Re: atm Re: use of wood for a telescope tube

Chuck Grant (grant@aretha.llnl.gov)
Thu, 3 Aug 1995 12:44:35 -0700

> From: "John Q. Runchey" <johnr@centaur-e.eurpd.csg.mot.com>
>
> Is the tube made of solid, "real" wood, as opposed to plywood? When you say
> multi section, do you mean in the sense that a cross section of the tube is a
> 12 sided polygon? I'm the one who originally asked the stability
>question, and
> I'm still unsure of whether I should construct a wood tube for my 6" f/8.
>I've
> seen many made of plywood, which should be far more dimensionally stable than
> "real" wood, but I'd kind of prefer to turn a multi-section tube on a lathe to
> obtain a cylindrical section.
> Maybe I should just play it semi-safe and construct a multi-section tube out
> of decent plywood and be done with it.....
>

If you make it out of "solid" wood, turned on a lathe or not, to get good dimensional stability it will have to be glued together from many thin (say, 2cm x 2cm and surely not bigger than 2cm x 5cm) strips parallel to the axis of the tube, with alternating grain directions. The project is quite an excercise in wood jointery.

If you just glue up 6 or 8 pieces and turn it on your lathe, it will probably warp like crazy. If you want it to look like it was carved out of one solid piece of wood, you will probably have to resort to a veneer.

I think a 6" f/8 is small and forgiving enough to use a wooden tube. A 6" f/8 is pretty much forgiving enough to use just about any reasonable kind of construction technique or design and still be useable.

I would put the optics in a cardboard tube and use the telescope while I was building the wooden tube... Combine instant gratification with long term goals.

Chuck