This thread is a restoration log of my recently acquired Equatorial Telescope Stand made by Thomas Gaunt, Optician & Jeweller, Melbourne, circa 1885.
The mount and pier were designed by Mr Robert Ellery, Astronomer to Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe, Victoria, 1877. La Trobe at Ellery's suggestion established the Observatory at Williamtown, subsequently moved to Flagstaff Hill, Ellery was the Director for 42 years.
It was made available to well-heeled members of Australia's scientific community for the princely sum of 30 Pounds in this guise, or the less financial members for 18 Pounds without the setting circles and slow motion drives
First of all I wish to thank Lars Hansen for selling me this mount and pier as well as other astronomy accessories at a very generous price.
It was worth the 1000 kilometre drive from Jindabyne to Dunkeld via Canberra and back to Jindabyne just to meet Lars, to see his observatory and to chat about things Astronomical.
As can be seen from the following photographs, this mount is not your average travel mount.
It is my intention to one day use this mount to carry a 150mm F10 or F12 refractor (which I still have to build, that will be another thread, hopefully before I am too old to use it)
I hope to one day bring this mount to an IIS star party, it may not be the fanciest there but will certainly make up for it in bulk.
Due to some past perhaps well intentioned but in my opinion, tragic modification of the mount by
drilling several holes through the cast brass setting circles including through the maker's mark, my task is now much harder but que sera sera!!!
I am open to advice on some aspects of the restoration of this mount, so if you have any please use the PM function to get in touch.
I took a few pics today to celebrate its arrival at Jindabyne:
So it begins.....................
I have now photographed the mount from every angle and noted the location, size and orientation of each piece of this monster.
The plan is to dismantle the mount as much as possible then measure each piece, separate the cast iron bits from the many kilos of brass bits.
This will not be a museum type restoration as it is my intention to use this mount and the pier will actually be exposed to the elements in my backyard.
The pier will therefore be stripped back to metal, primed and then most likely painted in satin black 2pac epoxy.
There are several drilled holes that need to be welded up and some grinder cuts that will have a patch welded in.
The little 'feet' are a work of art in themselves, they are brass (.85kg) 2 part 'nut and hollow bolt' sleeves and have 1" BSP threaded cores for levelling feet,
unfortunately the levelling feet have been misplaced sometime in the last 127 years so I will need to find or make new ones.
Matt, I will be following with interest. I had much the same thoughts as your plans when I first saw the sale notice. However, it was one project too many for me and another couple of degrees of difficulty getting it to Tassie. So well done and I look forward to hearing of your progress.
Good on you Matt for taking on this project and sharing your experience with us.
I thought about it myself but being on the other side of the country it wasn't practical. I also have too many projects on the go including an old Parks equatorial that I want to use with a long achromat.
Looking forward to reading more on this historical mount.
Thanks Steve and Andy,
It will be slow progress I expect. I may need to find some heavy brass stock to remake some of the pieces and then find a way to "age" the brass or consider polishing everything and then applying mopped shellac to it.
Before doing anything to the brass though, I will seek more advice.
The bubble level vials are also brass and like most of the mount have been sprayed flat black.
Lars has kindly offered me his research materials re the mount so I am eagerly awaiting his email.
Thanks to Tony and Derek, I now have the perfect little scope for this mount .
Last week I drove 1000klms to collect the Gaunt ....... what better way to celebrate its arrival than a leisurely 12hr drive of 990klms from Jindabyne to Morwell and return, as a result of which I am now the happy owner of an Istar Perseus 150mm F10 refractor with Moonlite focuser.
I guess I will have to move the restoration into a higher gear now.
Funny how the dimensions of this scope are deceiving, it is not till you see the Istar in the flesh that you realise just how BIG it is.
Pictures will follow (might throw it on the mount tomorrow just to see how it looks)
It was a pleasure to meet you Matt, glad you made it back safetly - looking forward to seeing the Istar on the Gaunt, they look like they're made for each other.
It was a pleasure to meet you Matt, glad you made it back safetly - looking forward to seeing the Istar on the Gaunt, they look like they're made for each other.
Hi Tony, Thanks again, I took the scenic route home via Buchan, Jacobs Bridge, great drive. Nice to meet you and your family also, I will post some pics up soon.
Meeting on my deck for the first time are the Istar Perseus AT 150 F10 and the Thomas Gaunt Equatorial Telescope Stand, although made more than 125 years apart, they are match made in Heaven for the Heavens
Here they will scan the heavens above Lake Jindabyne
(I may built a concrete pier under the deck and cut through the decking)
See what you think of the Istar optics, if the CA bothers you on planets and bright stars then you can experiment with aperture stops. The 6" f10 can be a 4" f15 for lunar, planets. It is a personal choice, you might find that you see more details with the full aperture despite a little bit of CA.
Looking good Matt - nice background in the first photo.
Very happy with the combination Tony.
That is Lake Jindabyne and the Snowys in the background. We can see the weather and then decide whether to ski or not!
Quote:
Originally Posted by anj026
They do look good together Matt.
See what you think of the Istar optics, if the CA bothers you on planets and bright stars then you can experiment with aperture stops. The 6" f10 can be a 4" f15 for lunar, planets. It is a personal choice, you might find that you see more details with the full aperture despite a little bit of CA.
I will have look tonight but then the mount will be pulled apart for some time.
Maybe I could put the Istar on a GPD2 ???? Maybe !!!!
Not good news for the purist conservators I'm afraid, I removed the first 3 layers of black paint to find some etch primer and more black paint. The primer has eaten into the original shellac coating as well, so it looks like all the coatings are going to be removed for the brassware to be lacquered with shellac.
The previous machining of some parts will now be less obvious and I may be able to silversolder brass plugs into the drilled holes. FUN FUN FUN.
And after stripping off the many different layers of paint , the other cover plate and setting circle ready for finishing and application of shellac or japanning:
( A little bit more polishing is required but the knocks, dents, pitting and scrapes of a century or more will be left alone and should actually stand out well once the shellac is applied)
Awesome restoration. Definitely leave the marks of age and use to show, it's a patina of value over many years. Scope looks impressive on that mount and pier. Keep the pix coming.
Had a couple of hours spare today to continue rubbing my fingertips to the bone (all the work is being done by hand, no machine buffing !)
Hopefully I be able to release all the brass from decades of overpainting this week, about halfway at the moment
The RA Index plate and what once was the setting circle (the small one) are ready for silversolder repairs to the excess holes. Not yet sure if I can get a new setting circle made. Need lots of brass (both kinds, the shiny and the $$$$ I think)
So if anyone has a brass plate of 193mm diameter and 5 to 10mm thick
sitting around please get in touch.
I am also after 25 solid brass washers 3/8" ID and 7/8" OD ?????????
Thanks Lars for the information about the mount, this article was published on 20 July 1877 so the mount may be older than we thought.
looks like I might have to consider making a tangential worm slow motion drive system as seen in the attached illustration, oh joy!
