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Can you makea wedge?

zakkhogan

By zakkhogan
in DIY Astronomer

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Peter Drew

Peter Drew

Posted
Posted

I've made wooden wedges in the past, perfectly good way of making an inexpensive one as shown in the link. Wood is light and good at absorbing vibrations as mentioned in the text. Thick, good quality ply might make a better job.

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nytecam

nytecam

Posted
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Im not very savy, however dad and my brother inlaw are very savy, I cant really afford to spend over £300 on a wedge for my cpc800, A google search brought up this site, http://www.covington...ro/woodenwedge/ i wondered if any body here has made their own and how successful they are Many thanks craig
That looks a good wooden design by Covington - and close polar set-up via tripod leg length. Don't forget his 30deg lat won't suit UK's need for ~53deg wedge +/- 2-3 deg tilt via leg length. :rolleyes:
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JamesF

JamesF

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Given the greatly increased angle of dangle at UK latitudes, might it be worth adding a counterweight to the wedge to balance the weight of the scope, or moving the wedge forward on the tripod so the scope weight is central over the tripod?

I agree that some decent ply might be better than pine, though some offcuts of decent hardwood might do a good job too.

James

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pete_l

pete_l

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Many years ago I made a wooden wedge for my ETX125. I used 19mm (¾ inch) ply. The mechanics of the ETX base and my tripod were different so it didn't look much like the one in the picture.

I used Tee nuts http://www.toolstati...icons/41724.jpg to provide the thread and some star knobs http://www.axminster...um/953478_l.jpg to secure the ETX's base.

My wedge was for a fixed latitude, so not very flexible - but since I only used it at home it didn't matter too much.

To calculate the angle for the wedge, I needed to know my latiture, only to the nearest degree - fine tuning was done by adjusting the screw-threads., Then subtract that latitude from 90° to get the wedge's angle off the horizontal. So for 51°N, the wedge was at 39° to the horizontal.

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JamesF

JamesF

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Are you planning on using it for imaging ? if so precise polar alignment can be a pain if you're trying to use the tripod legs to achieve it.

I guess the way to do that would be to use hinges to join the angled section to the base and then use a threaded rod for the alt adjustment. Perhaps fix a bulkhead level to the horizontal part of the wedge as well, to make it easier to get that level.

James

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johninderby

johninderby

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Delrin engineering plastic is great for wedges. Not cheap but easy to machine and you can make a very professional looking wedge. Here's one I designed and built from 20mm thick Delrin for my Skytee 2 Synscan EQ conversion. The wedge is fully adjustable as well.

John

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post-1876-0-67214200-1341347664_thumb.jp

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L8-Nite

L8-Nite

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I have made wooden (19mm ply), ally and steel (combined pier and wedge) designs for my CPC800 I should have drawings if anyone needs them but it will be tomorrow before I can dig them out...and some pics as well...

Peter...

Thanks, and yes, I would also like to see your design.

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Psychobilly

Psychobilly

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Sorry took a bit longer to remember where they were...

These are in Autocad .dwg format

http://dl.dropbox.co...s/Pier Base.dwg

http://dl.dropbox.co...gs/Pier Top.dwg

http://dl.dropbox.co.../Wedge Base.dwg

http://dl.dropbox.co...e Top Plate.dwg

http://dl.dropbox.co... Side Plate.dwg

I cant find the GA/welding drawing...

Here's a pic of it befoe it was painted and the observatory was built... I was allowed a Pier before I was allowed and obs...

wps1k.jpg

Theres +/- 1 degree of adjustment in the angle of the plate (dec) so the design needs modifying for your Latitude...

Peter...

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