Machining for Melbourne Telescope Restoration Project

We are more than excited to be a part of the restoration of the Great Melbourne Telescope which was an important icon for nineteenth century Melbourne, signifying a transition from a colonial outpost, to a progressive city, with an interest in science and astronomy. Amiga Engineering Pty Ltd were honoured to be asked to machine the upper bearing mounting flange as per above two images. They were machined from 680mm OD plate x 90mm thick. The telescope is now being restored to its original 1869 condition, as a fully functional observational telescope, to be returned to Melbourne Observatory in the Domain for public viewing. The telescope was relocated to Canberra in 1944, where it was heavily modified for modern astronomy, before recording the first observation of dark matter as a massive compact halo object (MACHO) in the 1990’s. The telescope was engulfed by the 2003 Canberra bushfires, significantly damaging many components. The remaining parts of the telescope have now been returned to Melbourne. About 70 percent of the components of the original telescope have survived in a condition suitable for reuse. That’s where we are so excited to be part of its restoration which began in 2009. We were lucky enough to be involved by machining a huge ring for the bearing to sit in (see images) an upper bearing mounting flange we machined from 680mm OD plate x 90mm thick There’s also some great info via this link http://bit.ly/2Oik3dt Images provided by Scienceworks and Amiga Engineering’s own product images Posted on December 2, 2019 by Dee