Finished cage assembly

20 August 2007

All the finishing of the filter slide and cage completed, I gave it a quick rub-down with #0000 steel wool to remove anything just on the surface. It all looks great. The slide has a slightly nicer finish since it was hard to get a good shot of varnish spray on the narrow cage rings...but I'm happy.

Assembled the filter slide to the cage but had second thoughts about the deck screws that AstroSystems provided. They're supposed to be 1" long (according to the BOM), to match the 1 and 1/8" width of the rings. However, the provided screws were 1 and 1/4" long and made me real nervous. So I substituted some of my own #8 1" wood screws and that all went together well. In photo, supplied screw, left, and my choice, right.

After the slide was connected, I went ahead and rolled out the light baffle and sprayed its outside face flat black. Hope the paint gets into the fabric enough so it won't crack when it's rolled around the cage interior.

28 August 2007

Had to take a few days off for personal reasons. After returning on Sunday, it was time to put the baffle into and attach it to the cage. Disaster! Within a few minutes the baffle cracked and was good only for scrap. It is brittle stuff.

Someone in RCA had suggested awhile ago that ABS sheet from Tap Plastics is a good baffle material. It's glossy on one side and flat black with a pebbled surface on the other. I ran down to Portland and picked up a 13" x 96" piece for just $11. This stuff is not going to crack from brittleness and is easy to cut with a blade, even though it's about a 1/3 thicker than the Formica that AstroSystems ships. Last night, I got it cut to length and installed. Just a note, the 12 5/8" that AS cuts the baffle to could be 12 7/8", it's just a little short and can show some tape or wood on either end.

Tonight, I attached the spider, 2nd mirror holder, focuser and adapter plate. Wow! that Feathertouch focuser is phenomenal! It is well named. All metal work at this point is top-notch. Now, I've put the cage assembly to bed and will be moving on to the lower parts.

But first!, a confession. I was looking through my desk on Sunday night when I discovered a Telekit assembly manual for 10-16" kits. Randy must have sent this right after I ordered in February and my multiple trips to Asia in the winter and spring must have wiped my memory of it clean. So my sincere apologies to Randy and the AstroSystems crew. I won't go back and edit out my mistakes and bitching from my earlier blogs...just know that it was my bad! The manual for the smaller kit is much more accurate so you can ignore my bitching on that score, too.