Scope Build (2011 - 2013)

There is not a lot of extensive step by step documentation of building the scope, however, there are pictures showing the various stages of the process, which can be roughly broken down as: 

1. Remove slick wrap on sonotube.

2. Coat both interior and exterior of sonotube with West Systems 105/205 epoxy. 

3. Sand down epoxy with 120 grit. 

4. Build the end rings and epoxy them onto the sonotube. 

5. Build the rocker. 

6. Prep the sonotube for installation of focuser, spider, and the bearings. The bearings were installed using wide 3" alum channel. 

7. Remove focuser, spider, and bearings. Mask off end rings. 

8. Paint the sonotube. 

9. Coat the rocker with 16 coats of wipe on waterlox- ditto for the end rings. 

10. Paint the sonotube with 3 coats of metallic blue, followed by several coats of GF toy finish. 

Comments: Using clear coat spray caused a chemical reaction with the metallic blue paint, so I had to sand it, and start over again with the blue paint. Experimenting with the GF toy finish, I found it did not cause a chemical reaction and looked nice, giving a matte finish.