catman161 Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Hey guys, apart from flocking my 200P I hadn't really done much to it apart from adding the Lacerta 1:10 dual speed focuser adapter. So I decided to take the plunge and go for a lazy susan bearing and moveable setting circle. For this I needed the following: X1 lazy susan bearing (12 inch) X1 Wixey (Digital inclinometer) X2 Spirit levels (1 for Dob base an one for OTA) X1 50mm cable tidy X1 piece metal rod for a pointer on cable tidy viewing hole X1 setting circle X lots various screws and tools! X 1 sheet polycarbonate 2X4 feet 2mm thick (B&Q) X3 adjustable levelling feet (B&Q) So firstly I need to give thanks to three people. Darren, Mick and my wife . Darren thanks for the guide to installing lazy susan bearing-it was extremely useful. The only thing I would perhaps add is the drilling of the access hole through the ground board so you can turn the base upside down and rotate the top board allowing you to access the screw holes to secure the top part of the lazy susan bearing to the rocker box base. Secondly a big thanks to Mick who has been really helpful in making me understand what he meant by moveable setting circle and explaining it all in detail to me and not getting mad at me for stealing his awesome idea of 1. a moveable setting circle and 2.The use of a cable tidy as a viewing hole for the setting circle Lastly (by no means least) my wife for measuring up and drawing out the circles on the polycarbonate for me So firstly I fitted the lazy susan bearing which went with out a hitch. I did drill the access hole but as yet have not secured the top portion of the bearing to the bottom of the rockerbox as I am yet to finish the setting circle. I fitted the adjustable levelling feet which I purchased from B&Q a couple of weeks ago. Next I had to find a quicker way of cutting the 2mm thick clear polycarbonate. At first I tried my jigsaw however it almost shattered the whole sheet to bits so I quickly stopped that. Then I tried a junior hacksaw which worked but was ridiculously slow! So I reached for my Dremel Multi tool and attached a cutting disc and that worked ok. So I set to cutting out the circles. I only managed to cut one 52cm diameter circle and then make a start on the inner circle of that circle (diameter 38cm) before the battery ran out and it started to rain! So, so far I have only got as far as the pictures below. I will add more to this as I progress. But it is back to work for me tomorrow so progress will be a little slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Looking good there Felix - your back must be a lot better now lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Looking good. I hope your backs feeling better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Almost the same set up as I have planned. I'm glad I could be of help to you Felix. Looking forward to seeing the finished article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 21, 2012 Author Share Posted October 21, 2012 Thanks guys. Yeah back is well on the mend. Start back to work tomorrow morning on a phased return basis. NHS are well paranoid about back injuries and law suits . I think I could go straight back to full time but they are insistent that I build up to full time over 1 month. Oh well Have been advised no skydiving until after Christmas though gutted! Thanks again Mick. Will put pics up when I have finished. Just got to find a hand/thumb screw of some kind now to put on underside of ground board to lock the setting circle in place and drill the viewing hole and fit the cable tidy Will be nice to make the hunt for Messier objects a little easier. You watch as soon as I have finished it, it will be cloudy for a month!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyboy1970 Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Thanks guys. Yeah back is well on the mend. Start back to work tomorrow morning on a phased return basis. NHS are well paranoid about back injuries and law suits . I think I could go straight back to full time but they are insistent that I build up to full time over 1 month. Oh well Have been advised no skydiving until after Christmas though gutted! ice to make the hunt for Messier objects a little easier. You watch as soon as I have finished it, it will be cloudy for a month!! Looking good now, but its already cloudy!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Glad I could help too Felix, after all, that's what we are here for, to help each other and share ideas. Looking good so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cazz Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Looking good, Bob will be getting jealous lol. I might have to copy also. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Glad I could help too Felix, after all, that's what we are here for, to help each other and share ideas. Looking good so far. Thanks again daz. I can't believe it has taken me so long to do the lazy Susan it's awesome no more shaking when I nudge the OTA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Looking good, Bob will be getting jealous lol. I might have to copy also. ;-) I'd recommend the lazy Susan definitely. Probably wouldn't need a 12 inch for a 150 prob get away with 9 inch or even a 6 inch bearing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 I did a bit more for the moveable setting circle today. Namely I cut out the second 2mm thick polycarbonate "ring". After that I took the plunge and stuck the setting circle I procured from ABS down onto the second "ring" but prior to removal of the inner circle so it was actually a disc at the time. I did that so that it would be easier to stick it down. It wasn't! It was a pain in the butt to stick down actually. Eventually I got it to a satisfactory position, although I am really annoyed by the crease just next to the 360 degree mark, but hey stuff happens Then I cut the middle of that disc out leaving just the degree markings stuck to that ring. Then I hoovered up all the mess I had made as I did not want an ear bashing from the wife! Then I removed all the plastic backing from the polycarbonate rings and took some strong plastic bonding glue and glued the two rings together. They currently are residing under a large flat piece of wood with evenly distributed heavy weight on top of them and will stay there until Wednesday afternoon when the glue will have properly cured. Anyway here's a few pictures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Looking good