making an 8-inch dob

I've never made a telescope. Presently I have one of the new Orion 5-inch Maksutovs, which I like. I would like to have an 8-inch dob to complement it for deep-sky observing. How hard is it to make an 8-inch dob? Is it cheaper than buying, say, the Orion 8-inch? Just how much work would I be getting myself into? Any advice would be helpful.

Richard

It's not hard at all to make a simple dob. Me and my daughter made one last year using a 6 inch optic set I got off astromart for under $75 bucks, a mirror cell made out of scrap wood, a concrete pouring tube bought at home depot for $4.00, a cheap focuser from orion, and a spider from university optics (forget the price, but it wasn't much) some black paint and a used finder
I already had. It looks nice, and the views are great. All together we got about $125 in it. And after gathering all the parts, it only took a day to make. The only tools I needed was a router, hand saw, sharpe knife, and a few drill bits. Optic wise, it's as good as the orion setups, pretty wise, it falls short. I think anybody that in interested in telescopes should build at least one. It teaches so much. And the satifaction you get from using it really makes worth while. As far as to how much work is involved, it all depends on what you want and how far your willing to go. My setup was easy, simple, and cheap, and I like it. My opinion is build one!
Roger