SM ii 60 mounting srews

[Bender]

I thought this might be the best place to ask. I bought a SM ii 60 from Telescophouse last week und must say I am quite impressed with the build quality. I was a bit worried about the nylon screws for the draw tube and the focuser but it all feels solid and well made.

I tried to screw a dovetail bar on with 1/4" screws (they are from my TV bar so definitely 1/4")

The screws didn't go further than a quarter of a turn in so in the end I forced them in.

Now I am worried I might just have damaged the threads in the clamshell and the scope will fall of the mount at some point.

Anyone had a similar problem with the threads in the clamshell?

[Peter Drew]

If you've forced them in I'm pretty sure they will stay in safely. Damage might occur if you repeatedly removed the dovetail bar. I have noticed that several "1/4" screws of late have been M6 where 1/4" Whitworth or 1/4" UNC might have been expected.

[Bender]

If you've forced them in I'm pretty sure they will stay in safely. Damage might occur if you repeatedly removed the dovetail bar. I have noticed that several "1/4" screws of late have been M6 where 1/4" Whitworth or 1/4" UNC might have been expected.

I thought it might be a M6 screw but they came with the Televue dovetail bar and it w t smoothly into the Televue clamshell that had 1/4 " threads

[E621Keith]

Are they're 1/4" UNC?

I used a Modern Astronomy Vixen bar with 3x 1/4" UNC bolts and they go in just fine.

You can test the bolts on a camera, then you can be sure whether you've got the right one