Doc Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 They look good. What lathe do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T A WOW Posted November 28, 2012 Author Share Posted November 28, 2012 (edited) Think the lathe is a swift of some sort. Quite big. Edited December 15, 2012 by T A WOW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 We have big lathes at work but even though I'm apprentice trained fitter/turner we aren't allowed to use them. I say trained up, I haven't done any metal work for a good 20 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T A WOW Posted November 28, 2012 Author Share Posted November 28, 2012 Pretty much all I do all day everyday is metal work. I mainly programme, set and operate big CNC mills, 3, 4, and 5 axis. Don't do much turning usually Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 I learnt all my stuff pre CNC times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T A WOW Posted November 28, 2012 Author Share Posted November 28, 2012 The good old days. (so I'm told anyway) lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 What took me 1 hour to make takes you 10 minutes I would imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T A WOW Posted November 28, 2012 Author Share Posted November 28, 2012 Depends, if it's a one off it's often faster to do it manual, cnc needs the programme writing, datums setting, tool lengths setting etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Those look great Tobias. Awesome that your job let you use the equipment after working hours. I look forward to seeing the finished article. What kind of timeline do you have in mind for completion of the whole project? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T A WOW Posted November 28, 2012 Author Share Posted November 28, 2012 The whole project could be quite a while. The tripod should be done hopefully before or just after Xmas. I still haven't finalised the design for the mount yet and still need to do a fair bit more research yet. Hopefully it should be similar in operation to the new skywatcher eq/alt Az mount. But I currently know next to nothing about how to do polar alignment, and auto guiding and many more things. So I need to learn more about that before I start really nailing down the design. So yeah could be a while, but I'll keep on updating this thread as I progress and need more questions answered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Sounds fantastic Tobias It's one hell of a project. I like how you're going for the EQ/alt design too. If ya gonna do something, go the whole hog! Like I said I watch this project with real anticipation. I'm prob not the only one either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T A WOW Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 (edited) ordered the carbon fibre tubes for the legs today and a skyTee 2. hopefully they'll both arrive tomorrow. Once the skytee is here I can sort out the top of the tripod. just 16 more parts to make for the tripod now. yay Edited December 15, 2012 by T A WOW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 Coming on nicely - fantastic job, can't wait to see it finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T A WOW Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 Yeah me too. I just hope it works well. I've still not finalised the leg tops yet. Looking at lots of different tripods to decide how to do it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T A WOW Posted December 13, 2012 Author Share Posted December 13, 2012 (edited) Pictures of the top of the tripod where the mount will sit. still need to put the holes through for the top of the legs to attach. I'll do that tommoz machined from a 152mm diameter billet. took me about 4 hours to programme and machine surface finish in the weight saving slot isnt great, but i was using worn tooling so can't complain. 13 more bits make to finish the tripod. 10 of them are pretty small so won't take much time/effort Edited December 17, 2012 by T A WOW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Thats looking very tidy to me Tobias Great stuff . Make sure you announce when youre ready to gve it first light and we can all gather! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 These look fantastic Tobias. Just out of curiosity, if I went down to my local machine shop how much do you think they would charge to make something like your tripod head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T A WOW Posted December 13, 2012 Author Share Posted December 13, 2012 Thanks. Difficult to say what they would charge you. The material cost me £30 ish and it took about 4 hours to make, but I did it in an arse about way as I didn't have access to the 4th axis. Typical machine rates are about £40 per hour. I can only hazard a guess how long it would take someone else. But I reckon you'd get charged a £300 at the least for a 1 off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 So to get a whole tripod built is going to be circa £600 at least, quite a bit of money, but then it's a fair bit of work involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T A WOW Posted December 14, 2012 Author Share Posted December 14, 2012 I can imagine it would cost a fair bit if you don't have access to a Machine shop like I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T A WOW Posted December 22, 2012 Author Share Posted December 22, 2012 pictures of the carbon fibre for the legs. the larger is 54mm diameter, the smaller is 45mm diameter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Wow carbon fibre legs, you are splashing out on this mount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T A WOW Posted December 22, 2012 Author Share Posted December 22, 2012 Well if you're gonna do something, may as well do it right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T A WOW Posted January 3, 2013 Author Share Posted January 3, 2013 (edited) Picture of the spreader for the leg supports. and just for fun, a picture of it on the machine. you can clearly see loads :-) Made from 62mm diameter billet. Took bloody ages to make for something so small more to come tomorrow. Edited January 3, 2013 by T A WOW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 That's fast becoming a thing of beauty. Looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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