Flocking Material

[chrisp9au (Chris)]

I wonder why Spotlight here in Victoria can't sell me any?
Neither Ballarat or Bendigo branches are able to supply.

I'd like to flock the tube of the 127mm I'm putting together at the moment, but no can do.

Cheers
Chris

[astronut (John)]

Chris,
If Spotlight Vic can't supply the material.
I'll check at my local Spotlight for availability. I would be happy to post it to you.

John

[chrisp9au (Chris)]

Thanks for the offer John!

I've been doing some research and had been thinking of getting some from Scopestuff, www.scopestuff.com/ss_flok.htm It seems to get good reviews on CN. It would cost about AU$55 to get the 24" x 47" (600mmx1200mm) piece from the US including postage. I have no idea on the cost of the Spotlight stuff for that size, are you able to advise?

Cheers
Chris

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

A lot less than that. It used to cost $2.50 for sheet the size of an A4 sheet of paper. This size is also convenient to work with. Did you try in the "craft" section?

Cheers,
John B

[Glenhuon (Bill)]

The spotlight stuff was only available here in ~A4 size sheets. No problem there though as it has to be cut into strips for easy handling. Was about $2.95 a sheet here from the Craft section. About 5-6 sheets should be enough for the 127 tube depending on length.

I put them into the 102's tube in 60mm wide strips. Found the easiest way is peel the backing back about 1/3 of the way down the strip, stick one end onto a steel rule by about 1mm or so, put the rule up inside the tube leaving about 25mm hanging out. Reach through from the opposite end and pick up the rule lifting the sticky bit off the bottom of the tube. Pull it in untill the far end with backing still on reaches the edge of the tube and hold it there. Pull the rule a bit to stretch out the strip and lay it on the bottom. Reach in and stick the rule end down a bit to anchor it in place. Remove the rule with a pull. Reach in again and make sure the rule end is smoothly stuck down.Lift up the end with backing still on, grab the loose end of the backing and slowly pull it out keeping the strip parallel to the tube. when its off, reach in again and smooth the strip down. Turn the tube a bit and repeat.

Found this was the easiest way with long narrow tubes.

Bill

[chrisp9au (Chris)]

$2.95 an A4 sheet sounds ok.

My reading suggests that with the tube fully baffled, it should only be necessary to flock the draw tube, plus the inside of the dew shield and objective cell, so I'm thinking that half a dozen sheets would be plenty with a bit left over to do the small tube on my Orion 90mm ST as well.

Astronut (John), if you could get me 6 sheets I can do a Paypal transfer or a bank transfer right now. PM me if that's ok with you?

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Cheers
Chris