allen keys?

[Gloris]

just had a look at the collimation of my new skywatcher 8" dob, and it does seem to be slightly off...only slightly, but now that i've collimated my brothers (much smaller and cheaper) scope, I thought i'd give it a go and try and get mine spot on again. this is the first time i've needed to collimate it, but the supplied allen keys are totally the wrong size for the locking screws on the primary mirror. there are 2 huge allen keys supplied, which are clearly far too big, and one tiny allen key, which is far too small, it just spins and spins, does nothing.

any advice on where i might get an exact fit allen key for the locking screws on the primary mirror?

[DOBBY]

wickes... i bought a set of small ones...wasn't too dear

or... swap em for 'Bobs-Knobs'

[foundaplanet]

Have you still got Issac Lord in High Wycombe.

You do have Axminster Power Tools.

[Gloris]

yeh, totally forgot about issac lord, good call. i'll have to pop down after work tomorrow. is it normal for the scope to be supplied without the right size allen key though? not complaining, i mean, i should invest in a decent set anyway, always handy (can use them for adjustments on my bike too)...just strikes me as a bit odd that they give you the tools to put it together, then give you a tiny allen key which is clearly far too small for collimation (a practise which most people accept needs to be done almost every session...i think i'm quite lucky that i haven't needed to do it so far)

[Tinker1947]

Spoilt for choice here....Amazon.co.uk: Allen Keys

[Damo636]

Do yourself a favor and order a set of these..

SkyWatcher Dob

They make collimation a simpler process and they usually arrive within a week of placing order.

Bob also does the ones for the secondary but i used these...

WDS 8168 Thumb Screw, Plastic Hand Knobs - WDS

They are much cheaper 3x 8168-227 for about £6

[Gloris]

Do yourself a favor and order a set of these..

SkyWatcher Dob

They make collimation a simpler process and they usually arrive within a week of placing order.

Bob also does the ones for the secondary but i used these...

WDS 8168 Thumb Screw, Plastic Hand Knobs - WDS

They are much cheaper 3x 8168-227 for about £6

cheers, they do look pretty neat. would make things a bit easier (and probably easier to get accuracy/feel the biting point).

managed to find an old set of allen keys in the shed, turns out that i needed the 2.5mm allen key, just incase anyone else encounters the same problem

anyways, i'll probably order some bobs knobs soon then, but luckily for tonight, i'm now pretty much spot on

thanks to everyone for the help...everyone on here is always so helpful and supportive...a rarity in todays society, so thank you all very much!

[lw24]

Found this out yesterday with my new 8" Dob aswell, bit annoying really.

I have 1,2,3 and 4mm allen keys, but no 2.5mm

Clear Skies,

Luke

[adrianelliott]

Those bobs knobs look like just the thing I need for my Skywatcher 150P DS, one of my primary mirror locking screws is missing and it'd be nice to replace it.

[adrianelliott]

I misread the date of the last post and thought it was January this year. Sorry

[BinocularSky]

I misread the date of the last post and thought it was January this year. Sorry

No need to apologise (even if we are still 11 days short of the date you thought was on the post you replied to! ) : this is a worthy thread to work a Lazarus resurrection miracle upon -- lots of people with new scopes for Xmas, and soon to get new scopes after Stargazing Live, so if someone is saved by the mention of Bob's Knobs from dropping a hex wrench onto his/her primary, you've done a good deed!

[Tinker1947]

These's people do some nice "Bob's Knob's Style" bits.... http://www.a2a4.com/acatalog/KNURLED_THUMB_SCREWS_HIGH_A_2-1.html