Hi all,
Ive seen lots of people making dew sheilds out of camping mats, but no instruction on how to do it. I was tinkering in my workshop late last night and decided to make one. Here is how i did it.
What you will need:
1. camping mat
2. stanley knife
3. Ruler + Dressmakers measuring tape or string
4. Qik Grip glue or tarzans grip
5. Hair Drier
6. Old screw driver
1. Buy a cheap camping mat, mine cost $4 from the reject shop.
2. Using a piece of string or a dressmakers measuring tape, measure around the thickest part of your OTA (for me it was the ring that holds the objective lense)
3. Mark out the camping mat and add 8mm to your overall measurement. (Width of the mat)
e.g Measurement of objective rings 1140mm + 8mm = 1148mm
4. Cut the mat using a straight edge and stanly knife (Dont use scissors, as it will cause the foam to pinch and will make it difficult to glue later on) keep the cut as square as possible
(see photo: Measure)
5. Multiply the size of your scope by 1.5
e.g 9.25inch = 235mm x 1.5 = 352.5mm
6. Measure the width of your objective lense rings (50mm for me), remembering to measure any dove tails or components that are on or very close to the rings, and add that to the above measurement
e.g 352.5mm + 50mm = 402.5mm <- Length of the overall tube
7. Mark out measurement on the camping mat and cut with a stanly knife, Now measure the mat and devide in half, mark out your dove tail
(see photo: Dovetail cut out)
8. Using the edge of the screw driver as a paint brush, coat both of the edges of the mat (where it will join to make a tube) with glue, i use a screw driver because there is less chance to make a mistake that would end up with messy glue on the parts i dont want to glue..
9. Now the tricky part, heat up the glue with a hair dryer, on low fan high heat for about 30 seconds a side, or untill the glue is almost touch dry, make sure to keep the hair drier moving so not to warp or damage the mat.
(See photo: Hair Drier)
10. Starting at one end push the 2 edges togeather, this requires a lot of concentration to keep the edges level and flat. Becareful not to stretch the mat otherwise when you get to the other end you will find the edge doesnt match.
11. Let the glue cure for 10 minutes, and then BINGO, youve got a $6 dew sheild!
(see photo: Finished)
If you like you can cover the join with tape but as you can see from the photo it isnt really nessessary.
To attach it to your scope, slip the dewsheild over the end of your scope and secure with what ever you feel like using, I used some double sided velcro that i had in my shed, often used for cable management in a communications cabinet.
I hope little guide this helps.
Sorry about the terrible photos, iphones dont work so well at night
All the best! and clear skies!!
