Rat cage free adapter

[Traveller]

This is a project which I planned for a few months but never go around doing it. With winter setting in (in Australia, and the famous clouds and rain that's associated with Melbourne!), I finally pulled my fingers out and go it done.

It's a relatively lightweight pier. Here are the dimensions

Hole: 450 x 450 x 600 mm (12 x 20 kgs of pre mix concrete).

Pier: 150 mm SHS (6 mm steel, reinforced with 10 mm gussets), 250 mm square bottom plate and 250 mm round top plate, bolted through a 40 mm thick 400 mm square concrete paver and set into the footing as the concrete was drying.

The key in this design is the adapter plate, which I had it milled out of a 150 mm round section of aluminium 25 mm thick. The adapter is anodised and spray painted (the dye bath I made didn't work). 

To assemble, I first had to bolt the adapter to the top plate of the pier (M12 bolts). I also took the bottom plate of the EQ mount extension pillar and bolted it to the centre of the adapter (after making sure the extension pillar connection holes are positioned so as to line up with polar axis is). Next I connected the extension pillar to the mount itself. Finally, I lowered the mount with extension pillar over the pillar bottom plate and connected the lot together. 

I hope this project can give others similar ideas.

Cheers

Bo