Painting the homemade telescope mount
Category: Homemade Telescope Mount
Posted by: Tom How
Another long 4 day weekend here in the UK. Of course, the royal wedding was splendid and very tastefully done, but we can't keep partying all weekend, so I've been concentrating on painting the homemade telescope mount.
As I have always said, it doesn't really matter what a telescope mount looks like, because nobody is going to see it, because it is dark! However, when you've spent 5 years (on and off, mostly off) making something, pride kicks in a little bit and you want to make it look pretty. People will come from far and wide (sometimes as far as the next village) to be impressed by the telescope mount. These folks will appreciate a bit of paint.
Another factor is the weatherproofing. Unfinished machining grade aluminium doesn't respond well to years of exposure to the weather. It tends to become pitted and dirtied with a dusting of white aluminium oxide. Some grades of aluminium are less effected, but these are harder to work with in the workshop.
Making a perfect job was never going to happen. Some of the aluminium parts have had a hard life in the workshop. Whilst I could spent a couple of days sanding and polishing every surface of every part of the mount, I'm not *that* fussed. A can or two of car paint is perfectly suited to giving the large aluminium parts a coat of paint. The small parts are of course anodised but I don't have the setup to anodise the larger parts. Whilst I could probably sort myself out with the required big bucket of acid, I don't really want to, so I will settle for some paint.
The first picture below are the two sides of the equatorial wedge part of the homemade telescope mount. In my on-going homage to the Paramount ME I've chosen red for these. A nice satin finish red.
Secondly are the longer bases for the axis of the telescope mount. These I've simply done in matt black car paint. If I had my way, it would all be matt black, but I would get a lot of protests from various advisors! Hmm, methinks they should cut the 'effing worm gears, and then they can have a choice of paint. *ROFL*
In case you were wondering, at some point in the past, one part got stuck in another part and I needed a lot of hammers to fix it.
I'm also have a secret desire to get some part of it painted purple, but I don't know what yet.
Anyhow, a couple of piccies.
As I have always said, it doesn't really matter what a telescope mount looks like, because nobody is going to see it, because it is dark! However, when you've spent 5 years (on and off, mostly off) making something, pride kicks in a little bit and you want to make it look pretty. People will come from far and wide (sometimes as far as the next village) to be impressed by the telescope mount. These folks will appreciate a bit of paint.
Another factor is the weatherproofing. Unfinished machining grade aluminium doesn't respond well to years of exposure to the weather. It tends to become pitted and dirtied with a dusting of white aluminium oxide. Some grades of aluminium are less effected, but these are harder to work with in the workshop.
Making a perfect job was never going to happen. Some of the aluminium parts have had a hard life in the workshop. Whilst I could spent a couple of days sanding and polishing every surface of every part of the mount, I'm not *that* fussed. A can or two of car paint is perfectly suited to giving the large aluminium parts a coat of paint. The small parts are of course anodised but I don't have the setup to anodise the larger parts. Whilst I could probably sort myself out with the required big bucket of acid, I don't really want to, so I will settle for some paint.
The first picture below are the two sides of the equatorial wedge part of the homemade telescope mount. In my on-going homage to the Paramount ME I've chosen red for these. A nice satin finish red.
Secondly are the longer bases for the axis of the telescope mount. These I've simply done in matt black car paint. If I had my way, it would all be matt black, but I would get a lot of protests from various advisors! Hmm, methinks they should cut the 'effing worm gears, and then they can have a choice of paint. *ROFL*
In case you were wondering, at some point in the past, one part got stuck in another part and I needed a lot of hammers to fix it.
I'm also have a secret desire to get some part of it painted purple, but I don't know what yet.
Anyhow, a couple of piccies.