So the mystery is solved! But this is funny - I gave away what this box was for, without realizing it. So this was what I posted, asking you to guess what the finished project was. Yankee Craftsmanship. Anyhow, this is a photograph of my finished project, a telescope carrying case for my "new-old telescope." A former ASLI member offered three of his old telescopes to club members and I ended up with a 5" f/5 refractor which he built using a lens and materials from Jaegers, back in the 1970's. Please click on this to see a much larger version.
But I had forgotten that I made another post called: Cat Coffin, which showed the other part of the telescope case with cats playing in it! Duh!
Well, anyhow, now the finished project can be revealed. I promised I would show you the finished project three days after I posted "Yankee Craftsmanship" but I ran into a serious problem. I had bought a brand new quart of marine varnish and there was something wrong with it. It would not dry to a hard finish and I had to return it and wait for a new can to arrive which really set me back a couple of weeks.
But here it is, all finished, and with the telescope inside the box! With three coats of varnish on top of birch plywood, it actually is a stunning thing to see in person. It is simply beautiful! Sorry to make you wait so long for the results.
6 comments:
Beautiful craftsmanship and so fortunate to be the new owner of a hand made telescope from the 70's that your friend made. Why is there a pencil drawing on the top of the case? I thought it might be to position the scope correctly in the box but large sense is at the opposite end. ???
When I saw your original blog post, my mind went immediately to your astronomy hobby and figured it could be a box for a "new" telescope. So I guessed wrong on the "new" detail but I remain very impressed with the Yankee craftsmanship illustrated by today's blog photos - an heirloom telescope storage box for sure! Just out of curiosity, what features does this gifted telescope have compared to your other telescopes?
I was totally wrong guessing a bread box! Of course, the size is not right. Plus, I totally forgot about the “Cat Coffins” blog. Your craftsmanship looks wonderful. What a great way to carry your new/old telescope. Enjoy. Betsey
This is funny. The drawing of a 2 element lens I did on top shows which end of the box the front of the telescope goes in, because that lens is heavy and this way I can grab the handle closer to the lens drawing. But you found the flaw... I put the telescope in the box with the top open on the back steps. It was only after I took the photograph did I realize, as you carefully noticed, that I put the telescope in backwards for this picture! Nice catch.
Primo: Some telescopes are more "telephoto" to think of it in one way, and others are more "wide angle." I mean, of course all telescopes are "telephoto" to use the terms for camera lenses. So this refractor (as opposed to a telescope with a mirror in it) is rather large with a 5" lens in the front. That lets in more light. And it has a shorter focal length so it is more of a "wide angle" telescope. My other refracting telescopes are longer focal lengths. So the joy of this telescope is, that under the dark skies of the east end or in Vermont, I will scan up and down the milky way and get to see more of the summer Milky Way at low power, which is a spectacular thing
I am so glad Ken Schwarz asked you about new/old scope as I enjoyed reading your answer and the many differences in scopes.
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