wooden pier mount

[Nillchill]

Has anyone ever tried using wood for pier mounts?

I have some surplus oak Beams 6 inch square and 5 ft long.

Would it be sturdy and stable enough for a scope?

[JKB]

I would imagine it would be as good as the EQ3/2 but I would suggest mounting it low to the ground. ie less possible movement. I just finished a concrete pier 160mm dia at 4ft from ground level, very solid but it did have an awful lot of concrete put in it.

I know it has been done by someone here before but cant remember who!

Good luck

[Nillchill]

yeah, my main concern is the "springy-ness" of the wood, though the oak would be less susceptible due to its higher density. Thanks for the input JKB

[laser_jock99]

Not to sure about using wood, even oak will twist, shrink and split with time. I've just fitted a 6" x 8" oak mantlepiece. Even after two years of drying before fitting it still 'moves'. The biggest problem I think might be varying humidity over the course of the seasons.

[Bizibilder]

As Laser says wood "moves" with humidity and temperature - you would be forever "tweaking" the polar alignment.

[George]

I would imagine for visual only it would be OK, but for imaging where you need good polar alignment for hassle free guiding woods tendency to breath would cause you problems with accuracy.

[thommo10]

Hi Nillchill

If you look in june's edition of Astronomy Now on page 77 there is a picture and explanation of a wooden pier.

[Nillchill]

thanks everyone for your input. I probably wont go for a wooden pier mount.I'd better look for another use for it.

[Starlight 1]

If I was going to do one I do it in concrete then use the wood as piers with decking round it to stand on ,then you got no movement in the pier at all.

[astroman001]

We have a 10" x 10" oak mantle piece above the fireplace. We have had it for 10 years and it never stops moving. Don't bother if you want good polar alignment to stay good.

[Gina]

I spoke to a timber expert the other day and he told be that timber will always continue to move a bit however old and well seasoned it is. Yes, it may move less than when new but move it does. Also, wood expands and contracts with changing atmospheric humidity. This is a problem with half timbered houses, let alone something like a telescope pier which mustn't move even a few arc seconds! Solid and good load bearing, yes, but it DOES move.

[michael8554]

There's some recent info about wood piers on the LX200GPS yahoo group.

One guy has a completely robotic imaging setup on a wood pier, and he has no problems.

It's made from four 6" x 6" beams bolted together in a square.

Because of this, movement if any seems to cancel out.

The key comment from the discussion was:

"Generally speaking people say that a wood pier "COULD" move with the seasons but offer no information to support this".

I'm going this route - no huge hand-dug hole in the ground, no cubic miles of hand-mixed concrete, worth a try I'd say.