Gina's Observatory Build - Abbreviated - Finishing Touches and Improvements

[Gina]

12mm SS nuts plus the four 6" diameter x 20mm billets of black acetal came this morning.  I'm thinking of turning a nice big pulley for my motorised ROR.

Nice clear sky last night after 8pm but with rain forecast for 1am I packed up at midnight. With the Esprit 80ED on the EQ8 withough guide scope, it seemed that despite not having guiding, I got some pretty reasonable data.  Using 1m Ha and 2m OIII and SII binned 2x2.  However, having stacked 20 odd subs of each colour, stretched and aligned stacks and applied Hubble selective colour I got this. (Size reduced for posting and saved as JPEG).

The filter wheel couldn't have been working properly though the 3 filtered frames looked different.  Bah!!   I guess something was bound to go wrong after a couple of months of no imaging! :(

[Gina]

I though about going out, took the bins out for a look round but the flu type thing i had has nearly gone don't want it to come back need to get some woodwork done..

Good thinking   Best not to get cold when recovering from an illness.

[Gina]

Been looking into the new track for the ROR today with the fine sunny weather (cold breeze though).  The change from the flat timber to the inverted V angle requires either that the roof be lifted to accomodate the angle or that V shaped grooves need cutting in the timbers of the roof structure.  Since the several end timbers come right down to the bottom of the wheel frame, cutting grooves is difficult.  I should've taken a pic or two to show this but I didn't. 

The south side framework consists of a 75mm x 50mm vertically each end between the wheel carriage sides, then outside of that there are 25mm x 100mm facing pieces.  Cutting an upside down V in the end of the long side of a 75x50 piece will not be easy.  The western end of the south side is accessible as the roof overhangs the beam but for the eastern end the south side wall will need lifting up off the runner by enough to ge a saw in. 

OTOH I might be able to drill holes through and then join them up with a chisel.  That wouldn't need as much clearance between ROR and runner.  Yes, that might just be the way to do it - it doesn't need to be a fit, or look pretty, just as long as there's clearance for the ali track.

The north framework again has 75x50 uprights but outside of these are 150x50 forming the main rigidty of the north side of the ROR.  These timbers form a T shape with the 75x50 between the wheel support timbers and the 150x50s across the ends.  These are attached to the main roof frame members by two 10mm coach bolts each.  I have checked and it looks like I could raise the north side by the required 11 or 12mm without upsetting things too much.

[Tinker1947]

Take some pictures tomorrow, difficult to work out how with out them.....

[Gina]

Should manage some photos today - the dreadful overnight weather has abated somewhat.  The rain has stopped ATM and we are seeing occasional sunshine, the wind has gone from gale force or higher to a strong breeze.  So I'm hoping to get out to the obsy today.

[Gina]

Been out to the obsy and taken some photos - both of the roof construction and several places where wet got in overnight in the bad storm with torrential rain we had last night mostly in the early hours.  I shall need to do some urgent extra weatherproofing.  Of course, it was like a power hose pounding on the structure and no doiubt found every little leak!

[Gina]

Here are the photos.

South side ROR from undermeath.

North side ROR from undermeath.

Warm room leaks.  I think these are due to a leak just under the roof.  Frame sealer should fix that.  There is an overhang so it's only highly forced rain that gets in.  I think that's where the water on the window sill and below came from.   The window pane seems to be well sealed in place.

Scope room leak.  Fortunately only on the floor but I did cover scope, camera and mount with a large dustbin bag just in case spray got in.

This gap was the cause mostly

[Gina]

This afternoon I took my mains drill equiped with a 10mm wood bit and drilled holes through the bottom end parts of the south ROR wall.  Then chopped out to an inverted V with a chisel.  Clears the ali angle now.  Photos tomorrow perhaps - too cold to stop for them today.

[Pete Presland]

the obsy project certainly never ends with the completion of the build, it is an on going evolution! love that rubber floor Gina, is it cold in the winter?

[Gina]

the obsy project certainly never ends with the completion of the build, it is an on going evolution! love that rubber floor Gina, is it cold in the winter?

