Quote:
Originally Posted by AstroViking
The finished OTA looks so much better than what you started with. I can't fathom why someone would do that...
What about the inside of the tube? How did you resurrect that?
Cheers,
V
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Thanks, I'm pleased with the result, the scope will now be used for outreach at Mt Stromlo and will be mounted on an Eq mount which I will convert to manual Alt-Az. Just need to find or make some 8" tube rings.
The nice starry design is actually someone's bedsheet material that was glued onto the tube and then varnished over. The painful removal process revealed the reason for the unusual coating, there were numerous holes and dents in the tube hidden by the fabric. I then spent a day panel beating the tube back into shape so that I didn't need filler under the primer. The extra holes needed to be welded up (all 9 of them) then the patches were ground flat etc etc...... then etch primer and several coats of semi-gloss paint.
The inside was cleaned up and painted with textured flat black paint.
The old mirror has some coating defects but not enough to worry about, the scope was tested alongside my TOA130 after collimation and the optics are superb.