[ATM] dust cover

["John Sherman" <atmer@johnspics.com>]

Hi Dave,

> when I found the cat sleeping on the towel/dust
 > cover covering my mirror I got a bit anxious.

Here's how I made my cat-proof dust cover. I took a piece of 1/8" plywood
and cut out a disc about 1/8" larger than the mirror. I took a strip of
corrugated cardboard about 2.5" wide, and glued it around the edge of the
wood, so that one side of the cardboard barely overlaps the edge of the
wood. I then cut two gaps in the cardboard, one on each side. I glued a
wooden drawer handle to the center of the wood. Done! I can put the cover on
the mirror while the mirror is in the box. The cover fits over both the
sling and the mirror, and the sling passes out through the two gaps in the 
cardboard. If there is any moisture trapped inside it can get out the two 
little gaps, and it can work it's way thru the wood and cardboard. The cover 
is held on with friction, and I have a bungee cord to help and to hold the 
mirror down during transport. I permanently attached it inside the mirror 
box near the top, and have a latch it hooks onto near the bottom. I 
installed the cord loose, then tied a knot in it to get it just tight 
enough.

This way the mirror's face is not contacted by anything. And the cost is
quite low! After cutting the disc out of the wood, I realized I had a square
piece of wood left over with a hole in it. This square being just the right
size to fit inside my truss poles, since I used to use it as a dust cover
when the scope was assembled. So I enlarged the hole a bit, and covered the
wood with velvet. After drilling little holes around the edge, I now have a
baffle that attaches to the truss poles with little bungee cords. No sense
wasting wood, eh?

John




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