Alan64

I have a spare Meade EQ-2 mount-head, and from a warranty claim(a wonky DEC shaft). For the RA-gear of the EQ-2, there's a plastic, protective cover... It just so happens, that with a slight modification, it will integrate with this EQ-1 as well. After chopping off a bit, to clear the worm assembly, I sanded the cover throughout and painted it with the rattle-can of hammered-black... I wanted to add it, not so much for the RA-gear, but to protect the needle-thrust bearing from dirt and dust. I won't know if it will interfere with the motor-drive until the latter's attachment. The cover's permanent inclusion will therefore depend wholly upon that. Whilst waiting, ever waiting, on that paint to cure, I corrected one of three problems remaining before I can complete the RA-axis, and the mount-head itself. The scale of this mount is of such a diminutive size that just as I had abandoned that of the DEC-axis, so for the RA-axis: its 1/16"-thick sintered-bronze washer for the needle-thrust bearing. Yes, I had to make yet another thin, bronze washer, the sixth, and this time round being definitively the last, for the axes anyway. Three for each axis I've had to make in the end... As for that of the DEC, for the RA-axis its bearing is now enveloped between identical bronze washers... Before, and after... I will have more of the flange to insert into the PTFE-lined, stepped bore of the base, and the lock-nut will have more room to seat; win-win. Trial-and-error is the name of the game when renovating these mounts. Now to do something about this slop, and the second to the last issue... Do you see it? Look closely. ? Now, we can't have that.

Oh, I had forgotten... Where the DEC clamp-ring fits over its corresponding flange, slop... You can see the gap there trailing around. It's not a lot, but slop nonetheless. It's not that crucial to do anything about it, but that is where most of the action takes place as the telescope is swung to and fro, hence, more bronze to the rescue... At that point, there certainly wasn't any more slop, but it was too tight for my preference. I then thought, "Well, it'll get smoother over time", but in the next moment I had visions of it getting all mucked up in the process, and where I'd have to take it all apart in future and clean it. I didn't want to reduce the I.D. of the aluminum clamp-ring, so I ground, sanded, and polished down the steel flange all around instead. My only other alternative was the use of a thinner brass for the shim, an easier although inferior solution.

Continuing on with the mount-head, the DEC-axis still... I had gone ahead and altered this thicker, sintered-bronze washer, and for the needle-thrust bearing to rest upon... ...but all for naught, as that extra thickness would've created problems at the clamp-ring and the axis' lock-nut. So instead of a total of two thinner washers of phosphor-bronze to craft for the DEC, three instead. So, I made the second one, not knowing that the thicker one wasn't going to pan out... After the revelation, I made the third, and the very last one to make for this entire mount-head... Both the second and third are identical, to sandwich the needle-thrust bearing, and isolating same from the aluminum above and below it... There they are, a total of three I had to make. Do note how the bearing juts out at the side all around, but then how could you not notice. Nonetheless, the bronze washers overlap at least half of the length of the rollers within the bearing, on both sides, and good enough. I might make a protective cover for the bearing in future, depending, and to keep dirt and dust off and out of it. Next, I adjusted and polished a smaller, sintered-bronze washer for the lock-nut... The DEC-axis is completed. Incidentally, I'm using Super Lube throughout this mount... How's the motion?

Oxblood is more traditional, than the "Merlot" I had used for my larger wooden tripod; old-school, like a wooden stake.

There's much less drag, resistance, with that washer in place; smooth as butter 'tis.

Whilst waiting on the dye to arrive for my "sticks", as a relative refers to them, the first of two of the .008"-thick phosphor-bronze washers for the DEC-axis has been scribed onto the sheet of same... The I.D. is perfect, but I'll have to trim the O.D. just a little after cutting it out of the sheet. You don't have to drill a perfect hole all the way through the I.D., just as long as it's fairly centered and with enough room to insert the tips of those scissors, then you snip out the bulk of the I.D.... With the washer still within the sheet, you grind and sculpt out the I.D., checking the fit frequently over whichever flange it might be. You want it to just fit over the flange, and with no binding as the sheet is rotated... You then cut the washer from the sheet, trim it close to the O.D.'s scribed line, and there it is in its rough and unpolished state... Next, the edge of the O.D. is ground down to its final diameter, then the edges of the I.D. and O.D. are evened-up and smoothed with 100-grit or finer sandpaper. Lastly, you take #0000 steel-wool with a few drops of lemon-oil and polish the washer, edges and surfaces, throughout... With the DEC-control, and the washer sandwiched between it and the body of the saddle... It's a bit overkill for that area, as only minute movements will be made at that juncture, but nonetheless the washer isolates aluminum from aluminum.

