Since the majority of our nights are mostly clear skies, with an amazing amount of stars and little light pollution on the north side of the island, I purchased a cassegrain telescope. This type of scope allows for great day and night viewing so we can see the stars and the surrounding islands. We had a few good nights but it's been cloudy for the past few days. Naturally, the "mostly clear nights" haven't happened after I bought the telescope. It should be clear Monday night so hopefully we'll have some good views.
While at a friends house I noticed an older telescope he had in the corner. I told him about the one I just bought and told me to take his if I wanted it. His was solid brass and had been through the hurricanes that bent the front lens mount. The tripod also had solid brass linkages and had good looking hardwood. Overall it looked nice and I figured I could repair it.
I decided to start the reconstruction with the telescope itself just in case it wasn't repairable. If not it would still look cool in the new house as-is. The optics came apart fairly easy and each of the six lenses were in great shape after a bit of polishing. The focus ring (Bottom tube, middle, between the two screwed down rings) was seized but did release after a bit of work. I was able to remove all the brass screws and completely disassemble the scope.
The front lens mount required a good smack with a block of wood to remove, but the main pipe and threads were in decent shape and could be reattached at the correct angle. With all the parts in repairable condition I got to work on the surfaces. It had enough pitting that I needed 400 grit on most surfaces. I wet sanded all of it and continued with 800, 1500 and 2000, finishing with #0000 steel wool.
I considered different finishes or clear coats but figured I'd try WD-40's corrosion inhibitor. I found it at Home Depot and figured it would be good to try on this, and the aluminum on my power tools due to the salt air. I'll get started on the tripod in a few days.
I've also been busy ordering, shipping, picking up and assembling the miter saw, and the mortar mixer used in the dome assembly. I was amazed at how much assembly was required on the mixer but it went together easy. Lucy, the big German Sheppard is posing for a picture inside. She's loving the daily routine of our morning walks with her and Bella, Kent's bush dog. We take two trips around the hill and every morning Lucy grabs her tennis ball and is ready to go.
The cats have been doing well. Big Ivan as usual loves the morning and evening feeding time. Every other time is used for sunning on the chair by the sliding door, or chilling under the bed to prep for the next feeding. Here he had too much sun but didn't have the energy to get up and grab his sun glasses. If all else fails, throw an arm over your eyes and continue your nap.
Tonight we had the invasion of the hermit crabs in their feeding area. Usually we have about 50 crabs but tonight I counted at least 114. Any time you walk near them you hear the clanking of the shells as they knock into each other. The largest one is in a shell larger than my fist and the smallest shell is about the diameter of a dime.
That's the latest.
Kevin & Denise
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