Re: [ATM] Only two books allowed

[Mike Lockwood <melockwo@uiuc.edu>]

Hi,

Alan Scott wrote:
> I am also going to cheat a bit ... and say that Mel's web site, and 
> links off of it, are my primary resource now days.  Oh, and Kriege, of 
> course!

OK, with all this mentioning of the Kriege & Berry book I feel I must 
comment....

That book is good as a reference if you want to build an Obsession 
clone, which may or may not be a good first truss-dob.  Personally, I 
think there are a number of weak points in the design, but that's just 
my personal bias after building lots of scopes.  (I think some of the 
cell designs were pre-PLOP, so they could use some updating, and I 
personally dislike slings and wedge-type truss clamps.)

So, even though Kriege's commercial web site boldly assures everyone 
that his telescopes are simply the best you can buy (snicker - I am 
starting to sound like Mr. Schwartz...), I wouldn't treat that book as 
a holy bible of Dob making.  It's just one school of thought. 
Encourage a reader to read it, but then to innovate on their own, and 
not get stuck in Obsession-clone land.  (Many have been stuck there 
for the last 20 yrs.)

On other topics, if that budding telescope maker has the desire to 
MAKE primary mirrors, then Texereau is still the best, so long as you 
draw info on modern lap-making techniques and tile tools from the 
internet.

Any why has no one suggested the list archives?  ;)  That's a heck of 
a reference volume.....

	Mike Lockwood

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