Making a -10 cm- SolarFilter holder for my telescopes.
Before we start...
Remember...
THE SUN IS DANGEROUS...
Be careful, only try make one of these if you know what you are doing... I give no guarantee that I got everything right...
Tools and materials:
Scissors, knives, plastic screws, tape that is sticky on both sides, ( used to put towel hangers on kitchen walls etc ), Cardboard, (gold colored in this case) pincers, gloves for handling optical stuff (to prevent putting fingerprints on the foil), a "Tupperware" box. A PVC cap used for water or sewer pipes, a figures saw, ( like the ones you used to use at school to saw out Easter bunnies out of multiplex...) A hand drill.. A first aid kit.. ( You can't be too careful with them knives around ) Did I mention Board ( thin, 2 mm ).. Yeah I did... Hand taps, for making holes fit for screws.. you thread the hole...what is that in English.. First drill a say, 6mm hole, than use the hand tap, you screw it in the hole, to thread it.. now you can screw a plastic screw in, and it won't fall out..
Prepare the cap, and than wash it with dishwasher soap and Luke-warm water, that dry it, before you stick anything on it...
I took the measure of the inside of the cap, cut out two rings out of the "gold" board, put "squares" of the sticky tape on it, the red foil is the protective foil on the tape, I had to pull it off with a pincher .
Gently dropped the ring on the SolarFoil, after I removed the red layer of the tape, so no tension on the foil.
Than cut out the ring. Put sticky tape squares inside the cap..
Than dropped the filter inside the cap, gently... till it stuck to the sticky tape.
Done :)
No I did not use the peanut butter...
(I repeat: Used carton, and sticky tape ( two sided), Cut out a ring, put sticky tape on it, lay it on the foil.. so no tension on the foil.. than put sticky tape inside the cap, and carefully put the ring with the foil into it, watch out for fingerprints on the foil..NO NO! The cap I got from the do it yourselves shop, had to saw a hole in it ... and use some sandpaper and elbow grease, to make it look nice.
(Now all we need is sunshine)
More Questions?
Why board on the inside? Now the two sides of the foil bare the same load, and the inside of the foil is protected against getting damaged by the top edge of the Dew Cap. The screws? Well, the cap fitted tightly over the Dew Cap of my telescope...so I didn't use those, but...you could drill holes ( and tap them ) for the plastic screws, through the sides of the cap, the screws can than be used to hold the cap in place, nice and tight, without doing damage, they are made out of plastic. Used gloves, so no fingerprints on the Solar foil. I used a figure-saw for the hole. These caps come in many sizes, some have ridges on the inside etc... first take sizes, before you buy anything, "sleep a night over it" As they say in Rome ;)
The screws :)
A Solar-filter with screw and two chair leg pads, like the white ones in the first picture, no foil yet only sticky tape..
The screw in use :)
Well, as you can see on this smaller telescope, not a 10 cm, or a 16 cm, this is a 7 cm, the screws come in handy after all, wind nor gravity, not little fingers will take off the cap. Anyways, always check the foil for damage, if it is damaged, replace the foil.... be really really careful! etc etc...
It works!
Ps: Yes I also made a finder scope to go with it... watch the video for that :)
Back to: The Sky! Click!
Ps.
Where did I get the stuff?
Tubes, caps etc PVC
http://www.schaftenaar.nl/
Screws
Buy the right foil!!
Expensive stuff :(
Mail me:
wkv@home.nl
for more questions :)