Craig Ewing's "Space"

The Construction of "The In-Speck-tor" Telescope
(completed on June 11, 2000)


(After the final picture is a link to the equatorial mount construction page.
Below that are links to mirror-making, telescope-making, and telescope-using Web sites.)

Tube & Mirror Phases

The telescope tube -- untouched cardboard from a printing company's paper supply --
(April, 1998)
The Untouched Telescope Tube

The tube after it's been primered --
(By the way, the bike is in the background for size reference.)
The Primered Telescope Tube

The tube after the second coat of high gloss white paint --
(The paint easily washed off of the patio.)
The Painted Telescope Tube

The 10" primary mirror and its glass tool (on the left, May, 1998) --
The Primary Mirror And The Grinding Tool

The mirror and its mounting cell --
The Mirror And Its Mounting Cell

The mirror in its cell --
The Mirror In Its Mounting Cell

A close-up of the tool covered with pitch lap for the final polishing process --
(December, 1998)
The Grinding Tool Covered In Pitch Lap For Polishing

The polished mirror prior to getting aluminized (March 21, 1999) --
The Polished Mirror Ready For Aluminizing

The aluminized mirror (March 31, 1999) --
The Aluminized Mirror

And it's time for first light -- finally! (April 10, 1999) --
Ready For First Light!



After I mentally recovered from making the mirror, with the help of some friends, I built an equatorial mount for it.

Mirror-Making, Telescope-Making, & Telescope-Using Links

Collimation Techniques/Tools
FAQ About Collimating a Newtonian Telescope (Nils Olof Carlin)

General/Miscellaneous
Astromart Company Seven | Astronomical Telescope and Optics Formulas N/A -- Riverside Telescope Makers Conference (RTMC)

Individual's Web Sites
1100 mm Cruxis Telescope Astrophotography by Robert Gendler David Levy | RASC
(Douglas) Jones on Stepping Motors Mel Bartels, BBAstroDesigns Polar Alignment Made Easy! (Steve Dodder)
JeffPo's) Polar Alignment Page Simple Equatorial Telescope Mount With Setting Circles (Tom Riley)  

Commercial -- Motors, Controllers, Drives
Alegro MicroSystems, Inc. Applied Motion Products AutomationDirect.com
ElectroCraft Hurst Motors KB Electronics, Inc.
MicroKinetics Corp. Novanta IMS Phytron.eu
Warner Electric    

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