Nates 8 inch String Newtonian

Finished product in use

2011-01-05T22:29:00.000-08:00

Man it has been a year since I finished the telescope. Well it works and looks pretty but as always there are a few things that I would like to tinker with. I think I was able to upload the picture to this blog but if not here is a link to a picture of me and the completed telescope at the Oregon Star Party.

Thanks for stopping by,
Nate

My updates

2010-01-14T10:26:00.000-08:00

Hi all,
In the last few weeks I have done a few fun things with my telescope. First It was a school project, so I had to turn it in at the Evergreen State College. My professor seemed very impressed with my work and especially the fact that it was only a two credit contract ( 5 hours of work a week). I ended up with about 300 hours into the scope at the end of the 9 weeks of our quarter so I guess I went a little overboard.

The other exciting place that my telescope has gone in the last few weeks is Portland Oregon. once a month the Rose City Astronomers put on an amateur telescope workshop. The workshop happens to take place at Dan Grays warehouse in northwest Portland. For those of you not into Amateur Telescope Making, Dan Gray is the god father of String Telescopes. Dan and the guys helped me test out my design and other than a few easily fixable flaws with the focal length of the telescope, it passed with flying colors. As I was leaving Dan even told me that I "had a nice scope". Which meant alot more than he will ever probably realize.

So that has been my telescopes last few weeks. This week we head back to the Evergreen State College to work with an photographer from the College. Who knows what the next weeks will bring?

All thats left are the mirrors

2009-12-16T15:34:00.000-08:00

I have finished all of the woodworking. But due to supplier lag, my ebony star laminate for the bearings and the PTFE are not here yet so yes.....I'm almost done. Then will come the many, many hours of sanding and finishing to make this thing really shine.
But for now I feel like I have accomplished something. YEA

I'm so close

2009-12-15T20:45:00.000-08:00

Today I got most of the mount completed. I also figured out the bearings. Man I am so close and can not wait to see what it all looks like put together.

Thanks for stopping bye,
Nate

Its really coming together

2009-12-10T18:56:00.001-08:00

I got the primary and secondary completed. As well as the poles and the strings. So now a bunch of metal, wood and plastic gets the pleasure of becoming a stellar viewing device. A few more days and It will be completely done.

Here's some pictures for those of you who are visual learners.

Nate

Wow alot has happened

2009-12-09T15:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry school has been extremely intense these last couple of weeks and I have not had time to post on the blog. I have how ever been working on the telescope a bunch. I got my "strings" figured out and completed.(but wrong length). I also got my poles figured out as well.

For the strings I used 6 gauge wire and created eyes on each end just like rigging on a sailboat. I was hoping to use no stretch bowstring but there is no store in the Pacific Northwest that I could find that sold it. So as always I had to improvise.

For poles I have used 3/4" type L copper pipe with hard wood dowels in the middle. I have finally got 7/16 nuts attached to the bottom with gorilla glue. First I tried soldering them in, then two part epoxy but the gorilla glue seems to be holding so far.

The secondary is completed and has had a final sand and is has been treated with teak oil. My mom says it looks.......gorgeous. So that must be good.

I did a mock up of the strings and poles using real string and dowels.

I also finished my mirror cell

Everything so far except for the mirrors has been homemade versions that I have created in my head from looking at other peoples work and then going to the hardware store and spending hours looking for what I think may be a combination of things that may work.

But it all looks like it is coming together.

Take care and thanks for stopping bye,
Nate G

I finished the spider and secondary. YEA

2009-11-17T16:09:00.000-08:00

Hello,
After four tries at the spider I got it right. A little inspiration from one of my best friends that I have not talked to in a while, helped me finalize my design that worked. It works great and looks pretty good too if you ask me. These last few days have been pretty hard with every little thing going wrong.....luckily they are only little things. But I think things are looking up and coming together. Each step of this process seems to be filled with little hurdles that must be jumped in a different way each time. Its a good thing I go to Evergreen where we pride ourselves on multi-disciplinary work. I never thought it would pay off but it has.

I got the secondary put together

2009-11-14T16:54:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been a lot of sanding and tweaking to create this next step. I'm really excited to see the things in my head finally come together. I am amazed at how a crazy idea can become a reality. I think it all is looking pretty good for a kid with little wood working experience.

Cut out the pieces for the Secondary

2009-11-10T16:32:00.000-08:00

Today I cut circles. Lots and lots of circles. Here are some pictures to show what I've got so far.

One other fun part of my day was trying to figure out how to put an equilateral triangle into a circle.(the placement of My strings and tubes). I finally figured it out yea. I love trig!

Does anyone have any tips for making circles look really smooth. I hope a palm sander will work on the insides.

Take care,
Nate G

I finished the Mirror box bottom

2009-11-05T23:27:00.000-08:00

I learned about Dovetails and circular router cuts in the last five days. I now have the main box built as well as the primary box bottom done. I am going to lay out the rest of the positions of the poles and the strings tomorrow.

Here's the Pictures of the progress so far.

Welcome

2009-10-09T18:10:00.000-07:00

Hi I am attempting to build a String Newtonian telescope that will be easily transportable. Check by frequently as I will be posting as updates occur. If you have any suggestions, questions or great ideas that may help me out feel free to let me know.