Lockwood Custom Optics

Present and past clients of Lockwood Custom Optics
This is by no means a complete list - I work with a variety of companies on custom projects.
JP Astrocraft, LLC	JP Astrocraft, LLC Superb wood telescopes built by expert craftsman and machinist John Pratte. Small quantities, superb workmanship, useful and unique features. Custom telescopes and custom-built mirror cells. LCO makes primary mirrors from 16" to 45" in aperture, and tests and refigure secondary mirrors for John's fine products. He extensively tests all completed instruments. Due to the proximity, LCO and JPA can also test mirror cell edge supports for larger projects to insure proper performance of the cell. LCO and JPA worked together to develop the features of the modern primary mirror cell.
SDM Telescopes	SDM Telescopes Australian manufacturer of truss-tube Newtonian telescopes with beautiful wood finishes. Most of these lucky instruments end up under the Magellantic clouds, southern Milky Way, and other spectacular objects like Eta Carinae, Omega Centauri, etc. LCO provides custom optics 16" and up and secondary mirrors for these instruments.
Equatorial Platforms	Equatorial Platforms Custom metal telescopes and equatorial tracking platforms made by Tom Osypowski. LCO owns one of Tom's superb aluminum tracking platforms, and LCO has produced 24" F/3.25 and 32" f/2.8 mirrors for his instruments. Tom can produce custom telescopes up to 40" in aperture.
	New Moon Telescopes Custom wood telescopes built by Ryan Goodson. LCO has provided a number of optics to clients for use in these very popular telescope structures. These offer excellent performance and portability, a choice of structure type, and a wide variety of wood finishes to choose from for those that desire a wood structure.
Starstructure Telescopes	Starstructure Telescopes Manufacturer of high-quality, custom and production, light-weight, aluminum-structured telescopes, in apertures from 20" and up. See the StarStructure Horizon, a unique design for larger instruments. LCO can currently supply Supremax optics up to 36", and quartz optics up to 60" in aperture.
	AG Optical Systems Manufacturer of high-quality, American-made imaging telescopes made from composite materials. LCO provided optics for the 14" and 16" f/3.9 imaging Harmer-Wynne (iHW) telescopes, which were tested as complete systems including the corrector. The ultra-fast iHW was named a 2015 Hot Product by Sky and Telescope Magazine! See for yourself - here are links to two images acquired with the 14" iHW: Image 1, Image 2
	Otte Binoscopes Manufacturer of binoscopes in the Netherlands. Arie Otte has made multiple true binocular Newtonian telescopes using mirrors from Lockwood Custom Optics, including 13" f/5.0 and 18" f/4.8, and he has written extensively about binoscopes, the science behind binocular vision, as well as how to properly align them, merge images, and enjoy them. (Links: Why a Binoscope?, The WOW Factor, Merging of Images, The Binocular Summation Factor). Lockwood Custom Optics is proud to provide closely matched optics for these very powerful instruments.
	Stellarzac Manufacturer of telescopes in southern France. Frédéric Gea builds large telescopes using modern materials like carbon fiber truss poles, with custom machined fittings and unique designs. He has built instruments up to one meter in aperture. Lockwood Custom Optics recently supplied 28" f/3.5 (link here) and 30" f/3.6 optical sets that Frédéric built structures for. These were for a Swiss and French client, respectively, and Frédéric and the clients were very pleased with the quality of the optics. His web site is in French, but even if you can't read it, the photos are worth having a look! If you're looking for a unique, high-quality instrument, contact Frédéric.
	Custom Telescopes by Matthias Wirth Manufacturer of finely crafted custom Cassegrain and Newtonian telescopes in Cologne, Germany. Matthias is a true craftsman, an experienced observer and evaluator of optics, and a lover of superb optics, so he is a perfect match for Lockwood Custom Optics. We have collaborated on Cassegrain telescopes as well as a 22" f/3.3 custom Newtonian with quartz optics. Please email LCO for contact information.
	The Dobson Factory Manufacturer of unique minimalist alt-azimuth Newtonian telescopes in central (South Burgundy) France, in apertures from 12" to 40", from lightweight wood/composite materials if requested. Pierre Desvaux hand-builds each instrument in his workshop that LCO visited in the summer of 2015. His designs allow large telescopes to fit into small cars for transport to dark, higher-altitude observing sites.

	Starmaster Portable Telescopes Former manufacturer of high-quality American-made Newtonian telescopes. Rick took his last orders in mid-2014. LCO made primary mirrors from 14.5" to 30" in aperture, from f/3.3 up to f/4, and tested and refigured secondary mirrors to ensure consistent quality. The Super FX line was named an Astronomy Magazine Star Product in 2011. Click here for a review of an 18" f/3.7 FX Starmaster telescope Click here for articles about my 20" f/3 MX Starmaster telescope, etc.
	Astro Works Corporation Manufacturer of the legendary Centurion 18, Astro Works built three 28" f/3.1 prime-focus imaging systems, and LCO did the optical work on the cast cellular optics. The link to the amazing C28 is directly accessible here. See an image it produced here.
ASTRONOMICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE	The Astronomical Research Institute A non-profit organization founded by Bob Holmes to acquire data on near-earth objects, trans-Neptunian objects, comets, etc. LCO made the 24" f/4.75, 30" f/3.0, 32" f/4.0, and 50" f/4 primary mirrors used by Bob in his NASA-funded research. The 50" became operational in August of 2014.
Cruxis	Robert Houdart's telescope web site LCO made a 43.4" (1.1m) f/3.6 monolithic Supremax mirror and an 8" minor-axis secondary mirror for Robert. He has completed the telescope, and his latest reports can be seen here. Robert also purchased a custom 16" F/4.9 mirror, 1.4" thick, to replace the thicker mirror in his 16" telescope, and he posted an observing report.
	LCO used an early version of the Starlight Integrated Paracorr System (SIPS), and and liked it so much that Starlight asked Mike to write the instruction manual (click HERE to download it). The SIPS features a superb 1.5"-travel Feathertouch focuser (my favorite) mounted on top of a specially made TeleVue Paracorr Type 2 coma corrector. The corrector is stationary, so it is always in the optimal position for best performance. This is the system/corrector that LCO prefers for very fast telescopes.

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