Wood vs metal tripod

[steve_bham]

For a visual observer do you notice much difference between a wood tripod instead of a standard 1.75" steel tripod?

[LukeSkywatcher]

I used to have an old Prinz 60mm refractor scope on a German EQ mount and a wooden tripod. It would be a classic scope today and much sought after.

Without doubt...............a wooden tripod would be superior to a modern aluminium or steel tripod simply because wood absorbs vibrations a hell of a lot more then aluminium or steel tripods.

[nightfisher]

decent wooden tripods are better than metal

[swamp thing]

I agree with above, but as Jules said "decent" is the key word here.

[steve_bham]

Yes it would be a decent tripod. It would be this one:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/berlebach-tripods/berlebach-uni-18-tripod-heq5-eq6.html

Just wondered if the extra few hundred quid is worth it for visual use ?

[Steve Ward]

I recently acquired a Berlebach Planet tripod for my HEQ5Pro ( http://www.berlebach.de/?bereich=details&id=350&sprache=english) (2nd Hand and a lot cheaper I might add)

Probably the best investment I've made kit-wise , vastly superior to the stock SW legs.

[glowjet]

If you can get hold of one of the old wooden highway surveyors theodolite tripods, these are excellent with Bronze fittings, you only need to adapt the top for the scope, very solid

John.

[ollypenrice]

Nice to see this positive attitude to wooden tripods, which I share.

Olly

[Peter Drew]

IMO, the main difference between wooden tripods and metal ones lies in the design. Most wooden ones have double component legs as opposed to the single component metal ones. The original C8 double component legged tripod was very hard to beat for stability. Double legged, specially if triangulated = rigidity.

[Nibor]

I bought one of these wooden ones for my grab and go:-

http://www.berlebach.de/?bereich=details&id=8&sprache=english

FLO recently had them on offer and I find mine very stable for my 3" refractors - so + 1 for wood!! Beautifully made as well!!!

[Moonshane]

when I had a refractor I scavenged all the parts off an ali tripod and made my own wooden one. it made a vast difference to stability and you can tailor the height to suit you and your kit. if you can drill holes, cut wood and screw wood, you can make one with very basic skills and tools for next to nothing.

[steve_bham]

when I had a refractor I scavenged all the parts off an ali tripod and made my own wooden one. it made a vast difference to stability and you can tailor the height to suit you and your kit. if you can drill holes, cut wood and screw wood, you can make one with very basic skills and tools for next to nothing.

I failed woodwork at school! So I've got no hope of making your stunning tripod.

[bingevader]

Yes it would be a decent tripod. It would be this one:

http://www.firstligh...d-heq5-eq6.html

Just wondered if the extra few hundred quid is worth it for visual use ?

Nice piece of kit!

Probably two main differences.

If you don't look after the tripod, the wooden one will suffer most.

A tidy solid wooden tripod will be heavier than a hollow aluminium one.

As already mentioned, quality will be the key.

I used to use a wooden kitchen stool with my etx, not the most stable of mounts!

Cheers

[glowjet]

Just a heads up. If anyone is interested there is a very nice, not wooden, but a very good quality modern, German made, alloy surveyors tripod at the moment on Ebay, very adaptable for Astronomy use and a bargain at the price being asked

John.

[Tim]

They are warmer when you put your hand on them and it is -8°C

Vibrations dont travel as easily through wood, especially denser woods like Ash and Oak. A lot depends on the surface you are mounting your tripod on too of course, concrete or hard tarmac or even hard dry grass will all transmit vibrations up through the legs of a tripod to some degree, but the timber frames and construction method assist in dampening those vibrations. But unless you plan on setting up next to the M6 or something, the improvements may be negligible.

For me the real attraction would be that the wood just looks nicer, feels nicer, and basically IS nicer

I am wanting to construct a mount for my 10 Micron mount for Star Parties use, to buy one is nearly £600 :s I have quite a lot of Oak in my woodstore, and a bit of Ash. I'd welcome any plans that members have seen/used. The tripod will need to be very sturdy, there's 60KG to go on the top

Tim

[Patrice Lanteigne]

I realized that for visual only levelling an alt/azm mount is pointless (duh), also for a properly aligned EQ mount levelling is also not needed. With that in mind and with rigidity as a requisite I set out making my own wooden tripods.

There have been very noticeable improvements is stability.

AZ3 on DIY legs

EQ6 with 27 lb scope on DIY legs