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Disclaimer: All the how-to directions below are for information only. They are not intended to be sold or used for unlawful purposes. The author takes no responsibility if they cause the reader bodily harm, loss of life, or cause the damage of any property, person, dog, cat, or any other animal. They are presented for information only and all liability is on the part of the reader.
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Building An Oak Case for a Takahashi 130TOA
By Larry Alvarez
Purpose:
The purpose of this how-to is to demonstrate the building of an Oak case for a TOA-130 scope. I bought the scope in 2007 and paid a good amount of money for it. The views through the scope can only be described as perfect. The image below shows what I mean. The 130mm aperture appears to resolve Jupiter perfectly whilst my old 11 inch scope with several times more light gathering power falls short.
I have used a lot of scopes from homemade ones to high dollar SCT's and Apo refractors. So far this scope has provided the best views. To keep it in top shape it is necessary to store it in a good location away from dust and damaging elements. I wanted to have something not only functional but also cool and well built. An Oak Case seemed to be the correct choice.
Understanding the basics:
This build isn't for everyone, it's difficult and time consuming. You need some advanced knowledge of wood working, gluing, sanding, and cutting. I will be using power tools to complete this project. Its not too difficult if you understand wood working but it will take some patience and finesse to work some of the pieces. With a case it is important to get the pieces as similar as possible. Good measurements help but beyond that some clamping and sanding also make for good tools to use.
Parts lists:
two 1/4 inch 4x4 pieces of oak plywood
one 3x4 piece of 3/4 inch oak plywood
Three 1-1/2x8' wood strips
Brass screws
Brass corner feet
2 Brass box latches
1 wood chisel
phillips screw driver
Bandsaw
Drill
measuring tape
T-rule
belt sander
Several wood clamps and wood glue
Foam
How To:
I started by measuring the largest dimensions of the scope. They around 138"x8". The foam I have is approximately 1 inch thick so I will be layering it and hot gluing it together to line the inside of the case. I want the case to have at least an inch all the way around the scope so that it will be well protected by the foam. So my final inside dimensions for the box are 139.25"x10".
The drawing takes into account the thickness of the 1/4" plywood. I found that all the pieces fit nicely on the two pieces of plywood I purchased with just a little left over. The case will have added features like internal lighting, brass corners, luggage front snaps, and some old world accents but main box is what we're interested at this time. Priced online a good case costs in excess of $300 to $400. With the economy in the can right now doing it yourself is the only way to go. I used a t-square to draw the lines and made all measurements twice to be sure. The old adage of measure twice cut once is true. I found a couple of errors along the way and had to re-draw the lines.
To cut the pieces out I used a bandsaw with a very thin blade. This made the kerf, the width of the cut area, small and almost of no consequence. If you use a large saw like a rip saw then you must take into account the width of the blade before making the cut and measurements. What ever you use the pieces will come out a little different from each other. To get them the same size I took the similar pieces and clamped them together and then used my belt sander to sand the edge until they were the same. The image below shows the 10"x10" sides of the case. I later cut this piece to 3"x10" and 7"x10" to make the top and bottom of the side of the case. One item of interest when sanding is to place the pieces together with the inside sides facing each other. With most plywood there is a good side or "A" quality side and a "B" quality side. You'll know by looking at it which is which. The "B" side is like the ulgy step sister and the "A" side looks like Cinderella. I find that it helps if you layout the pieces in the order they will go on the case before you start working on them and put letters on the edges to note which side is up.
You'll need to cut:
two 42" by 10.5" pieces of 1/4" plywood
Two 7"x42" pieces of 1/4" plywood
Two 3"x42" pieces of 1/4" plywood
Two 10"x7" pieces of 3/4" plywood
Two 10"x3" pieces of 3/4" plywood
Once all the pieces are all cut and sanded you should inspect all the parts for size and shape before proceeding.
Next, lay out the top of the case, one of the 42"x10.5" inch pieces. Put glue on one of the 3"x10" inch pieces and glue it to the end. Make sure the "A" side is facing down and you are gluing to the "B" side. Make sure the "A" side of the 3"x10" piece is facing out. Clamp the parts together and do the opposite side as well. It should appear like the image below. Note the dark spot on the left inner side of the 3"x10" piece and the rough look of the 42"x10.5" piece. These are the "B" sides and will in turn be the inside of the box that will not be seen. I find that it is good to smooth the glue bead with your finger before attaching the part. This spreads the glue evenly and it keeps the glue from squishing out in large quantities when the parts are put together. This in turn keeps the glue from running on the outside and getting all over the clamps.
This should set for at least 6 hours before proceeding. You should do the Bottom of the box the same way if you have enough clamps. The clamps I have are 6 inch clamps but by removing the rubber tip on them I got enough space to fit over my 7 inch piece. The fit was tight but it worked out. Place a bead of glue on the inside where the corners meet to give the joint extra strength. Smooth out the glue with your finger to make sure it is evenly distributed. This will serve 2 purposes. It will add strength and it will also tell use when the glue is dry. Wood glue turns translucent yellow when it is dry. The sides should go on next. Most of the time the pieces will be a little bowed. This is ok. We will straighten them as we clamp. A bead of glue should be placed on all points that touch. The clamps should be placed evenly across the side to hold it in place for at least 6 hours.
This should be done for both the top and bottom of the box. This is where the better you measured early on, the better the ends will match up. Below is an image of the almost finished pieces stacked on each other.
The goal is to make the box top and bottom fit together tight and smooth. To do this we need an inner sleeve on the lower box that the top can fit over and lock onto. Since the box is glued together I opted for visual measurement instead of using the tape measure. I put the 1-1/2" x 8' wood strip in the bottom of the case part ways and marked where it met the other side. I did this all the way around the inside of the box and then I cut out the pieces. I then glued the pieces in place and clamed them down tight. I left 1/8" sticking up so that it would catch the top of the case and lock it in place.
I had to purchase more clamps because I kept running out. A quick trip to Ebay and I was all set. After the inner sleeve was glued I rounded the outer edge of the sleeve so the top would fit over it easily. I put the top and bottom together and started marking out the locations of the hinges and front clamps by putting the on the area that I wanted and then marking the screw holes with a pencil.
After they were marked I realized that the upper hinge and upper clamp did not have much to hold onto because the top of the box was only 1/4 inch thick. To fix this I used the wood strips that were left and glued pieces to the lid. Before I did the cutting I measured out from the screw holes 1/2" on each side.
I then made cuts on the inner sleeve in these areas down to the wall of the lower box but did not cut the lower box.
I used a wood chisel to get the wood out of the notched area. This left 4 notches in the back where the hinges were and two in the front where the latches were. I then put the wood strip up to the notches for each area and marked out how much was needed and made the cuts on the wood strip. When I was done I glued the pieces to the upper box in the areas that coincided with the notched areas. This allowed them to fit snuggly and allowed the screws that were used to hold the hinges and latches more grabbing space.
After everything was glued I then pre drilled all the holes that were marked and threaded each with the correct screw. This takes some time depending on how many screws you will be using. It's nice to have predrilled holes before putting it all together and staining.
I next put the top of the case onto the bottom to make sure it fit good. While it was together I applied the stain. This really brought out the wood grain and adds protection to the wood. I put 3 coats of stain on it.
When the stain dried I added all the hardware to the case including the front latches, corner braces, and hinges.
Below is the finished Tak 130 Case. All that is left to be done is to add the foam cushion.
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