Tripod rebuild, from aluminium to hardwood.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have just finished refurbishing my modified EQ1 tripod. I exchanged the aluminium legs, which are lightweight (and I will still use them when travelling by plane), but not that stable, for a home-made hardwood set of legs. The extensible part of the legs is made of 2 pieces of hardwood, glued on either side of two thin bits of softwood, yielding a slit along the length of the legs. Two bolts fit into the slot, and allow the leg to be extended easily. Two wingnuts per leg can be use to fix the position of the leg. The accessory tray is fixed by three rotatable pieces of wood, which slot below the hardwood struts which prevent the legs from spreading out too far.

[Telrad]

I really like the design. It's striking and looks robust too. I especially like the accessory tray

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I really like the design. It's striking and looks robust too. I especially like the accessory tray

Thanks, it's a lot more stable than the old aluminium legs.

[Luke Inup]

Michael,

That's pretty impressive woodworking.

What species did you use? Just curious, as I have some mahogany loafing around my shop. I could save a lot of money if I just remount my 6omm on a good equatorial...

But then I would probably still buy a bigger 'scope!

I also like the Accessory tray. It makes for a nice design overall. Good work.

I just noticed the way you solved the 'slide' problem for the legs. Good thinking. Much better than grooving the outer members.

JonJon

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Thanks for that. I used a hardwood listed as bankirai here (botanical name Shorea atrivernosa, although multiple species are listed under the same trade name). The timber was supplied as 12.5 x 26.5 x 2750 mm. For each of the upper leg sections I glued two 70 cm pieces together for added strength. I am even thinking of replacing the tripod head by a hardwood replacement, and attaching a mini-giro alt-az mount.

[Luke Inup]

Ummm... I would worry about wood movement, if you are using it for that purpose. You definitely would need a stable, durable timber for that. Which gets expensive!

But it's a thought.

JonJon

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Ummm... I would worry about wood movement, if you are using it for that purpose. You definitely would need a stable, durable timber for that. Which gets expensive!

But it's a thought.

JonJon

True enough, but I would not want to make it out of a solid bit of hardwood, rather a number of shorter bit put together in much the same way as the central section used for locking the legs and accessory tray. Gluing bits of wood together with the grain running in opposite directions (like the leg sections) prevents warping to a great extent, and you can see to it that the grain of the wood is oriented optimally with regard to the forces exerted on it. Finally, I only need a tiny bit of wood, so I can scrounge the material together from waste cuttings at the wood supplier. A tiny bit of extremely hard wood costs practically nothing.

[Luke Inup]

Quite so Michael.

And if you were closer to me, I could find you some hard timberoffuts. But postage would make it a negative exercise!

I wish you well and look forward to seeing the end result.

I am making a sanding disc, for my lathe, so if I make such a tripod, I would have a nice time, rounding over the ends of some of the parts!

Good luck and have fun.

JonJon

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Quite so Michael.

And if you were closer to me, I could find you some hard timberoffuts. But postage would make it a negative exercise!

I wish you well and look forward to seeing the end result.

I am making a sanding disc, for my lathe, so if I make such a tripod, I would have a nice time, rounding over the ends of some of the parts!

Good luck and have fun.

JonJon

Thanks!