Plastic Fantastic V2

Recently I’ve been working on a fully 3D printed 150 mm Newtonian telescope. The goal was to design something that’s simple to build, inexpensive, and easy for anyone with a basic 3D printer to assemble. This is the second 3D printable telescope I’ve designed after my earlier 114/900 scope, and this time I focused on simplifying the design and removing as many barriers to building it as possible.

Main features: • The design works with any focal ratio • Once printed, the telescope can be assembled without tools.

• All non-printed parts are easy to find in a regular hardware store — no specialty components required.

• Everything is printable on a normal-sized 3D printer with approx 200mm cubed build volume.

• Build requires no special tools or any power tools. You only need a soldering iron, couple of spanners and a hacksaw.

Designed with portability in mind, the whole thing can be quickly taken apart for transport and it only takes a few minutes to assemble again — completely tool-free! Included is also a mostly 3D printed 2" helical Crayford focuser that only requires a few inexpensive hardware parts but is surprisingly sturdy. The focal ratio is determined by the mirror you choose. You simply cut the aluminum extrusions to the appropriate length for your optics. With the mirrors installed, the telescope weighs about 4.5 kg (f/5), so it’s still quite lightweight. You could also reduce the weight by 3D printing the parts with less infill, I used 100% infill on mine. You can find all of the files needed in my Thingiverse, happy printing!