You'd like my current wee build then. 6" f5 pack down Newt Travel Scope. Ply is from some pallets I picked up, struts from some marketing poster stands and I'm building my own fold away Crayford focusser from Alum stock from the local big hardware store. Also the spider.
I've got a small lathe\mill combo but recently acquired a 255mm sliding drop saw with mitre. Just found out that the carbide tipped blade that came with it is rated for non ferrous metal cutting. Bloody brilliant for accurate 45* diag cuts in Aluminium !
The project scope should hopefully pack down into a 200 x 200 x 250 'cube' sort of. Except the struts of course. Won't take up too much room in the Outlander when we travel but enough aperture to be useful at dark sites. I took the 102mm f7 Lunt last time but that needs a substantial tripod as well.
I enjoy the technical side of astronomy as much as any other part of the hobby. Gives me a good excuse to shop at Mitre10, the mans toy shop.
