[bmitchell82 (Brendan)]

Hey all,

Im looking to embark upon a custom made optical tube to house a 10" mirror. The reason why i want to do this is 2 fold.

1. Reduce the weight hopefully significantly (18.7kgs --> 10kgs ?)
2. Better design to incorporate a baffled unvignetted tube.

Presently im thinking of a CF truss tube design similar to a RC style telescope.

I would really love to hear some ideas from other people on what they would do, or how they would go about such a project.

Just some back ground on the equipment i have access to

Large bridge port machine
Large Metal Lathe
Power hacksaw
Tig, Arc and spot welding
Air guillitine
Large metal folder

So pretty much anything is at my disposal and i can virutally make anything that steps up. plus i love a challange!

Look forward to some ideas