[ATM] That tube

[Francis J. O'Reilly]

I received a call from the Powder Coater yesterday that my tube for my 8" f/6 reflecting telescope was ready. I picked it up and I must say that I am delighted with the result.

The tube is a deep rich maroon with gold flecks in the clear coat. It looks GREAT!

Here's how it was done.

The tube is a ten inch diameter, 54 inch long medium wall thickness tube from Hastings Pipe in Hastings Nebraska.

I made all of my holes in the tube prior to sending it out, The mirror mount is a commercial mount as is the focuser, spider diagonal and it's holder. It will be mounted as a sidewalk telescope based on Ray Cash's plans.

The Powder coater was originally going to sand balst the tube but decided to use a more labor intensive method. They Scotch Brite polished the outside throughly, getting off all of the welding splash that was on the tube. They then washed the tube down with Acetone three times until it was very clean.

The tube was electrostatically charged and the paint was applied, then heated to 400 degrees F, and cooled. The tube was then clear coated with gold flecks and reheated, when it cooled it was wrapped in plastic and I was called to pick it up.

I'll post a video on You Tube in the next few days.

Francis J. O'Reilly