Have dob, will travel! I thought it was fitting to add a little pizzazz to the title of my blog post documenting my recent dobsonian upgrade from Dennis Steele over at DobStuff. First off, if you’ve not seen Dennis’s work, head on over to www.dobstuff.com and get familiar! It’s great workmanship and he’s a true craftsman. I purchased his “Rocker Box Upgrade Kit” that includes everything you need to make your telescope around 10lbds lighter. It’s also much easier to brake and push. The kit comes packaged wonderfully in your choice of stain, fit and finish. I opted for the non-stained kit to do it myself with my father-in-law. I feel like my dob has been around enough that it deserves my attention and time. I like adding stories to it… just looking through the photos of it through the years or looking at it will tell you that much. If it could talk… haha.
As you can see… me and my dob get around! Lines of folks looking through it, students with their mouths agape as they are astonished at something as simple as the Moon! Yes, I’ve got a relationship with my dob. One day, I hope to pass it down to a niece or nephew who I hope will love it as much as I do.
Back to my point- UPGRADES! I’d been wanting to make some upgrades to the rocker box after seeing all the nice custom dobs at my local society’s star party and when I heard about Dobstuff, I made the jump. I should say- a well placed step on my existing rocker boxes eyepiece holder by a rambunctious little 8 year old might have rushed me along. Here’s a photo of the pieces I ordered. I went with a minwax Sedona Red stain and finished it off with four coats of clear satin polyurethane.
The finished product resembles an old Chris Craft boat and I love it! I’m sure everyone has a preference to wood tone, but this was mine. I sanded between coats with 600 grit paper and gave it ample time to dry. One nice thing is that Dennis provides all new hardware. I did however opt to use my existing plastic feet and the lazy susan bearing from my old dob as they worked perfectly well.
I am very happy with the finsished product and can’t wait to take it to our annual “SHOW AND TELL” astronomical society meeting next month! On top of it being one of my favorite meetings of the year, it’s also our FIRST in-person gathering since the pandemic started. Here’s hoping the numbers stay low and we can enjoy some astronomical socializing!