I don't think any project of mine is ever finished   Yes,there's always improvements that cam be done.  The rubber floor tiles are a foam construction and lovbely and warm on the feet

[Gina]

Here are the photos of the notches cut in the east and west ends of the south wheel carriage.  Hot very pretty but functional

 

[Tinker1947]

If it does the job that's what counts making something pretty can be a real pain.....

[yesyes]

Gina, is that hole on the 1st photo where the bolt goes in to hold the roof down? It might be a bit weak now...

[dmahon]

Easily fixed by screwing a bit of steel to it (as used in hinge bolts - actually, they would make a perfect obsy bolt to prevent roof lift-off).

[Gina]

Gina, is that hole on the 1st photo where the bolt goes in to hold the roof down? It might be a bit weak now...

Yes it is and I agree that it's weakened it.  I'm thinking of reinforcing it or changing it to something else.

[Gina]

Easily fixed by screwing a bit of steel to it (as used in hinge bolts - actually, they would make a perfect obsy bolt to prevent roof lift-off).

Thank you   That's the sort of thing I had in mind except that I might make my own plate.

[Gina]

Been doing some more on the wheels.  I used one of the SS M12 bolts as a mandrel.  Firstly put the bolt in the 3 jaw chuck and centre drilled a dimple in the head for use with a centre in the tailstock.  Then two of the wheel blanks were put on the bolt and held with an M12 connector (like a very long nut) with spacers for the gap between the end of the thread and the work (an M14 nut and an M12 washer).  The M12 connector went in the chuck and the tailstock centre in the bolt head dimple.  This proved an effective way of holding the work for turning.  The direction of rotation for turning helped tighten the nut onto the bolt and hold the work tight enough to be able to turn it.

This photo shows the work being turned.  I used the special tool I made to cut a section out down to the bottom of the V groove with a further notch to clear the top of the track.  This idea saves having to make a perfect, sharp right-angle in the bottom of the V groove.

[Gina]

Been doing more turning on two of the ROR wheels - not far off finished now.  Just a bit of trimming up and cleaning up the V grooves with a knife tool.  Access is difficult with the tailstock and centre getting in the way.

Here is the image turned 45 degrees and a rectangle added to show a right-angle in the V groove.

[Gina]

I disengaged the tailstock centre and found the work just held in the chuck was just as good.  In order to get at the work with the tool post I needed the tailstock back a fair bit and the tailstock spindle out to it's maximum.  With this arrangement the tailstock is not really rigid enough for accurate work.  Now without the tailstock in the way I think I can get the knife tools at the job.  I used the knife tools to face off the ends and they produce a lovely smooth surface.  Like a mirror as can be seen in this photo.

[Tinker1947]

That's looking nice and tidy, not sure but would a morse taper extension work in the tailstock....

[Gina]

That's looking nice and tidy, not sure but would a morse taper extension work in the tailstock....

Thank you   I'll have to look into that.  I'm looking into other forms of mounting and thinking hard

[Tinker1947]

Something like the fitting on the end of the lathe  bed....

http://www.lathes.co.uk/lodgeshipley/page3.html

[Gina]

I think this is the finished product(s).  I've tried the wheels on the track by hand and they seem pretty good.  The fit to the track is very good - a nice right-angle.  I made up a paper template from folded paper to get 45 degrees on the cross-slide and used the knife tools to finish the V grooves.  The only possible problem might be the oversize holes in the middle but I think that will probably be alright.

[Gina]

I'm thinking of turning a special mandrel to hold in the chuck, like this :-

Maybe aluminium for easy turning or perhaps mild steel might be better.  Is there anything wrong with using aluminium?

The LH end goes in the chuck and the workpiece on the RH end with nut and spacers to hold it.

[Tinker1947]

How often are you going to use it, and will the spindle be the right size for all future work...a easier method would be 8,10,12,14,16mm studding with lock nuts either side, made long enough they could have dimples in the end to fit in the tailstock...??