The Pipeline: projects waiting to be done

Things to Do when you are not in a drug stupor

Amateur telescope making projects waiting to be done. Let us know if you want to work on any of these. Some are simple, some are complex, some are safe, and some... are insanely dangerous! If your faith in authority prevents you from thinking, please go away! Note that a lot of these projects can be done by a motivated middle school student for a science fair entry.

Medium Format Camera
35mm film photography is a common practice with amateur telescope users, but the data gathering is limited by the film size. We could get more data with the 6x6 film formatWe need a medium format camera that meets our needs:
- cheap (no lens)
- adaptable
- workable focal plane shutter
- "B" shutter setting that does not wipe out the batteries
- remote electrical or mechanical shutter actuation
- automatic on-film exposure date and time recording.
This project may involve nothing more than a search of existing camera models for the right one. .
Strain?
I want to grind and polish a mirror that bears the satanic cross to see what goes wrong (if anything). If nothing goes wrong, we can stop worrying about strain. If I can't get a good figure, I will then be convinced that annealing is worth something and I will continue doing it.

The "Satanic Cross" reveals unacceptable strain in glass BEFORE you start your mirror project
Annealing
If strain proves to really be a problem, I want to experiment with different annealing programs. By trimming the time and temperature curve, it may be possible to get cheaper annealing and increase the productivity of our kilns.
Pitch!
Of course pitch is expensive. Do you think it grows on trees? Well, actually it does! We need a way to purify it by recycling acetone, turpentine, or MEK vapors. This could blow up worse than a pressure cooker, but we could all end up with cheap pitch for polishing.
Plaster!
Plaster is a terrible tool making and pitch lap foundation material because of the way it can be penetrated by water. This projects seeks additives to the plaster to make it waterproof and stronger. The additives may be applied when the plaster is mixed (white glue?), or after it is hardened (pitch dissolved in a solvent?). Part of this project would evaluate the mechanical strength of the treated plaster as it hardens and compare these results with dental stone.
SiliconeThe mechanical and thermal characteristics of silicone need to be evaluated as a function of time. This includes young's modulus, shear modulus, viscosity or creep rate, thermal conductivity, specific heat, and mass loss during cure, and shrinkage during cure.
R-C Design Curves
We need to know the achievable spot size of the R-C optical system as a function of apertures and focal lengths of the two mirrors. We can leave it to Oslo to optimize the design, but we need to know what is achievable.
Ribbed Blanks It is easy enough to make a light weight ribbed mirror blank, but these tend to crack when subject to thermal stress (as when warm-pressing a pitch lap). There is a need for improved designs that will not be temperature sensitive.

Discrete harmonica case packs a powerful punch. The insert is made of thin plywood door skin welded with white glue
Doorskin
Thin plywood "doorskin" is a wonderful construction material that is easily welded with white glue. It has great potential for making strong, stiff, lightweight telescope structural components using the same ideas as the ribbed mirror blanks. I got this idea during construction of the insert for my harmonica case. I recall the ME-262 fighter and the C-3 SLBM nose cones made of similar material.
Tester There is a need for improved testers that can quantify astigmatism as well as perform the standard measurements to determine a mirror's shape. The tester must be easily fabricated in the outback with simple hand tools.
Interrogation Technologies There is a need to calibrate police and military interrogation tools to optimize the degree of stress applied to the subject. Police have found that excessive stress on a subject can impair his ability to confess due to cardiac arrest. In this project, electrical and chemical methods would be tested on sexually active middle school students to determine the stress levels most beneficial to the subject under interrogation. Two classical stressors woutld be tested (electrical stimulation and application of dyhydrogen monoxide). This project may be eligible for government funding under the U.S. Department of Defense SBIR program, as it would be of great benefit in dealing with undesireable persons.

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