I was gifted a Celestron PowerSeeker 70AZ. Within a few weeks a used Celestron C8 SCT. Then cameras and astrophotography galore. Then some fixer-uppers including a Criterion RV-6. And now.... drum roll...
... I've purchased a 46" wide x 36" deep x 34" high 220v kiln for $100 made up of 200 fire bricks and weighing over 500lbs. I just need to find a friend with a flat bed to help me bring it home. I've also found several sheets of plate glass 46" x 75" x 5/8"... where is this all leading... I'm thinking something like this: http://wonderfuluniverse.com/telescope_page1.htm but the string telescope version.
In the beginning I'm going to take a mirror making workshop with a guy from the club. Wondering what a good size to start is. He's trying to keep me realistic and starting without something too insane. I thought I had found a 14" plate glass blank but it was sold. Pyrex seems too pricey as does Zerodur (sp?).
Anyone else go bananas like this? I feel like I have to go forward with this even if it takes years and it probably will. I've just finished reading Starlight Detectives and so I know all the trials and tribulations of say the 100" Mt. Wilson among dozens of others. At least by the time I finish the 40" mirror I will have had time to remove trees and dig a seriously stable base for a pier to hold everything.
... I've purchased a 46" wide x 36" deep x 34" high 220v kiln for $100 made up of 200 fire bricks and weighing over 500lbs. I just need to find a friend with a flat bed to help me bring it home. I've also found several sheets of plate glass 46" x 75" x 5/8"... where is this all leading... I'm thinking something like this: http://wonderfuluniverse.com/telescope_page1.htm but the string telescope version.
In the beginning I'm going to take a mirror making workshop with a guy from the club. Wondering what a good size to start is. He's trying to keep me realistic and starting without something too insane. I thought I had found a 14" plate glass blank but it was sold. Pyrex seems too pricey as does Zerodur (sp?).
Anyone else go bananas like this? I feel like I have to go forward with this even if it takes years and it probably will. I've just finished reading Starlight Detectives and so I know all the trials and tribulations of say the 100" Mt. Wilson among dozens of others. At least by the time I finish the 40" mirror I will have had time to remove trees and dig a seriously stable base for a pier to hold everything.
~ Charlie Stevenson
8" f/5.7 String Telescope - 1st Scope Build; 2nd Place Stellafane 2016 Optical Award for Newtonians 12.5" and Smaller
10" f/4.5 Newtonian (June 2015) mirror refigured by Optic Wave Labs P-V WaveFront 1/14.24, Strehl Ratio 0.993 (Aug '15)
Criterion RV-6 seems to be circa 1973 (June 2015) [For Sale]
Celestron C8-A XLT (January 2015) [For Sale]
Celestron PowerSeeker 70AZ (Christmas 2014)
Aldrich Astronomical Society member since 2015
http://astro.charleskelleystevenson.com/