ATM 6" Dob: How Easy? How Cheap? How Heavy?

[Brent Hutto <BHutto@InfoAve.Net>]

OK, so I'd like a telescope. I think a 6" Newt would be very nice and 
a slick Dobsonian mount should work well enough. One problem is,
I don't want to vote with my dollars for what I perceive as shoddy 
workmanship on the part of the "Big 3" manufacturers. Other problem
is, I have a very discouraging history w.r.t. anything involving 
"building" or "do it yourself" hobbies. Oh, and did I mention I can't 
afford to spend, say, $750 on something like the old Starmaster 7" 
Dob. So here I sit, waffling.

Recently, I came across a couple of interesting Web sites. University 
Optics seems to sell everything you need to build a Newtonian OTA
(yes, I know there are numerous other vendors, they just have a 
convenient Web site). Then I saw the Sidewalk Astronomers site at
http://members.aol.com/sfsidewalk/dobplans.htm which makes it look 
incredibly easy to build a plywood Dobsonian mount. So I'm almost 
persuaded that it's possible. FWIW, I'm looking at the mount from the 
sidewalk plan but would prefer more of a "high-tech" focuser and 
secondary mirror mount than their do-it-yourself versions - not that 
there's anything wrong with that ;-)

For a 6" mirror in an 8" x 48" tube, is all that 3/4" plywood really 
necessary? I checked Home Depot last week and a 4' by 8' sheet of 
3/4" birch ply cost 50 bucks and weighs more than my sofa. By my
calculations, the sidewalk plans would use over 40 pounds of 
plywood and that sort of argues against the convenience of a small 
Dob for spur of the moment backyard observing. Surely something made 
out of 1/2" or 5/8" ply, maybe with a 3/4" ground board would be 
sturdy enough. What would be a target weight for a sturdy rocker box 
for a 6" f/8 'scope, 25-30 pounds?

What are the "hidden" difficult steps in building a basic, ugly 
Dobsonian mount like in the sidewalk 'scope plans? I can probably 
handle the screwing and glueing and I accept as given that I'd have 
to get someone to cut out some rounds for elevation bearings but all 
that seems to be left is cutting a bunch of rectangular hunks of 
plywood carefully measured to match the diameter of the tube.
Is it something I can do over at my father's house using his Skil saw 
and router over a couple of evenings?

Finally, here's how I'm evaluating the financial feasibility of the 
whole thing. I'm just going to add up the cost of primary and 
secondary mirrors, primary and secondary mirror holders, a painted 
cardboard tube and a rack and pinion focuser based on the prices on 
the U.O. Web site. Assuming a sheet of plywood costs 50 bucks and 
some teflon and Ebony Star is 15 dollars from Crazy Ed, what else am 
I leaving out that would add up to more than $10 here or there?