Solar Finder for Apertura Dobsonian Telescope

thingiverse

This is a solar finder designed to fit on the finder scope bracket of my 12" Apertura brand dobsonian telescope. It complements the solar filter mount that I also made here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3555516 I assume Apertura uses the same bracket on a lot of their other telescopes and it wouldn't surprise me if other brands use the same bracket as well. I broke it into two separate pieces that are simply super-glued together. I went with the 2-piece design to avoid supports and the ~50% extra material printing it as one piece required. Also, since I printed the original one shown in the photo, I added a guide to the back piece that's a raised imprint of the astronomical symbol for the sun (which coincidentally is essentially just a bullseye). Not necessary but does make it a little easier to fine-tune. I included the two STL files as well as the original Fusion 360 and a STEP file in case you want to tinker with it or tweak it to fit your bracket. If you print, please post a make as I'd love to see how yours turns out! Also, any feedback is appreciated!