I recently ' withdrew ' my Orion ED80 from sale with the bright idea of ' customizing ' it.
My idea is to remove all components... focuser / dew shield / optical lens /...etc ... go back to bare metal, choose a colour .. probably powder coat it ....manufacture a ' handle ' for it ...would be bolted on top of a ' rail ' secured on the ' OTA's rings ' ..... and so on.
I've seen plenty of ' dob and newt' custom job's ... some very good one's to.
Has anybody customized their Refractor from its original state ...?
Any links to previous threads relating to this would be appreciated .. or photo's you have of yours.
Ideas also welcome ......colour etc ...what you might do yourself
The Scope in question is shown
' Pimp my Scope '
Col......
Last edited by FlashDrive; 16-06-2014 at 09:29 PM.
I'm actually in the process of repainting my WO Sd66 I purchased off Lewis a while ago. He suggested when painting it to just go straight over the top using cans of car paint and long waiting times between layers. I've instead decided to strip the paint off mine using an orbital sander I have access to at work, starting at 80 grit and working my way up to 800. The bare aluminium looks awesome, so now I'm torn between polishing it up and just clear coating over the top, or to send it off and get powder coated. I'll update with a few pics tomorrow :-)
I'm actually in the process of repainting my WO Sd66 I purchased off Lewis a while ago. He suggested when painting it to just go straight over the top using cans of car paint and long waiting times between layers. I've instead decided to strip the paint off mine using an orbital sander I have access to at work, starting at 80 grit and working my way up to 800. The bare aluminium looks awesome, so now I'm torn between polishing it up and just clear coating over the top, or to send it off and get powder coated. I'll update with a few pics tomorrow :-)
I'm actually in the process of repainting my WO Sd66 I purchased off Lewis a while ago. He suggested when painting it to just go straight over the top using cans of car paint and long waiting times between layers. I've instead decided to strip the paint off mine using an orbital sander I have access to at work, starting at 80 grit and working my way up to 800. The bare aluminium looks awesome, so now I'm torn between polishing it up and just clear coating over the top, or to send it off and get powder coated. I'll update with a few pics tomorrow :-)
Sounds good Chris .... look forward to your photos so I can ' steal ' some ideas ...
I have a number of ideas ... but need to try and visualize my final intentions.
Cherry Red Col. Gonna redo my 100ED, torn between white or cherry red.
Had a bike that was cherry red and chrome…beautiful.
you have just reminded me matt i had a custom paint job on my 1982 katana 1100 done in a deep cherry red........... wonderful bike and distinctive colour, everybody in perth knew whom it belonged to!..... as for flashs' paint scheme if you are going to pimp it why not go the full monty and do it gold, you would have the added pleasure of getting a reaction from p. crake ha ha!
pat
as for flashs' paint scheme if you are going to pimp it why not go the full monty and do it gold, you would have the added pleasure of getting a reaction from p. crake ha ha!
pat
Gold eh ...!! Good as Gold .... eeeer ... not sure
A reaction from Peter ... he'd probably never talk to me again
Flash...how could you ....
I'm stuck for words Flasher, and that's a rarity as you know.
What is this, a mid-life crisis?? LOL.
Scopes should be white in my mind, although my two refractors are not exactly "white" more an ivory colour, one of them a grubby ivory given it's age.
Gary
I'm stuck for words Flasher, and that's a rarity as you know.
What is this, a mid-life crisis?? LOL.
Scopes should be white in my mind, although my two refractors are not exactly "white" more an ivory colour, one of them a grubby ivory given it's age.
Gary
Mid life crisis .... could be ....I'll just check with the Mrs's .. she'll know ... she know's everything ( she told me that )
White colour ... go Vixen White... now there's an idea... ' offspring ' from the NA140..... pearl white maybe ... dunno yet...
Flasher ....
Last edited by FlashDrive; 18-06-2014 at 03:27 PM.
If it were me, considering the focuser on it, as we discussed this morning, I would go red. Either a deep red like Ford Monza red (I think that is the name), or Ford Vixen, which is what I always use on my adapters/spacers.
Don't go pure white - would look like one of those cheap Chinese things. I'd do an off-white to even a very white/light beige like Vixen used in the late 1990's.
Hi Flash, here's a couple progress pics of my build so far. First shows the tube sanded up to 800 grit with a quick go of the Scotch Bright over the top. The other shows the dew shield which I started this morning using 80 grit.
Cheers!
Chris
Hi Flash, here's a couple progress pics of my build so far. First shows the tube sanded up to 800 grit with a quick go of the Scotch Bright over the top. The other shows the dew shield which I started this morning using 80 grit.
Cheers!
Chris
That looks like the way to go....strip it down to metal first.....
I have a bit of a thing for nickel plating. I love the warm look of it, almost a pale coppery-bronze. Somehow it's different and eye-catching without being as "cold" as chrome.
... mind you ... it did look pretty good .....
Mid life crisis .... could be ....I'll just check with the Mrs's .. she'll know 
