Extendable Telescope

thingiverse

I made a rainbow-colored telescope for my daughter because she asked for one. She wanted something special, so I designed the parts to be different colors. Here are the instructions: Print each part separately. I printed mine at 0.2mm layer depth, which is fine detail for a custom project like this. The walls of each piece are 1mm wide, which should print easily with my printer without any support issues. To assemble it, you'll need two pieces of clear plastic (I used perspex), one that's 65mm in diameter and the other that's 30mm. You can test this design as a real telescope with some additional lenses - that's on my to-do list! To put everything together: Place the larger piece of perspex at the end of the scope, then stack pieces 1 through 6, followed by the larger perspex piece. Part one should fit snugly into place and can be secured with a bit of glue (I used acetone). Next, slide the smaller piece of perspex over the eyepiece, extend the telescope slightly to keep it from collapsing, and twist it so that it holds its shape - don't make it too tight. Then, apply a bit more glue (more acetone for me) to secure the eyepiece to part 6. After everything dries, you'll have a fully functional (well, potentially) custom printed telescope to call your own! With a little patience and practice, you should be able to focus on whatever takes your fancy. A gentle tug or twist will keep it from collapsing on you while in use. When the fun's over, a quick whack will send it back into storage mode until next time!