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The "Deep Space Scope" Design

Home | Astronomy | DS-3 | Mirror box construction

Mirror box and back plate of the mirror box. Left picture bottom is towards bearings, right picture top is towards the bearings.

The mirror box is made from 7 pieces of plywood.

• 2 pieces of plywood 15 1/2" X 15 1/2", glued together. Mark the center. Use the router circle cutter to cut a 13" circle through this 1" material. This gives us about 1/2" of air flow around the primary mirror for cooling.  Go slow, and don't burn your router bits.  This is the top.
  
• 1 piece of plywood 15 1/2" X 15 1/2". This is the bottom.
  
• 2 pieces of plywood 15 1/2" X 2 1/2".  Two sides.
  
• 2 pieces of plywood 14 1/2" X 2 1/2".  Two sides.
  
• If necessary, trim up the sides to be the same size using the sander.
  
• If necessary, trim up the top and bottom to be the same size with the sander.
• Glue the sides to the top.
• Screw the bottom to the sides. I used 8 1" screws, countersunk.