Televue old style 9mm

[The Mekon]

I have an older style 9mm Nagler that has the dual barrel, ie 1 1/4" and 2" sizes. Frankly I find this a big pain in the neck to use as I cannot use it in my smaller visual backs (have lost the external lock screw) and on my reflector it will not come to focus in the 2" holder.

Am thinking of having the 2" skirt machined off so it is only a 1 1/4" size. Has anyone done this? I cannot think of any issues with doing this aside from affecting the resale value.

Then there is the other option of selling and buying a type 6 9mm. I reckon the old one is only worth $150 and a new 9mm is $400, so don't think this is worth it as the new 9mm is not that much better than the old.

any thoughts welcome

[cjb]

Hi John,

I can't see any real problem with having the 2in barrel machined off other than getting metal chips on the optics causing scratching and also the cutting fluid for aluminium is fairly oily (I use kero due to the stickiness of aluminium). I don't know your particular eyepiece but it may be possible to remove the optics prior to machining - I know my current Televue eyepieces screw apart. I reckon have a go :thumbsup:

Chris

[The Mekon]

Thanks for your support for this idea Chris. Am going to do it, the bottom skirt can be unscrewed and the top of the 2" section placed in the jaws while the bottom is machined off. The 1 1/4" section can keep its cap on while the operation proceeds.

I was worried someone might say I was butchering a classic eyepiece!

[cjb]

Let us know how it works, John :thumbsup:

Chris

[GrahamL]

You could flip Al an email to really gauge if your plans are butchering a classic eyepiece,,, I've had some pretty decent feed back from televue in the past ,though not on cutting there eyepieces into pieces :D

[Merlin66]

John,
Are you saying that if you had a replacement screw you could fit the eyepiece into your current focuser?
If so I may have a spare....

[The Mekon]

Ken, I could find or make a screw if I was motivated, but have always disliked the way that the dual barrel televues fit into the 1 1/4" holder, with the screw bearing down on the outside.

I reckon Televue found this out too, as they no longer appear to offer this feature, the modern designs are either one size or the other.

John