Ten Telescopes Initiative

[DarwinAstro (Chris)]

What a great idea....

Ten telescopes is an outreach program formed in Canada.

In a nut shell....
3D print and build a small reflector telescope for schools etc.

A short video explaining the program by Shawn Nielsen from the Visible Dark YouTube channel.
https://youtu.be/QRViWq4vQ7w?si=VjaDr2GsLWjnmMWE

A link to the website.
https://www.tentelescopes.com/

Maybe there are some members out there that may be interested..

[LonelySpoon (Neville)]

Love the idea, but a 300 x 300mm bed is pretty big!

I've just graduated to a 210 x 210mm bed and the amount of plastic it eats is enormous.

From the sheer mass of the scopes it looks like it would almost be cheaper to buy a small scope!

Neville
LSO

[bojan]

It is faster and cheaper to build mechanics from plywood or particle board.
3D printing is good for many things, but this is over the top.

[DarwinAstro (Chris)]

On face of it, it seemed like a good thing. As I have zero experience with 3D printing, I do see your point of view.

[Leo.G (Leo)]

A long term online friend in Arizona told me long ago he made his first 8" reflector using the cardboard tube used for pouring piers (he was a concreter), plywood for the mount and ground his own mirror. He found an used focuser suitable somewhere back in the day (obviously not online) The same fellow is now 68, has had the thing for 50 odd years and still says he loves it to this day and the cost was minimal. Mirror coating would have been a lot cheaper in the day too.
I wouldn't have the ability to grind a mirror but primary and secondary sets come up at reasonable prices used on occasion on various sites.
The same fellow made an observatory using thick refrigeration foam sheets left over from a job (free) and a home made hot knife.