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Just finished modding my dob base.

Daz Type-R

By Daz Type-R
in Discussions - Mounts

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Daz Type-R

Daz Type-R

Posted
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First of all I have to hold my hands up and say a massive thank you to johninderby, without his help and guidence I would never of thought of this mod.

I was tired of my dob base being so difficult to move in small amounts, I would completly shoot away from Jupiter (or anything as a matter of fact) while trying to track it, it was starting to get annoying.

So with the help of a lazy susan bearing, 4, 1 inch slide guides, some plastic milk bottles (empty) I set about modding my base.

Well I have just finished and it is now perfect, the scope now glides around with the slightest movement (but not that slight that it is constantly spinning). I have just been out side to see if I could "track" anything and surprise surprise, cloudy as hell!

Roll on another clear night so I can try out my new mod.

Can't quite beleive it was so simple to do and only cost about £30 and an hour of my time!

Happy days!!!!!!

:)

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Ptarmigan

Ptarmigan

Posted
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Happy days!

Well done you and John !

being in the market for a serious upgrade, perhaps into the big Skywatcher dobs range, (I presume you speak of your "Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian (8")" in your sig. ? )

I would (as the other folks) luv to hear the nitty-gritty

ta,

Malcolm.

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Daz Type-R

Daz Type-R

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Evening all.

As requested here is a break down and pics (hopefully) of what I did to mod my dob base.

This is based on my dob base, I do not know if other dob bases differ in size (I`m assuming they do) so you need to take that into account if modding yours.

First thing first, below is a shopping list of things you need.....

1. http://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/pro...ducts_id=42341 - This is the 12 inch lazy susan bearing, I went for the 12 inch just to help with weight distribution but to be honest any size will do. This cost a total of £20.22 which was including Royal Mail 1st class delivery and VAT. Fantastic service - ordered at 12:30 on a Monday lunch, arrived at work 9:30 the next morning. 2-3 minutes to set up an account.

2. I found these on Amazon, do a search for slide guides, I used the 1" version but I`m sure the 2" version will be just as good, these set me back £6.97, service was okay, took 3 days to arrive. I beleive you can also get these from B&Q or similar places.

3. Plastic milk bottles - you should need no more than 2. I used the 2 ltr bottles.

4. Screw drivers, pencil, ruler and screws (screws need to fit the holes in the lazy susan bearing and be no bigger then 15-18 mm in length)

So the first thing I did was take the base apart, so that you just have the base in front of you. Next, draw a square round the centre hole in your base plate making sure the sides of the square are as close to the centre hole as you can get. (see Fig 1)

Next draw 2 straght lines going through each corner of the square right to the very edge of your base plate, so now you have basically divided your base into quarters.

Next line the 4 mounting holes on your lazy susan bearing up with the 4 lines you have just drawn. Once all 4 mounting holes have a line through the middle of them then your bearing is correctly in place and in the exact centre. Now screw it down. (see Fig 2 & 3)

The next step is to now add your slide guides (see Fig 4) (if even needed) you may be happy with the level of glide provided by the bearing. If not, now line your slide guides up along the 4 lines you have previously drawn. You need to place these as close to the edge as you can. If not, then they will catch on the mount part of your base (the part that holds the scope) stopping the mount from turning. Your base should now look something like Fig 5.

You may find that the slide guides do not even touch the top part of the base, if so use your plastic milk cartons to make washers and stack them up under the slide guides screwing them down until the slide guides just touch the top part of the base. (see Fig 6, 7 & 8)

Thats it. You may have to keep building and and taking to bits your base until you achieve the correct level of resistance provided by the plastic milk washers but it is worth it in the end.

Hope this is enough info for you and you find the guide helpfull.

Regards,

Daz.

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Adz

Adz

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Thanks muchly for the guide Daz. I had put a lazy susan on my dob base and was really struggling to get the resistance right. It would either be too much (with bits of neoprene) or spinning like a merrygoround. I shall buy some of those gliders and stock up on milk :rolleyes:

Just before I buy, I assume the 2" ones are too big for the screws that hold the mount that revolve around the outside?

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Daz Type-R

Daz Type-R

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Hi. No problem, glad you found the guide usefull. I`m not too sure to be honest. Thats what I thought so that is why I went with the 1 inch ones just to be sure. As you can see from the pictures, still mucked it up and placed them too close to the inside, hence why there are 2 sets of holes :rolleyes:.

Also with the slide guides, you may have to remove the sticky back film, it was on a soft 2-3 mm base which was too much for my base, so I removed that, cleaned all the glue off the back and then used the washers to get the resistance right and screwed them down rather than sticking them down.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

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Adz

Adz

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Thanks for the tutorial. I bought the 2" ones (anyone reading this don't, get the 1" ones instead).

I had to overlap them so they squidge out of the middle of the two boards - like jam in a sandwich :D Works like a treat though!

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Daz Type-R

Daz Type-R

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Fantastic. Glad it has worked out for you. Shame about the glides sticking out the side, but I would rather have that, then nothing at all. Can't quite believe that Skywatcher don't improve their base. Suppose it is down to cost.

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Daz Type-R

Daz Type-R

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Yeah, I would say it is worthwhile. I only ever use when looking for DSO that are hard to find with the naked eye, it just gets you in roughly the right angle, then a bit of left and right here and there and you tend to find what you are after. The only trouble is you have to get it really, really level for it to be of any use. I have a laser level device at home for when hanging shelves etc, so I use that. You only have to be a degree out in setting it and you will miss your object completly.

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  • 4 months later...
knobby

knobby

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So does the top part of the mount just sit on the Lazy Suzan ...

does the top part move about much (laterally) with the centre bolt now having a longer reach...

Why 4 glides and not 3 ...

Is it rumbly or smooth sounding ...

Can we have a dedicated Dob modding thread ...

Pimp my Dob ?

Nice job by the way

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Mike73

Mike73

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So does the top part of the mount just sit on the Lazy Suzan ...

does the top part move about much (laterally) with the centre bolt now having a longer reach...

Why 4 glides and not 3 ...

Is it rumbly or smooth sounding ...

Can we have a dedicated Dob modding thread ...

Pimp my Dob ?

Nice job by the way

I pretty much followed Daz Type-R's instructions on this thread and can hostly say its been a brilliant dob mod. So nice one Daz :blob10:

The top part of the mount sits on the lazy susan which raises the gap between both bases slightly but I was still able to secure both bases with the original bolt. By tightening this bolt up you can adjust the amount of sticktion to taste.

Not much lateral movement between each base, maybe a tiny bit but still an improvement to how it was before.

I used 4 glides, for no reason apart from that was how many came when I got them from Amazon.

Couple tips for the glides.

As someone else said they have sticky pads on the bottom. Remove those AND the black rubber 'cushions' underneath and screw them to the base. Use plastic milk cartons as spacers to bring each one up to round about the right height.

Get the 1" glides rather than the 2" if you don't want the glides sticking out the sides.

Well it kind of rumbles a bit of you spin it round quick but the actual movement as you are using it is very smooth.

Best dob mod going in my books. :o

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  • 2 weeks later...
WakeyTiger

WakeyTiger

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Daz - what's the best type of grease to use with these bearings? I have some Lithium grease, would this help the noise etc?

Just ordered the parts for this mod - many thanks for posting this! I suspect it's much better especially at high zoom levels...

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