Telescopes are great tools for observing the heavens, or even surrounding landscapes if you have the right vantage point. You don’t have to be a professional to build one though; you can make all kinds of telescopes as an amateur, as this guide from the Springfield Telesfcope Makers demonstrates.
The guide is remarkably deep and rich; no surprise given that the Springfield Telescope Makers club dates back to the early 20th century. It starts out with the basics—how to select a telescope, and how to decide whether to make or buy your desired instrument. It also explains in good detail why you might want to start with a simple Newtonian reflector setup on Dobsonian mounts if you’re crafting your first telescope, in no small part because mirrors are so much easier to craft than lenses for the amateur. From there, the guide gets into the nitty gritty of mirror production, right down to grinding and polishing techniques, as well as how to test your optical components and assemble your final telescope.
It’s hard to imagine a better place to start than here as an amateur telescope builder. It’s a rich mine of experience and practical advice that should give you the best possible chance of success. You might also like to peruse some of the other telescope projects we’ve covered previously. And, if you succeed, you can always tell us of your tales on the tipsline!
Grinding, polishing, and figuring a telescope mirror is enormously rewarding. I did my first 8″ just over 50 years ago, and the idea that I could make an item accurate to millionths of an inch with primitive equipment was compelling. The quality obtained is largely if not solely dependent on the time and thought spent on the work.
Unfortunately, a plethora of substandard scope components have hit the markets, and there is no way to tell the quality until one has actually used the scope. Moreover, the cost of a mirror kit surpasses the cost of a (cheap) finished mirror.
(The cheap short-tube 6″ scopes that plague the internet are to be avoided. They depend on an optical system that is rarely of decent quality. You may enjoy your first look at the moon, Jupiter, and Saturn, but will quickly become dissatisfied by the fuzzy images of most other objects.)
Still, for anyone truly interested in astronomy and observing, I would strongly advise either buying an expensive but high-quality optical system, or take the time and effort to make it yourself. The thrill of first light through a mirror made with one’s own hands is not to be forgotten.
I’ve always wanted to grind my own mirrors. For other projects too. Mostly because mirrors, and optical components, are so expensive. Do you know of any good guides aside from stellafane, or is that about all anyone would need to know?