Fully* Printed Newtonian Telescope

prusaprinters

<p>The purpose of this project is to create a low-cost, easy to build, yet high quality starter telescope suitable for beginners, which can be extended with accessories and improvements for more advanced stargazing.</p><p><strong>The goal is to lower the barrier to entry as much as possible, without sacrificing image quality.</strong></p><p>Telescope mirrors are available from <a href="https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=telescope+mirror+spherical">eBay</a>, <a href="https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&amp;SearchText=telescope+mirror+newtonian+spherical">AliExpress</a>, and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=telescope+mirror+shperical">Amazon</a> for as low as $30-$40, and almost all the rest can be printed, except for the eyepieces, cameras, and parts of the mount.</p><p>Lowering the barrier to entry is viewed not just in terms of cost, but also in minimizing the effort in sourcing materials and assembling.&nbsp; A parametric design can accommodate many mirror sizes, but depending on the size of mirror that is available (and inexpensive), it may be difficult to purchase a tube of suitable size. &nbsp;Printing the tube is relatively low-cost, and removes the constraint on finding an existing appropriate tube. &nbsp;A fully* printed design is not a goal <i>per se</i>, but rather it is a <i>consequence </i>of designing to maximize availability.</p><p>Full assembly instructions are available in the included PDF.</p><p>STL files are provided for a printed tube and parts to accommodate a mirror with 114 mm diameter and 900 mm focal length, or an 80 mm diameter mirror with 800 mm focal length can use 4 inch PVC (double check inside and outside diameter). &nbsp;Other sizes, (for either printed tubes or purchased tubes) can be generated using the OpenSCAD customizer.</p><p>The source is being published with a permissive license, and the files are also on GitHub <a href="https://github.com/vector76/Fully_star_Printed_Newtonian">here</a>, in case anyone wants to offer suggestions in the form of a PR.</p><p><strong>Update: </strong>added “Micro Dobsonian” mount which is an altitude/azimuth mount that can be built using printed parts and <i>no woodworking</i> (except for drilling pilot holes for screws). &nbsp;It does require a board and an object with a flat top to prop it up.</p><p>A short clip of the basic operation is viewable <a href="https://youtu.be/5JlQn_uQsCg">here</a>. &nbsp;It is by no means perfect, but it is a huge upgrade from a camera tripod, and it is extremely easy to construct.</p><p><strong>Update 8/3</strong>: fixed bug in core_parts.scad where large secondary mirror could cause the spider to fail.</p>