SW dob 8" collimation bolds

[Piero]

Now that I'm here with my dob in Italy, I thought to spend a bit of time to understand the locking / collimation bolts used at the bottom of this scope.

My thought was that the mirror is held by a basic mirror box which is collimated using three collimation screws and locked by three locking bolts. Last year I replaced these bolts / screws with Bob's knobs, but didn't spend time to understand how the all thing works. 

Well, first of all, there are not springs. The collimation knobs just push/pull the mirror box. The locking knobs lock this mirror box but also keep it in place. If these are removed, the mirror box (with the mirror) can be removed. I'm not an expert of Newton telescopes but this design seems rather confusing and can make collimation response a bit weird.

I must admit that I expected something different: 

- the locking knobs as optional and used just for locking the mirror box, not holding it;

- collimation knobs passing through a spring placed just before the mirror box; collimation knobs screwing into the mirror box.

 

In your opinion, would it make sense to use the collimation knobs (red) instead of the locking knobs (black), remove the locking knobs completely, and add three springs on these collimation knobs? 

Thanks,

Piero