YOU CAN 3D PRINT A TELESCOPE THAT SHOWS YOU THE MOONS OF JUPITER
A 114mm Newtonian reflector whose entire structure is 3D printed, capable of resolving Jupiter's moons and Saturn's rings for under 150 dollars.
by Maff
ScienceWorkshop
Built with3D printing
- difficulty
- ●●●○○
- time
- a weekend-plus
- license
- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- repo
- repo ACTIVE0 stars
●●●○○ · a weekend-plus · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · 0 stars · repo ACTIVE
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
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COMPAREE VERDICT
Hadley is a 114/900 mm Newtonian reflector designed by Maff to be support-free to print and as easy to assemble as flat-pack furniture: just screws and glue. There is no tube at all — the printed upper and lower assemblies are joined by plain metal rods into an open frame, the mirrors are a standard spherical set that performs like a parabola at this focal ratio, and for the mount the designer offers a basic version but recommends community mounts like the Hill or Marci mount. The designer puts the material at around 100 dollars, plus about 50 for a good pair of eyepieces, and aims it squarely at the shoddy hobby-killer scopes in the 100 to 200 dollar range. Expect the moon in detail, Saturn's rings, Jupiter's cloud bands and a few of the brightest deep-sky objects. The licence is CC BY-NC-SA, so you cannot sell prints or finished scopes. If you have a 3D printer and want a real first telescope that teaches you how one works, this is a great build.
IN THE REPO
GOOD TO KNOW
- —All STL files are present, oriented for support-free printing, with colour-coded filenames for a two-tone build.
- —The bill of materials (in the manual) lists the mirror set (114/900 mm spherical primary plus elliptical secondary), springs, screws, nuts and metal rods.
- —Assembly instructions are provided as a PDF with diagrams; collimation procedure is documented.
- —There is no tube: the printed parts are joined by metal rods into an open frame.
- —A basic mount and mount interface parts are included; the designer recommends community mounts like the Hill or Marci mount.
- —Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — non-commercial use only, derivatives must share alike and credit the designer.
Parts to buy
6 itemsFrom our check of the build. Exact quantities and part numbers are in the creator’s BOM.
Can I build this?
Build at your own risk. Projects involve tools, electronics and sometimes mains voltage — follow the creator’s safety notes.
Videos
Hadley telescope build video (Advay Invents)
No official build video from the designer. This community build guide by Advay Invents walks through a full Hadley build and links its own bill of materials.
More builds like this
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Start here
Navigation into the creator’s own docs — we don’t rewrite the guide, we route you to the source.
- 1.Read the assembly PDF on the Printables page to understand what you are printing and what you are buying. (The bill of materials is in the PDF; mirror sets are widely available from telescope suppliers.)
- 2.Print the parts in two colours using the filename prefixes as a guide. All files are oriented for support-free printing.(Printables lists roughly 32 hours of printing. Print the TEST_PRINT part first to check your screws and rods fit.)
- 3.Assemble the printed parts with the metal rods, screws and glue following the manual.(The designer chose hardware you can find in a normal hardware store; metric builders should use one of the metric remixes linked from the page.)
- 4.Install the mirrors and collimate the optics using the adjustment screws on the secondary holder and primary cell.(If you have never collimated a Newtonian before, allow an evening. A simple collimation cap is enough at f/8, or use a laser collimator.)
Resources
Documentation, files and community threads for this build — we link straight to the original sources and never rehost the creator’s files.
KNOWN ISSUES
- The licence is CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, which prohibits commercial use. You cannot sell assembled scopes or prints without violating the terms.
- Skipping the mount decision. The basic mount on the page works, but the designer himself recommends the Hill or Marci mount; planetary imaging or long exposure still needs a tracking mount.
- Collimation is mandatory and precise. If the mirrors are not aligned, the image will be soft or distorted no matter how good the optics are. Budget time to learn it.
- The original design uses imperial screws and rods. If you are in a metric country, use one of the metric remixes the designer points to and print the TEST_PRINT part first to check your M4 screws and rods fit.
- The spherical primary only works as a parabola at this specific focal ratio (f/7.9). Do not substitute a different mirror size without recalculating the optics.
- Print quality on the mirror cell and the upper and lower assemblies matters — those parts hold the optics. Print them carefully, and keep the finished scope out of hot cars: the designer warns PLA deforms at around 110 F.
Can I print the mirrors?
No. The mirrors are bought as a standard spherical set — 114mm primary and matching secondary. The design relies on the spherical mirror behaving as a parabola at this focal ratio, which only works with real glass optics.
What mount should I use?
The designer includes a basic mount and parts for wooden rockers, but recommends community mounts such as the Hill Mount or Marci Mount. For tracking or astrophotography there is an equatorial adapter, though you still need an equatorial mount.
How hard is collimation?
Easier than on most telescopes: the designer notes that at f/8 collimation tolerances are loose, and a simple collimation cap is enough without centre-marking the mirror. Allow an evening if you have never done it.
What can I actually see with this?
The four Galilean moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, lunar craters, and brighter deep-sky objects like the Orion Nebula. It is a 114mm aperture at f/7.9, which is enough for casual planetary and lunar observing but not for faint galaxies or high-magnification planetary imaging.
Can I scale it up for a bigger mirror?
The community has already done that — dozens of remixes on Printables adapt the design for different mirror sizes and focal lengths. Check the remixes section before starting if you want a different aperture.
Community builds
No community builds yet — be the first, we feature the best ones.
Discussion1
FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM
The designer puts the non-printed parts at about 80 dollars — springs, screws, rods and a 114/900 mm mirror set — and recommends community mounts like the Hill or Marci mount. What would you mount yours on?
Maff
Maff designed the Hadley as a support-free, easy-assembly telescope that anyone with a 3D printer could build. The design has become one of the most remixed astronomy projects on Printables, with community adaptations for different mirror sizes, focusers, and mounts.
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DISCLAIMER
- Comparee is not the author of the projects featured here. All rights to each project belong to its creator — every page links to the original source, and we never host creators’ files.
- Information is provided without warranty and may become outdated as projects evolve. Prices are indicative bands only — always check the creator’s parts list for current costs.
- Building and operating any project is at your own responsibility. Protective equipment, safe workshop practice and compliance with local regulations are the builder’s responsibility.
CompareeTEAM1mo agoedited
Practical notes from our verification: the project lives on Printables, not GitHub, so there is no star count or commit history to track — and the designer is still revising it based on user feedback, so check the page for the latest instruction manual and changelog. The licence is CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, which means you cannot sell prints or assembled scopes. Hadley has no tube: it is an open frame of metal rods between printed upper and lower assemblies, and the designer says that after printing it should be as easy as IKEA furniture to assemble. Print the included TEST_PRINT file first to check that your screws and rods fit. The designer's own estimate for springs, screws, nuts, optics and rods is about 80 dollars. Mount parts are in the files, including an equatorial adapter, and the designer recommends the Hill Mount, Marci Mount or EMT remix over the one shown on the page. Correction (4 October 2026): we re-checked this page line by line against the project's own repository, documentation and videos, and fixed errors in earlier versions.