Brick pier

[Erquy]

Hi,

After being tired to move my Avalon m-uno/tripod, I finally decided to make my pier. I went for a brick pier, inspired by Rogerthedodger 

I could use directly the Avalon  plate used on the tripod top (the Avalon is well designed), so no need of any special plates, and fixed it with 6 studs (going inside the top bricks, not only inside the top concrete part). The bricks have holes, and luckily fitting perfectly the 6 studs so it could go inside. It accommodates also to have 4 bars in the brick corners all the way from top to down, inside the base. So it shall be really solid, not only in compression but in all direction. The base is 60*60*40. We will see how it goes. Could not be cheaper for me, only 4 bags of cement/mortar + the studs/bars (I already had bricks and the base).

 

David

 

[saac]

Looks really solid David, lovely mount and scope. You'll certainly notice the difference with the permanent setup

Jim

[Peter Drew]

Very nice job, should serve you well.  

[pete_l]

Yes, after commenting on the original, it got me thinking .... always a dangerous thing.

Here's what I came up with. It's a repurpose of a pad I used to use for a pier, you can still see the mounting bolts protruding out of the base.
It's just 3 400mm blocks with an 8mm steel threaded rod running through and into the concrete. The blocks are "glued" together and onto the pad with 2-part polyester resin - rock 'ard! Build time: about an hour. Cost about €20, mostly for the tube of resin.

[Jkulin]

David, that is a really good idea, I'm looking at building a pier but we have an odd shaped garden and it will have to be virtually smack in the middle, I've been looking at finding something that looks original but could double when my mount is not fitted as say a bird bath which using the bricks as a stand would look quite nice with say a copper feeding bowl on top during the day and a pier at night.

With with my have a skywatcher HEQ5 Pro, I should be able to find a platform to secure it to?

[darknight]

great idea on the concrete blocks, I have seen them used before, with spot on accuracy.

there's a thread somewhere on the net about a wooden pier, which actually is very good, as wood dissipated vibration better than metal.

the guy who made it followed it up about 2 years later and was still solid and spot on.

myself I'm going to build an obsy this year, and the pier will be there first, lowering the floor over later, as money don't grow on trees  I'm going to use this or the wooden idea

[Alan White]

23 hours ago, pete_l said:

It's just 3 400mm blocks with an 8mm steel threaded rod running through and into the concrete. The blocks are "glued" together and onto the pad with 2-part polyester resin - rock 'ard! Build time: about an hour. Cost about €20, mostly for the tube of resin.

And a whole host of useful places to put things.
The cost is very much more bearable than some of the steel options.

[pete_l]

21 minutes ago, Alan White said:

And a whole host of useful places to put things.

Which does lead to an ethical dilemma when you find a bird nesting in it.

(keeping birds, bats and wasps from setting up home in my observatory is a very real issue over here)

[RichLD]

On 2017-6-11 at 15:43, pete_l said:

Yes, after commenting on the original, it got me thinking .... always a dangerous thing.

Here's what I came up with. It's a repurpose of a pad I used to use for a pier, you can still see the mounting bolts protruding out of the base.
It's just 3 400mm blocks with an 8mm steel threaded rod running through and into the concrete. The blocks are "glued" together and onto the pad with 2-part polyester resin - rock 'ard! Build time: about an hour. Cost about €20, mostly for the tube of resin.

Wow, nice view!

[Bigwings]

5 hours ago, darknight said:

great idea on the concrete blocks, I have seen them used before, with spot on accuracy.

there's a thread somewhere on the net about a wooden pier, which actually is very good, as wood dissipated vibration better than metal.

the guy who made it followed it up about 2 years later and was still solid and spot on.

myself I'm going to build an obsy this year, and the pier will be there first, lowering the floor over later, as money don't grow on trees  I'm going to use this or the wooden idea

Im thinking of a wooden pier .Anyone got a plan or guidelines?

[darknight]

arghh ill try and remember the site....practicalastronomy.com

 

[michael8554]

4 hours ago, Bigwings said:

Im thinking of a wooden pier .Anyone got a plan or guidelines?

Buy four 4"x4" fence posts.

Arrange them into an 8"x8" bundle, with the directions of the end grains randomised to minimise shrinkage/expansion in a particular direction.

Fasten together with stainless steel studding and nuts over penny washers.

Disassemble, apply waterproof epoxy glue, and reassemble.

Square off the ends with a chop saw.

Coat the section going underground with bitumen paint.

Erect in a 18" diameter hole, resting on a couple of bricks.

Check verticals and fill the hole with pea shingle - don't bother with cubic feet of concrete, the pea shingle is easy and holds the pier very rigidly.

Michael

 

[Bigwings]

Thanks?

[saac]

On 2017-6-12 at 15:51, pete_l said:

Which does lead to an ethical dilemma when you find a bird nesting in it.

(keeping birds, bats and wasps from setting up home in my observatory is a very real issue over here)

Lol, tell me about it. Last year I had to gently persuade a blackbird that my obsy was not the best place to build her nest. In the end she set up residence in the log store. Two chicks hatched  

Jim

[elliot]

I need to see the breeze block pilar with a scope attached!

[ollypenrice]

On 11/06/2017 at 16:43, pete_l said:

Yes, after commenting on the original, it got me thinking .... always a dangerous thing.

Here's what I came up with. It's a repurpose of a pad I used to use for a pier, you can still see the mounting bolts protruding out of the base.
It's just 3 400mm blocks with an 8mm steel threaded rod running through and into the concrete. The blocks are "glued" together and onto the pad with 2-part polyester resin - rock 'ard! Build time: about an hour. Cost about €20, mostly for the tube of resin.

Will you render the blocks and possibly concrete-fill them? I don't know which blocks these are but some of them suffer with freeze-thaw because they are quite absorbent. A wooden cladding might equally do the trick. (I had some spare blocks like this lying around and they went rather crumbly.)

Olly

[pete_l]

43 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Will you render the blocks and possibly concrete-fill them? I don't know which blocks these are but some of them suffer with freeze-thaw because they are quite absorbent. A wooden cladding might equally do the trick. (I had some spare blocks like this lying around and they went rather crumbly.)

Olly

So far there hasn't been any need. We generally get less than a foot of rain a year, so humidity based issues don't tend to be a problem. Many walls and the like aren't even built with foundations. My builder gave me a funny look when I suggested digging a trench, then filling it with concrete it sounded like pouring money away. The same applies to DPCs and guttering.

 

I only use it as a camera platform, though I have been considering some more permanent electrical connections to it.