[ATM] Next part of the project

["Francis J. O'Reilly" <foreilly@bestweb.net>]

I completed my 8 inch f/6 mirror at Dick Parker's mirror workshop
yesterday. The mirror shows as a very good parabola per Dick's
autocollimater. I'm pleased. I spent the rest of the morning helping my 13
year old daughter with her 4.25" f/10 mirror. A good starter.

Now that I have a mirror, I need something to put it in as a mirror by
itself is pretty... pretty useless.

I suppose that I could use a length of Sonotube and knock together a wooden
Dobsonian mount, but is that really what I want to do? Not really. I prefer
metal. I could buy all the parts and assemble them, not unreasonable and
indeed, I already have a mirror mount, a focuser and a diagonal with a
spider. I'll probably use them. But what I really want is a metal mount for
the telescope. 

I intend to try to make one myself. Originally, I wanted to try to make an
equatorial mount by casting the parts myself. I was dissuaded from this in
favor of an Alt-Az mount by Bill Giamotto at the workshop. (Bill, a
cultured gentleman, was formerly a High School shop teacher, and I value
his input highly) I still wish to cast the parts for the mount using a home
foundry set. Yes, I know that I could buy plumbing parts and various other
items and cobble together such a mount, many of us, myself included, have
done that, but I want to try something different.

Does anyone on the list have any experience in this area? If so, I'd like
to hear from you. Please post all responses to the list if you forward them
to me personally, I suspect that everyone would like to hear your input as
much as I would.
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