I decided against the burgundy dye, as it has just a bit too much yellow, making it brownish. My late father was a luthier of sorts, in his retirement. He would use leather-dyes for his woods, like this one... He added some black, to where it's a dark purple when I added some denatured alcohol, and the bottle had long since been emptied. It is still sold, but I ordered two bottles of this brand instead... I've seen that particular brand of oxblood dye tested on a neutral piece of wood... Come heck or high-water, it's going to be that, as I'll have two bottles of the stuff. It can be diluted, for a lighter shade if desired, and with denatured-alcohol.

I had been looking at the various dyes online, rather than stain, and for these tripod-legs. Some were water-based, but I didn't want that. And there in my own backyard, in a cupboard actually, a bottle of alcohol-based burgundy, and practically full... ...and tested there on a scrap of maple. Incidentally, I still don't know the species of wood of which these legs were made. I'm thinking luan, meranti or "Philippine mahogany"; all the same I think. In any event, it's rather dense, inflexible... ...and quite strong for such small stock.

I don't use a 45° Amici for stargazing. That's simply the diagonal that came with the C90. But upon studying the images more closely, perhaps a RACI would be best, particularly when the telescope is pointed at or near the zenith; my apologies.

An obsessed amateur does what an obsessed amateur must... "Gruelling" was not the word, rather "exhausting", "excruciating", and in stripping those legs. It was absolutely, positively, no fun, and to the point where I don't feel any sense of reward after having done so. But, they are pretty nonetheless. I've decided not to worry it to death in getting every last speck of the old stain out of the pores. The colour to be chosen will be medium-dark, after all. I want this colour...

A Maksutov requires a "seeing-eye-dog", or a seeing-eye owl, when attempting to navigate the sky with the Maksutov's rather long, drinking-straw-like focal-length; in manual mode, on the fly... If a finderscope, get a straight-through 50mm... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/skywatcher-9x50-finderscope.html The RACIs were developed for Newtonians.

Ah, but you lose the grain of the wood in that. These legs are going to get something special, colour-wise.

Welly well, that worked a charm, a treat... The bulk of the old finish is gone, but traces remain. I may give them a second coat, but outdoors, as this stuff is not particularly nose-friendly, even with a ventilation-fan running, although that did help, and from turning me into a vegetable.

Yes, the legs are practically identical... The tripod-hub of my own has the same split-yokes, but not much of a base for a mount head... Yes, all of these off-shore equatorials, particularly the entry-level, must be loosened throughout, and before even thinking of adding a motor-drive. The greater the level of attention, the better for the drive... https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/319273-meade-large-equatorialeq-2-hyper-tuning/ I still have some more to do to it, however.

Thank you. Yes, as I had suspected, many do.

That's kind of, sort of, the colour of..."circus peanuts"... ...a pinkish-orange, like a Padparadscha sapphire as well...

Whatever the nature of this finish, it's not particularly lovely... If I had to guess the colour, I'd say "peat".

The other two will need to be adjusted like that. The sawn surfaces will be faced with brass sheet, epoxied. That's the old hardware from the Tanzutsu, the butterfly-nut specifically, and all of zinc-plated steel. In so far as the integration, that experimentation with the spreader is just that, and nothing more.

I've had these two small achromats for a few years now. Both were made in Japan in the late '70s to late '80s, give or take; a used Tanzutsu(left), and a new old-stock Milben(right)... Both came with wooden tripods, and the archaic, basic, yoke-type alt-azimuth heads. Hmm... A leg of the Tanzutsu(left) compared to that of the Milben(right)... The leg-clamps of the Tanzutsu(left) are deluxe... In addition, the legs of the Tanzutsu have a smoother finish, are more dense, thus heavier, and noticeably so. Hmm...

