> cabinet makers were building the most impressive wood frames

You say impressive, but my mind reads that as heavy even if they looked amazing

Yeah! I meant impressive more in the “big sturdy woodwork” sense, not lightweight. They had to hold a heavy mirror and still move smoothly enough to aim by hand. The Dobsonian design, plus Teflon on Formica bearings, made big aperture amateur telescopes way more accessible to hobbyists. From what I gathered it was definitely a “bigger is better” kind of thing, and weight seemed pretty secondary.