Member postings for john carruthers

Trepan them from sheet?

Good carpet tape will take light cuts. I've used it for wood turning as well as metal, no porblems.

Superglue - again for light cuts but melts when hot. Back up with a centre where possible.

Nice mount

I've been helping AWR in a small way with their PEM...

**LINK**

Before testing optics I let the temperature of the work piece equalise for 30 minutes in a bucket of water that's been in the room for a day or so, might speed up testing for you?

How about regrinding the carbide end of a cheap 20mm masonry drill to suit CI ?
Far cheaper than long and extra long series bits.

https://www.bes.co.uk/20-mm-x-300-mm-sds-drill-bit?ref=gs&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk6aF84_92gIVDZPtCh0C8QK2EAQYAyABEgKaz_D_BwE
 

Edited By john carruthers on 11/05/2018 08:22:22

I use Pound shop oven cleaner to remove ally, usually an overnight soak shifts it.

I use 'Shadows' to design simple dials.(used to be free, now comercial)

Also 'Orologi Solari'.
**LINK**

There are several books available but mine are all packed in boxes ready to move house.

Several links here...

**LINK**

4/- per week, 16/- per month, it all adds up you know

Maybe a fund for fallen women ?

We have purchased several sets of bearings from Arc, some for machine use, some for light duties in telescope mounts, no problems..

**LINK**

B&Q, yes, my bro-in-law works the a local store.
4%??
and the rest.
£10 cheapo white box drill, costs £3.
Amazing really how it is manufactured, then shipped round the world, and still shows a small profit, for £3.

Couldn't buy the chuck for that

At my favourite yard they let me look in the bins and pull out likely treasure.
Then we go through the ritual of weighing it, to within 10 grammes, then to the office to 'calculate' a price;
which myseriously always works out to be a multiple of £10 ?

Rad and True Rad ?

Can you get hold of some AFP? (acrylic flexible plaster), not cheap, but as it's a small area it shouldn't cost the earth.

I had to repair one of Flemming's brass microscopes with just this problem.
It was a straight cut rack and the pinion had lost 3 teeth.
I managed to build up the 12 tooth steel pinion with a tiny welding electrode, skimmed it true, then ground a profile tool to cut the teeth with the lathe as a shaper.

Edited By john carruthers on 23/03/2018 08:33:48

Try a glazing supplier, we used a lot of brass H and U for stained glass, as an alternative to lead cambs.

Only 3 !!?


I just gave a 12" Newt/Cas Fullerscope and an 8" SCT to Monkton Observatory, still have a shed full to take with me to Wales.
I should thin them out a bit more, but it's like choosing which child to leave behind .

+1 for the Superfire 2.
I was kindly given a torch with several spare canisters of MAPP and propane.
It has done everything I need.

I have used plumbers hemp and non emulsifying grease for glands. (less than £1)
Or ramin fibre, as used for bow strings, can be used but the mica tends to wear the faces.
**LINK**

Telescope collimation, a can of worms with various opinions.
Do you Barlow it Neil?

I find it is possible to get a single laser spot to return to the origin but take a circuitous route so still be slightly off.

I get it as close as I can then use a star as the final arbiter.

Very nice Neil.
I use 'keyring' red lasers for collimation. They fit in a 1.25" hoover tube with a few holes tapped round.
The green pointer in a 2" tube I reserve for the big refractors like Greenwich.
A mirror on the wall brings the spot back where you can see it and doubles the effective distance

Edited By john carruthers on 09/03/2018 08:26:15