Telescope making workshop in Sydney

[nonamegirl559 (Rozainah)]

Hi,

I'm looking for a telescope making workshop in Sydney. Does anyone know of one?

[torana68 (Roger)]

Mirror making or the whole deal? I looked around in sydney and it seems there is nothing at the moment. There is a thread on here about mirror making and there are people who could help Im sure but what did you want to acheive?

[nonamegirl559 (Rozainah)]

Hi,

Looking for a workshop to learn make 8 or 10 or 12" Dob Telescope. Not the mirror (buy the mirror from somewhere, not sure where). It would be great to go to a workshop to learn about making all the pieces and putting it all together. Though later I would love to learn about making glass, then making the mirror. But that is not till a lot later.

Rozainah

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Bintel (or other suppliers ) can sell you the mirror, and the secondary mirror normally comes with it, package deal ! You would also need to buy a focusser but the rest is quite within the scope of a DIY enthusiast. (Actually a very good learning experience I found).
I'd suggest a 10" f5 rather than the 8" f6 because aperture rules and they work out to be very similar in size. The 10" would be only slighly fatter.
My first scope was literally just a pair of wooden boxes, one for the mirror, another for the focusser, 4 alum rods and and a rotating cradle for it to swivel and move in and was just amazing. It has been rebuilt since into a Serrurier configuration, another DIY build.
What tools, working space, materials and experience have you got ?
Unfortunately I'm over the other side of the ditch so can't offer any resources or physical help but along with any others we can do our best to get you started.
My first build took about 4 months btw as I learned and experimented with options so don't be in too much of a rush. Ask questions and you will get answers.
Good luck and btw

[GrahamL]

Lots of good resources online to build your own scope
http://stellafane.org/

and plenty of atm's here to help with advice , best of luck with your project

[torana68 (Roger)]

http://www.telescopes-astronomy.com....#main%20mirror

[MattT]

Lots of info on Cloudy Nights in the ATM section.
Have just finished a 6"f12 refractor using the CN forum.
Matt

[Roger Davis]

Oh, and if you get sick of digital media, there are heaps of books (paper) out there as well, such as Richard Berry's "How to Make a Telescope"(?), old magazines such as "Amateur Telescope Making" & "ATM Journal" and lots of societies and groups with some instrument makers as well. Always handy to have input from those who have some knowledge.