For the forward portion of the RA-axis, I made a small bronze washer for it... ...and for an ever-hopeful buttery-smoothness of operation, particularly when swinging the telescope around and about. That's where it stands to date. I have to make two more bronze washers for the DEC, and adjust and polish a ready-made as well. Then, I also have these, for the axes' lock-nuts and the worm shaft, to adjust and polish... ...and to replace what Synta had provided.

Fore of that, something had to be done, and to complete the RA-axis; the other side...the other side... These are the only two of the original washers that I will be using, and for the RA setting-circle... They only isolate the steel of the DEC body and the aluminum RA-gear from the setting-circle itself; nothing else. The clear washer(difficult to see) rests on that narrow step of the flange... ...then the setting-circle rests on top of the clear washer. The surface of the circle is then flush with the surface of the wider step above the much narrower one. The black, rubber washer eventually presses against the setting-circle to keep it in position, with the rubber washer to eventually nest within that recess, as shown. But what about that wider step, and that narrow, circular bearing-surface of the DEC body that I had to strip of its paint? Yes, it had been painted as well... That's where the aluminum of the RA-gear grinds against the steel of the DEC body. Now, I can't add a thrust bearing there, let alone bronze washers, as I'd have practically none of the gear's flange left to clamp when needed, and illustrated here courtesy of my spare "AstroMaster" CG-2... You can just barely see the tip of the flange peeking out there...boo! Now, with just a thin bronze washer... I see it! I can see the tip! Hooray! But it's not enough really, and all Synta's fault. Even with that washer removed, you still get only half a tip. Incidentally, look at what someone had done to the RA-gear of this spare mount-head... Isn't that dreadful? Someone had had a heavy hand in that. We all need to take a deep breath on occasion, and step back and away from these diminutive mounts, and contemplate, as I'm guilty of doing something like that myself.... I had never had an EQ-1 before; an EQ-2, yes. How was I supposed to know that that adjustment-bearing was made of aluminum, along with the 2mm set-screw that I failed to notice, and that had to be loosened prior? To wit, this was the only thing I needed from the spare... Isn't it lovely? When submitting my problem to Celestron, I had told them that both axes and the worm-shaft of the original kit were bound-up upon arrival, which they were, and I also told them what I had done as a result. It was very good of them in having taken care of that under warranty, given that it was partially my fault, too. But as it has turned out, I won't be enhancing the "AstroMaster" CG-2 after all. What a waste of time, that was.

Thank you, Fabio. Visual always, and forever, but with an occasional afocal shot to demonstrate how a live view appears through whichever telescope is mounted upon it at the time.

The thickness of those extra parts amounts to a hair less than 4mm... ...not too terribly thick at all, eh? This discovery was not surprising, expected even... The RA bore there, circled in red, is slightly larger than the RA shaft above. As a result, there's slop, and an appreciable amount. To make matters worse, the 11mm-long bore is slightly conical in shape; there will be no placing a shim of any sort there I'm afraid. But I found a way around that. Note the larger, stepped bore; with a shim(shown) of .015"/.38mm-thick PTFE(Teflon)... With that, the slop was completely, totally, and utterly eliminated, and whilst bypassing the inaccuracy of the innermost bore... I lucked out on that one, and you can, too. Incidentally, there is an alternative to bronze for the washers, and instead utilising PTFE, in sheet form. It's easy to cut, with scissors and a craft-knife, and it can be scribed upon with an ultra-fine permanent-marker, which is not very permanent at all when the ink is wiped away with rubbing-alcohol afterwards... https://www.directplastics.co.uk/ptfe-sheet A small-circle template is a great help when making your own PTFE washers. This is the one I use... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Helix-Small-Circle-Template-37168/dp/B00AETPZFW ...it works a charm.

I've had a sheet of .008"/ .20mm phosphor-bronze for quite some time, but I always need to go to my local hardware at the county seat to get my thicker washers of sintered, or powdered, bronze... As they come, one almost fits over the flange of the aft portion of the RA-gear, but not quite... But after wallowing the I.D. out slightly, and polishing it... ...it then fits like a glove, along with this much thinner washer that I crafted of the phosphor-bronze... ...the result? Nigh a Swiss watch this mount should tick beneath the starry dome.

Quite right, and precisely what I hope to convey in this undertaking, but only for the smaller telescopes of course.