Kids Dob

[drmorbius]

Hi all,

Morbius Jr (8 yo) is really keen on Astronomy and has been talking about getting his own scope. I was thinking about just going out and buying something small and inexpensive when I came across this guy who built a dob for his daughter: http://kitknife.tripod.com/astronomy/index.html

The "dad" inside me warmed to the idea immediately... what could be more bonding than building a telescope together with your son.:thumbsup: I'm pretty handy with wood (thanks Dad) so I'm fairly comfortable with timber design and construction. But I'm unsure about the optics side of things (clever as I may be, a wooden mirror isn't much value :)).

And I didn't want it to be a HUGE project... if it takes too long to build he would lose interest, so I'm looking for ideas from you fine folks. Should I attempt to construct an OTA or maybe just find a second-hand 4" OTA and build a base for it? Has anyone done something similar with success or otherwise?

Any advice is greatly appreciated...

[Orion]

Hi Randall, It depends wether you want the telescope straight away to look through or you would want a project that would involve your kids participation. (For their interest)
Personally I would build the telescope myself. If you enjoy woodworking and as the project gets under way you will enjoy the fruits of your labour
You can buy the optics and not worry about grinding and polishing and you can always post with questions along the way and we will be most happy to answer them.
There is a lot of information for ATM on the net.

[Dujon]

As a thought, and this will depend upon your budget, perhaps you could pick up a cheapish second hand refractor and involve your son in the building of a dobsonian mount for it. Should he still be keen then you can move on to constructing your own Newtonian (or whatever) in due course.

If you are clever enough with woodworking (which I am most definitely not) you could probably design the first mount in such a manner as to accommodate the possibility of the Newtonian project coming to fruition.

Whatever; any time spent with your son is precious and something to be treasured, Randall (as though you didn't know). My own son has just spent a couple of weeks in Tasmania - he should right at this moment be on board for the return trip - where my wife and I spent our honeymoon so many, many, years ago, and I'm really looking forward to him popping in to show us his photographs and relate his tales of derring-do.

I'm lucky in that my son is also a friend (if you know what I mean) and we have a number of common interests. Whatever you decide upon, Randall, I wish both you and your son well.

[stringscope]

Hi Randall,

I knocked this up using an old battered Tasco 114mm F7.8 Newt OTA. Most of the bits were from the "scrap bin". It is actually going out tonight to Mt Stromlo for a Science Week public viewing night. A great scope for sub teenage boys, ask them to count the stars in a large open cluster:eyepop: keep them busy for hours;) .

There is a thread on building it somewhere in the ATM forum, I will see if I can find it.

Cheers,

[stringscope]

Found it.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=6799&highlight=tasco

[drmorbius]

Hey, that's great guys :thumbsup: I love that one of yours stringscope... thanks for the info. I think using a 2nd hand reflector is the go for this first project.

Now it's time to hit the garage sales... I'll let you know how we go...

[drmorbius]

Hi Ian,

That's excellent... and I love the colour scheme... is that how it came or did you paint it? If painted, how did you do it?

cheers -- randall

[stringscope]

Randall,

The steel tube is covered in patterned cloth (quilting material actually) glued onto the tube. Once the glue had cured, I coated it with 5 coats of clear polyurathane gloss finish (Estapol).

I suggest a trip with Morbius Jnr to your local quilting supplies shop to make your selection. Be warned, our local shop appeared to have about 3,000 different materials to choose from :eyepop: .

Have fun,

[ballaratdragons]

Back in the 70's I was one of the many using the fad of lace painting cars and motorbike tanks. (very girlie these days but it was popular back then)

The method was to place the lace over the area to be painted and spray paint over the lace, then lift it off when the paint dried. Same method as any custom painting.

Many people used lace table cloths to spray through, but these days you can buy lace in rolls at places like Spotlight.

As an example, here is a pic of a pushbike frame using the lace stencil idea :thumbsup:

[drmorbius]

I like it... hopefully we can find something with an astronomy theme.

BTW - I was successful in locating an OTA for Morbius Jr's dob (thanks to some generous IIS members), so I'll probably be bombarding you with more questions as the project proceeds.