Tweedledee Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Beautiful looking job Kim. I did woodwork at school hundreds of years ago. I wanted to learn how to make something useful like a table and chairs, or preferably even a dob. They had us making a paper knife and letter rack , what a waste! +Ibbo and Brantuk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 Thanks Pete Yeah I did woodwork at school too but that was all mortice 'n' tenon and dovetails and stuff. Not used any of that here - it's all just power tool...... bzzzzzzz...... kerdunk! Then screws to join what's left - more like an FBI MFI flat pack lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ibbo Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 A letter rack at leat it was functional it was a a few bits of wood stuck together that was suposed to be a boat at our school most of us would have been better floating the lenght of wood they gave us to start with rather than us attacking it with saws and chisels etc Brantuk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted May 24, 2016 Author Share Posted May 24, 2016 Slight divergence from the main topic - but this is what I'll be using to lift the dob in/out of the car. It just arrived this morning - fabulous bit of industrial kit. It's like a sack truck with interchangeable platform and forks, and a wind up handle that lifts to just over a meter high. It'll lift up to 150kg with the forks (or 120kg with platform) and nice big chunky wheels to go over rough terrain. Just the business - and it means I don't have to downsize quite so much as I thought. philjay 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 It looks a great piece of kit Kim. My only concern is it's just another piece of kit to drag along with the dob. As you know the dob isn't small and with all your kit you will need a bigger car. Brantuk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted May 24, 2016 Author Share Posted May 24, 2016 Hahaha! Don't tempt me..... nope sensible head on - with two Volvo's I think we're ok for cars at the mo. The lifter actually folds up dead compact so it's just a case of levering it over the tailgate and sliding it into the back (with the seats dropped down) along side the dob. Minimum effort and amazingly easier than using the ramps. It'll mostly be used for the dark sites and star parties. That's the theory at least..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted June 9, 2016 Author Share Posted June 9, 2016 (edited) Well I've not done a lot on this recently cos I've had a couple of rough weeks - but feeling a bit better now and kicked off with a few easy bits. So I've been wondering about how to hold it all together centrally and whether or not to use the original lazy susan with the slide glides for the AZ bearing. Lazy susan has an M8 bolt and I wanted something more substantial so elected for M12 - so it's cherio sue for now and hello PTFE 5mm block. To check how it will work I started by cutting a couple of square bits out of scrap to match a PTFE block I had lying round and drilled some M12 holes in them: Edited June 9, 2016 by Brantuk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted June 9, 2016 Author Share Posted June 9, 2016 Next up was to get the bolt and spacer bits from a mixture of B&Q and ScrewFix. Di has had a smashing time window shopping with me recently - getting her back for all the clothes shops I've trawled around over the years lol. Here's what I came up with: And all put together it's totally rock solid - which is highly required due to the extra weights I've added to the LightBridge to counter balance heavy eyepieces: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted June 9, 2016 Author Share Posted June 9, 2016 (edited) So as you can see the two nuts at the bottom will lock together - one being a nylock - plus I might drop a bit of superglue into the other one to ensure the assembly doesn't come undone underneath the dob whilst in use. Hopefully the weight of the dob will be enough to provide the correct "stiction" and I shouldn't need to adjust once it's set. The bits included will be the best combination from M12 bolt, regular M12 nut and nylock M12 nut. Two square washers, two regular round washers, and two split rings (which may help adjusting stiction). The square washers will be counter sunk into the top of the base board and underside of the circular ground board, and the PTFE center block will be screwed to the top of the ground board. Next job - drill the center holes in the base and ground boards - not forgetting to do the Teflon center hole underside of the ground board as well. I've placed the three slide glides at approx 120o equally spaced round the circumference for a test fit of the ground board - voila: And you can just see the 5mm gap in the last shot - with the PTFE block in the middle and slide guides either side - it really does slide nicely - can't wait to stick it all together and test the scope on it. Oh - once the square washers are countersunk - there will be just enough room to fit the nylock. Edited June 9, 2016 by Brantuk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted June 9, 2016 Author Share Posted June 9, 2016 Finally disassembled I marked out where the feet will eventually go on the ground board - they'll be spaced at 120o too and will bear the slide guides above (which I used to draw circles for the feet position). Dunno what the feet will be made of yet..... maybe some scrap plywood - or possibly just use shed levelers...... more coming soon - thanks for following. Smithysteve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Great progress Kim. I know there is a lot more time and effort involved than may come across in your pics. When you are not experienced or doing similar work every day as a job, sometimes the simplest of tasks can take a lot of head scratching and considerable trial and error to end up with anything approaching the professional looking product you are building. Brantuk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 You are doing a great job there Kim, it's looking great. Brantuk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted June 10, 2016 Author Share Posted June 10, 2016 Thanks Martyn/Pete - yes it does cause a lot of head scratching Pete - I'll soon go bald if I carry on like this..... (Oh - I'm going bald anyway lol.) Tell you what though - it's very satisfying that it all seems to fit nicely - and great to get a feel of how the AZ will move - it's really very smooth. But I did make a bit of a botch on the Alt axes - so I'm going to have to cut them again - this weekend hopefully. Then all the bits will be made and ready for trial fit, painting, and assembly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Graham Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Looking good there Kim. Brantuk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 That is coming together nicely Kim, looking forward to the finished pictures. What with Graham grinding / figuring mirrors and you making dob rocker boxes, just need somebody to make me a OTA and I can get my order in! Brantuk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted June 10, 2016 Author Share Posted June 10, 2016 Thanks Graham/Daz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 It is all looking Great Kim look for ward to seeing it finished Brantuk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted June 14, 2016 Author Share Posted June 14, 2016 Thanks Stephen - I've only a couple of parts left to make now, so it's not long before I test fit the ota, then start painting and assembly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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