8" Solid Tube Dobsonian
Here are the photos of 8" Solid Tube
Dobsonian. I've photo-documented the building process and will be adding
photos soon. Stay tuned.
Thanks to Chuck Dethloff (Telescopes and More) for the use of his excellent
design and excellent advice.
As always, click to enlarge and use the back key to return to page.
Front View
Side View
Rear View
Building the 8" Dobsonian
This is the raw rocker box. I used Baltic Birch, instead of the Apple Ply
I normally use for scopes. This wood is just as nice, but brighter in
color.
Cover the bottom of the rocker box with Ebony Star laminate and it glides like
grease on the ground board's virgin Teflon.
Here's the ground board. Place the Teflon right above the feet so as to
steady the scope by relating the weight and stress above right into the ground.
The Altitude bearings are shown here. The cradles are already stained with
the cherry stain. Use gloves when staining.
Here are the stained components drying. After the stain soaked in, I
applied a couple of coats of a water-based varnish. I normally use marine
spar oil-based varnish. We'll see how the protective coating works.
