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Old 14-05-2015, 10:38 AM
Stefan Buda
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Stefan Buda is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Melbourne, VIC
Posts: 982
3D printed Bahtinov mask

Hi everyone,

I've been experimenting with 3D printing of small Bahtinov masks, over the last month or so, and I'm very happy with the results so far.
All masks that I printed so far have a slit width of 2mm and therefore are suitable for focal lengths down to about 200mm. Because these were intended for telephoto lenses, I designed a geometry that alows them to be located, with a gentle push fit, into standard filter threads, but the same geometry would work for small refractors as well.
The mask and the red ring are printed separately and then bonded together. Both are printed from ABS filament, the same plastic that is used for Lego blocks and the red colour for the ring is to make it easier to find in the dark with a red torch.
If there was enough interest, I would consider making these on a commercial basis.
The one on the attached picture takes about 50min to print and if I add up everything then the starting price would be around $25, including GST.
For the larger ones price would be proportional with size. The ones in this size range that I found on the net cost much more.
Any questions and suggestions welcome.

cheers,
Stefan
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