Choice of wood for tripod legs...?

[TakMan]

Hi folks...

As the title says, my new 'Nova Hitch' visual alt/az mount is nearing completion in the States (I was in the first group to sign up for it - always liked the look of the previous Half Hitches). Decided it was time to upgrade the WOEZTouch for something more befitting the TSA, plus it will offer 'push-to' DSC (SkyCommander), slow motion controls and tracking - will make sketching far more enjoyable!

Charles has kindly offered to forward me a matching tripod 'kit', once the design is finalised and I have a mate on standby who is more than capable of making up the wooden legs.

This will give me the opportunity to decide upon a size of the one piece construction (although there will some small adjusters for levelling), but also the choice of wood...

I want something that has great inherent dampening qualities, is hard wearing, but that definitely looks the part with a nice grain ...

Obviously Ash is a prime candidate, but also Mahogany, Walnut, Red Oak or.....????

Any suggestions and reasons why a particular wood might be a better choice...?

Thanks in advance...

Damian

[Tinker1947]

Yew, might be a good choice, nice grain, sturdy but with a bit of spring.......This is what the grain looks like.....

[John]

I believe ash wood is favoured by many. It has excellent vibration dampening characteristics. I used to have a large ash wood tripod made my Tele Optik. It was absolutely rock solid even with long, heavy scopes on board.

Another piece of kit I regret parting with

APM in Germany list them:

http://www.apm-telescopes.de/en/Mounts-Tripods/Tripods/G3-DX-hardwood-tripod-1552.html

[8kids]

I'm no expert in tripods or inherent damping in timbers, I think ash is quite springy and I'm not sure if that,s good or bad in a tripod. Isn't stiffness the thing for a stable tripod? I don't know.

As for timbers I would have thought you could use anything you wanted, the only thing you'll have to watch is that it's knot free.

As long as the mount is not made from ferrous metals you can get some nice quarter sawn oak , lots of shiny medullary rays.

Gary.

[John]

Berlebach use ash for their tripods. They have a great reputation:

http://www.berlebach.de/?bereich=firma&sprache=english

[billhinge]

Yes I have 2 myself, big one for telescope and a little one for photography - they use ash and I can't complain

[Andymac79]

Well all the finest coach builders in the past chose ash to build car bodies, also oars and snooker cues are common applications so it seems a fine choice.

I have a Rolls Royce ash frame in my garage and the timber has a very attractive grain.

[TakMan]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions so far everyone - most appreciated!

I also found this on the Cloudynights forum after some hunting:

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/3341080/Main/3334376

It's looking more like Ash at the moment (although I still like Mahogany - Tak use it after all... ;-) , yet I have also come across suggestions for: Jarrah, Alder, Purpleheart (?) and Oak...

Choices, choices!

Damian

[8kids]

Native Walnut, it's very stable and will look fantstic.

[John]

Native Walnut, it's very stable and will look fantstic.

Tele Vue used Walnut for a version of the tripod for their Gibraltar mount. It looked wonderful

[billhinge]

There is a key principle in architecture & design

form follows function ... you wont see what wood it is in the dark, pick the solution that is functionally best

[rowan46]

This might interest you it's not used for tripods, but for bike frames You need a decent frame to absorb the vibrations on a hundred miler http://www.gizmag.co...od-looks/12589/

[Tim]

Ash is readily available, reasonably priced, and effective. It is a dense heavy wood without residual sap problems and a fibre and grain structure that make it inherently strong. It is easy to mill, doesn't produce many splinters, steam bends easily, is hard wearing and scratch/dent resistant, isn't prone to warping in moist atmospheres, and it looks reasonably attractive. It is also an environmentally sound timber, in many ways a perfect choice, certainly on a commercial level.

I love working with Ash, it does dull saws, drills and chisels very quickly though, and screws are best waxed before being driven into it.

Being light coloured you are maybe less likely to trip on it in the dark too!

Cheers

Tim

[TakMan]

Thanks for the info offered up everyone...

Tim, some very useful tips there that I shall mention to my mate when the time comes for him to produce the legs... Also like the idea of it being slightly more 'visible' in the dark!

Regards,

Damian

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I built my tripod adaptation and p-mount out of mahogany-like tropical hardwood (FSC), and it looks great. It is very hard, fine grained, and the damping is pretty good. Having said that, my Vixen GP tripod is ash (I think), and that is the better tripod (it is also a lot heftier, which may have a lot to do with it). After 17+ years of use, the Vixen tripod is still solid. I also have a Berlebach tripod (ash) and you could mount a heavy howitzer on that. Ash is also used in hammer and axe handles, as it combines toughness and hardness (often harder wood like oak is less tough than softer woods like pine).

[ollypenrice]

I must say that I abuse my ancient ash Gibraltar shamelessly, leaving it out in all sorts of weather from extreme UV to snowstorms!

We are just off up the hill to search for comets with it as I write this.

Olly

[MadAlbert]

What you need is a hardwood with plenty of natural oil which isn't on the endangered list - iroko would (geddit?) be my choice.

[Martin-Devon]

Another +1 for ash. I have a Berlebach tripod in dark-stained ash, it's rock-solid and looks great.

[PDW]

Ash is strong and tough - used for tools and some sports equipment. When I made a replica of a medieval military crossbow I chose ash.