Compared to Patrick and a host of others, I haven't done squat. I was merely ribbing Patrick a little. He needs it now and then to stay centered and on track. ;) The Clark tube, which will eventually ride atop the Clark pier, was built by Alvin C. Clark and Sons of Cambridge Mass in 1915. I have posted some images of the original rear focuser mounting plate and some of the machining which will adapt Patricks focuser and the original 9" eye to the Clark tube. It will be a great looking piece when finished. I need to get some large MEADE stickers to plaster all over it when it's finished though. Maybe even an old "Moon Equipped" sticker or two from the window of someones old hot rod, just for laughs. ;) Quoting Canopus56 <canopus56@yahoo.com>:

First off, on behalf of the community as a whole, I wanted to thank both you and Guy for your efforts. It will be a great resource for the Salt Lake and Tooele areas for many years to come. Joe's Deseret News article stated that you (Patrick) had personally financed the construction. It's pretty admirable that you decided to put your money into a selfless activity instead of the many other consumer toys it could have gone to. The same is true of Guy, without whose many hours of donated expertise in machining, nothing would have moved forward. To make the list complete, the same thing goes for Bruce Grim.

- Kurt

P.S. - By "Clark refractor" and in reading my copy of King's _The History of the Telescope_, I was asking if the Clark tube and original objective were manufactured by a famous U.S. telescope manufacturing firm of from the 19th and early 20th century, Alvin Clark & Sons. See _History of the Telescope_ at 257-259 (Formed after Civil War) and at 314 (Did not make the lens for, but was moving force in the construction of the Yerkes 40" refractor).

--- Patrick Wiggins <paw@trilobyte.net> wrote:

...

Hi Guy (and everyone else), My apologies. I intended no slight. I credited you for your much appreciated and ongoing machining work

...

but I really didn't know you are building a new mount. Impressive! <snip>

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