[wkocken]

just thought I'd say hi ( so that nag message goes away )
I'm kind of a lightweight in woodworking. I've made a few things, cedar chests, shoe rack etc. My main hobby is astronomy. I've just completed rebuilding a 16" dobsonian reflector. The router table and the plunge router both came in very handy.
Bill Kocken

 

[wkocken]

Here's a photo of the telescope. I still need to re-build the very bottom part. You can see it at the white particle board crap. It will be re-done in baltic birch plywood.
The routers came in handy for round overs, cutting very large, precise circles, and some template work.

What do you think?

The telescope has a 16" diameter mirror. It disassembles for easy transportation, by loosening the home-made clamps holding the 8 long tubes. I can put it back together in about 15 minutes.
Bill

 

[challagan]

Pretty cool and thanks for posting the photos. You did good!

Corey

 

[bobj3]

Hi Bill

Welcome to the forum.

When I saw your picture it rang a bell you may want to drop a PM to JimS a member of the forum he is also into telescope making

see links below

http://www.routerforums.com/attachm...er-2006-contest-telescope-pedestal-chair1.jpg
http://www.routerforums.com/attachm...-com-september-2006-contest-106_0637small.jpg
http://www.routerforums.com/contest...om-oak-park-com-september-2006-contest-3.html

JimS
http://www.routerforums.com/private.php?do=newpm&userid=6054

RouterForums.com and Oak-Park.com - September 2006 Contest

Bj

 

[Joe Lyddon]

Hi Bill,

Nice looking telescope!! You're doing a great job of redoing it!

W e l c o m e . . A b o a r d !!

 

[Dr.Zook]

Thanks Bill

Thanks for the intro Bill. Nice to hear from you. Don't wait so long to post. And we love pictures of your work. Which by the way is really nice. I'll bet you can see the moon with that 16" reflector. Are you set up to take pictures thru the telescope?

 

[curiousgeorge]

Great job Bill and Welcome to the forum.

 

[wkocken]

Thanks for the compliments. I don't claim to be a fine woodworker, but I've enjoy spending time in the shop trying to figure out how to make stuff that works. I'll post another picuture of the scope and a picture of me making massive amounts of yukky particleboard dust, when I cut semi-circles for the base. Don't worry, I made sure to wear a mask for that process!

I am a the club secretary member for our local astronomy club, the Minnesota Astronomical Society. In that scope the moon is so bright you almost need sunglasses. I don't actually look at the moon much. I enjoy looking galaxies tens or even hundreds of light years distant and the planets. Especially Saturn, Jupiter and Mars.

Bill Kocken

 

[RustyW]

Great scope Bill,

At one time I had a strong interest in astronomy. But, due to increasing brightness in my neighborhood and a growing woodworking hobby. I ran out of room and my telescopes went out by way of ebay. Combining the two hobbies by building my own scope sounds like a lot of fun. Did you buy the mirror or grind your own?

 

[wkocken]

Hi Rusty,
My neighborhood has gotten much brighter, too. I moved here in '97 and that's when I first got interested. The views from my dech were quite nice. Then they started building a huge shopping area about a mile away to the northeast. We've got every store under the stars, many of which which have now disappeared. When I go observing, I go out to our club's darker sites.

No, I don't do my own mirrors. I know a few guys who have and I admire the skill and patience it takes. They mostly make 8" or smaller, and now I've gotten spoiled by big scopes. If I ever do, it'll have to be after I retire.

Bill Kocken

 

[Rolf Maxa]

Welcome Bill, great scope, did you build it from a plan or just worked it out in your head?

Rolf

 

[wkocken]

Hi Rolf,
Thanks for the compliment.

I built it with fairly specific guidance from a book called, "The Dobsonian Telescope, A Practical Manual for Building Large Aperture telescopes", but David Kreige and Richard Berry. Mr. Kreige is a dentist who also has a business of building these scopes, His brand is called "Obsession", a term his wife used to descibe his hobby. The book is pretty much the shop manual for his business.
Bill Kocken