Hi, my name is Normand Fullum, I am 49 years old married with a very very patient wife “Line” and 2 great sons, 18 and 13 years old. We live in Hudson, Quebec. About 15 years ago I decided to get involved in Astronomy. First I needed a telescope, but what I wanted then was too expensive for me at that time, so I decided to build it and save myself some money. I got myself a book about telescope making and I read it about 5 times!!! Then I went to the Astronomy store in Montreal and I asked the guy to sell me a Pyrex blank of 12.5 inches. It took me about 1 year to make the mirror F/7.4 (a very good one to boot!) and a Serrurier type mount, with an equatorial platform. I was in heaven!! But my oldest son, 6 years old then, found it to high up in the ladder for his taste! I decided to build his own scope! I had some hard wood so I decided to make the tube out of maple. I never really work with wood before, but how hard can it be!! . The telescope turns out very nice and just the right size for a budding astronomer. My friends at the astronomy club told me to enter it in the competition here in Quebec called “CAFTA” And guess what, I got first place award for Originality!! Would I dare to present it at “Stellafane “? Of course!! And to my surprise, I got first place award for “Craftsmanship”!!! Within 6 months, the second wooden scope was borne!! An 8 inches F/3.62 and again, I got first place at Stellafane for craftsmanship the year after. To make a long story short, I now make wooden telescopes for customers all over the world. I am very proud to say that my wooden scopes are Unique in style and originality. |
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My philosophy about telescope making is very simple; First, I think a telescope is a very noble instrument; after all, it’s the telescope that showed us, mankind, how small we were in the universe, that billions and billions of suns shines in the mist of billions and billions of galaxies. So, it deserves a better place in our household then the closet or the back room or garage!! It should be put in view and be very beautiful just like a grand piano or grandfather’s clock. Over the years, I got myself some good books about woodcarving, a friend of mine, Pierre Tournay, gave me some very nice carving knifes that belong to his father. So then, I introduced more intricate design and astronomical carving. I think I created a style of my own. Second, I think every telescope should be equipped with the best optic possible, after all it’s the heart a the telescope, if the image is not good, what is the point? The optic of my telescopes doesn’t go out of the shop until I am satisfied with the quality of the figure and I am very very picky. I built 4 machines to help me save some time on the grinding and polishing part of the mirrors making, but the parabola is always made by hand. I also make mirrors for people that have already made their scopes or that are not satisfied with their mirrors, so they send it to me and I make or re-figure them. |
Here is a message I got from a very experimented observer that says it all;
It takes me between 1 to 3 months to build a telescope. First I choose the wood essences, for their resistance to humidity, after all I live in Quebec!! I like to work with Rosewood and Cherry wood. Than I choose the shades of the wood because I do not apply any tinting varnish. I found that wood have some very interesting qualities like vibrations absorption, as well as thermal stability. Then I make the Primary Mirror. While making it, it gives me some time to think about the design and style. Usually, when the mirror is finished and sent to be coated the scope takes shape. The “Man on the Moon” altitudes bearings (now my trademark) are the last to be installed to make sure the tube is very well balanced and that the scope moves very smoothly. This is very important when you observe to have a scope that moves like you want it to move, and not the opposite!! It’s those little details along with a good optic and a nice feel that makes a great telescope. Most of the time, people at Stellafane asked me if I am a cabinetmaker!! My answer is “NO”!! I am a telescope maker; I do not make furniture (I don’t have time). Here is a very special story from a visit at Stellafane . In the history of Stellafane since 1920 or so, it happened a few times that they could not decide between 2 telescopes who would get the first place award in the categorie of “craftsmanship” so they would give 2 first place awards!! That year it was the first time that they gave 2 first place award, but, at the same guy!! I had entered 2 telescopes in the competition and they both got first place!!! Since I have been to Stellafane, I always wanted to visit the “ Hartnes house and museum” but never had the time. When I came back, I when on the internet and I visited to virtual museum. In 1920 Russell W. Porter, the founder of Stellafane and the one that design the Palomar observatory, had assemble a group of amateur astronomer and started a class of telescope and mirror making. When I was scrolling the web page I came up on a picture of a man and a telescope .The name of the man stopped me and my heart skipped a beat. The man’s name was “ Oscar Fullam “!! My family name is “Fullum” but the two names come from the same ruth in Dublin, Ireland. And, guess what was special about his telescope, it was made of wood!!!! Just like in the “twilight zone”!!! It sure is a very special feeling to think that in my family, at the turn of the 20Th century, someone had the same dream then me!! To look at the stars in a wooden telescope. I think Russell W.Porter wrote the best quote for any telescope maker;
I am but a man that is trying to build telescopes the only way I think they should be build, with the same passion and obsession of details and beauty than those men in the early 1900, after all they show us the most beautiful things in the universe. Maybe we should take more time to make them beautiful and to put them in evidence in the living room or study where they deserve a prime place!! |
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