so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Looks Champion Felix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Looking good so far. Looks Champion Felix Thanks guys will post a pic if it finished in a couple of days. Just gotta wait for the glue to cure properly. Then sand out some slight bobbly bits on inside of circle as it was tough cutting the discs freehand with a Dremel multi tool to keep it perfectly on the line. Ill get there eventually Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Looks fab. What glue did you use? I thought of screwing mine together with M3 screws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 23, 2012 Author Share Posted October 23, 2012 Looks fab. What glue did you use? I thought of screwing mine together with M3 screws. Thanks Mick I couldn't have done it without you-it was all your idea! I used Unibond Repair Extreme as I found it in B&Q at the same time as getting the sheet plastic. Had a quick look at reviews for it on my iPhone and saw that they were pretty much all positive (average review was 4 out of 5) so bought it. It dries transparent, is shock absorbent,waterproof and is okay for temperatures from -50 to +120 degrees C,also has "FlexTec". Some of the reviews talk about using it to repair shoes and it doing a really good job so I thought I'd give it a go. It does say on pack that it needs 24 for strong bond and for full cure apply pressure/weight to bonded surfaces and leave for 48 hours. I will be able to take the weights off mine tomorrow afternoon about 3pm. Then ill look at putting it on ground board and drilling viewing hole and then just gotta put it back together and hopefully it will work Thanks again for all your help and advice with this Mick I really appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Cheers Felix I might use that glue instead. Did you smear it over the whole area or just the outer edges? And it dries transparent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8472 Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 A few Interesting mods you have on your 200p there, Felix. My dob already came with the setting circle mod - but i don't think its moveable, like yours. Great idea. I'm quite keen on trying the lazy susan mod yourself and Darren have undertaken though. I've had about a whopping 15 minutes or so of observing, since I bought my scope last week. In that brief time, I did feel the scope felt a bit stiff to nudge when looking at Jupiter through a high power EP. I'm guessing your lazy susan bearing would remedy this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 100% yes, you can alter the resistance yourself by adjusting how many washers you have under the slide glides, so have it as loose or as stiff as you like. Guide in my signature below........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8472 Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 100% yes, you can alter the resistance yourself by adjusting how many washers you have under the slide glides, so have it as loose or as stiff as you like. Guide in my signature below........ I might have to test drive your scope at the next meet, Darren! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Not a problem, your more than welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 23, 2012 Author Share Posted October 23, 2012 Cheers Felix I might use that glue instead. Did you smear it over the whole area or just the outer edges? And it dries transparent? Hey Mick, I put all the way around the inner edge and the outer edge and yeah it's says it dries transparent. It was already transparent in its liquid form. Don't take too deep a breaths when using it though for a glue that bills itself on the packet a odourless it's got a strong kick to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted October 24, 2012 Author Share Posted October 24, 2012 UPDATE Right so the setting circle had been 48 hours under the weight at 3pm this afternoon so I removed all the weight and checked the bond. All seemed ok. The glue does dry transparent but is still visible, but not overly so I am not too bothered. So now that it was glued together I had to even out the edges along the inside a bit but not too much, I used the Dremel multi-tool again with the sander attached. So then I placed it in the ground board and as the printed circle was designed and made especially for the 200P it was quite easy to line it up by eye. Then as I had not managed to source the bearings yet for the setting circle to rotate around, I had an idea. I thought I would try using some of the slide glides I had bought to stop "wobble" from the lazy Susan. It worked well so I screwed them in but not too tight so that they can rotate a little around the screw. Then it was just a question of drilling the viewing hole. That was fairly straight forward then I had to just check that the cable tidy ( thanks again Mick ) fitted ok. Then I put the top board on the ground board and setting circle. Then I removed the cable tidy and drilled two small holes and inserted a small piece of steel rod, which was actually from the pendulum of an ultra modern glass and chrome/stainless steel clock we used to have but it smashed when it fell from the wall due to my shoddy DIY skills! SWMBO has said for 5 years (that's when the clock fell) "why do you keep that old pendulum from the clock?" To which my reply has been "it might come in handy" and it has So now I just have to wait for the glue holding the cable tidy in place to dry and then put the Dob back together and I can fix the small spirit level to the base and then pop the magnetic spirit level and the magnetic Wixey on the OTA and then get someone to show me how to polar align and hopefully it will work. I am terrible at DIY I have only ever made two things out of wood which were a bird house and a clock which I had to do for a woodwork GCSE and I didn't do well in that. So I am pleased with how it has turned out so far (it may be crap and not work-that's why I said so far!) I could not have done it without the help this forum has afforded me. Big thanks again to Mick and Darren and a big thanks in general to EMS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Spot on Felix it looks graet and very well made. Are you going to illuminate it or just shine a torch at it when you need to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 That looks really good Felix - you made a great job of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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