The making of the RFT

This page describes the process of building the RFT. For the making of the mirror go to the grinding log page.

The plywood parts have been cut to size, but the thin panels tend to curl up. Therefore a clamp has been devices to keep them flat when glueing the baffles.

first baffles connect sides

On the left image the first baffles are glued/clamped. Note that the panels already have a support woodstrip attached to the edge.
On the right image two sides are connected and additional baffles are placed. The tolerances of part size and placement are getting noticeable at this stage.

third side ota on mount


Left: the third side panel glued, the OTA now starts to look like a bird house!
Right: The finished OTA on the unfinished equatorial mounting. This has become slightly worse than the simple altaz planned at first, but may be more comfortable at the eyepiece when equipped with a tracking stepper.