New (to me) Wooden Tripod

[AdeKing]

Browsing through Gumtree the other evening, I came across a nice looking wooden tripod advertised as a photographers wooden tripod.  This had a low asking price of £25 and so I duly went to view and collect.

Its in really nice condition and is quite a bit lighter than my TAL Wooden Tripod, though there is no bracing between the legs. I think that it needs a bit of waxing to renew it to its former glory, and I need to do something to make the 3/8" attachment more Astro Friendly, though I don't really want to do anything that will prevent 3/8" photo tripod heads from being attached.

I've found this Berlebach adaptor which is a 3/8" to M10 adaptor, but I'm not sure whether the central well in the adaptor is astro head friendly as its 60.5mm diameter according to the specs which is too small to accommodate the AZ4 head.  

https://www.berlebach.de/?bereich=details&id=117&sprache=english

Maybe it would be easier to pick up a cheap EQ3 Aluminium tripod to cannibalise for the yoke on the top.

I'm waiting for a Manfrotto Hexagonal QR Plate then I'll give it a go with my ZS66 and see how stable it is.  Its a nice looking tripod if nothing else, not quite up to Berlebach standards, but nowhere near the price either.

The V-shaped wooden attachment has countersinks in it to accommodate the metal spikes on the end of the legs when its at its lowest height.

The Bogen head needs dismantling, cleaning and re-greasing to make it smoother, but I'm happy for my £25 outlay. It feels like it will be nice and stable, but I guess that time will tell.

From what I can find via google, it sounds like this was a field tripod for large format (i.e.8x10" and larger) cameras in the 1980s and 1990s.

 

[domstar]

25 quid? Worth it for the buzz of picking up such a bargain. It looks great.

[AdeKing]

@domstar I'm well pleased with my find.  It actually looks more like a surveyors tripod thats been adapted for photographic use, but there are more details here:

https://www.photo.net/discuss/threads/life-with-a-zone-vi-tripod.54530/  

The lower leg sections aren't solid like they are on the TAL tripod, which is where the weight saving comes in, but if its not stable enough for a scope, I'm sure it will be fine with my DSLR.

Its got a nicer finish than the TAL tripod with bevelled corners all around.

[johninderby]

I used that adaptor on a William Optics tripod. Had to use an aluminium disc on top of the tripod as the central hole in the tripod was too big.  I drilled and tapped three holes in the bottom of the Berlebach adaptor which you can just see in the photo to fit it to the disc. Fits a standard EQ5 mount.

        John

[AdeKing]

Thanks @johninderby can you just confirm that my understanding is correct.

This adaptor has a 3/8" female thread underneath that the current tripod bold threads into with the protruding male thread in the well of the adaptor being M10.

I'm confused about your comment regarding the hole in the tripod being too big.  Or was the hole in the WO tripod designed for a surveying attachment which I know is much larger, having looked into using surveyors tripods in the past.

Sorry if I'm being dim.

The hole on the tripod I have is large enough for the 3/8" bolt, but not quite large enough for the M10, though only by about 0.5mm (if my conversion to old money is correct) so it probably wouldn't do any harm to enlarge the hole slightly

[johninderby]

AZ4 fittment is the same as an EQ5 according to this thread. Diameter of base is bigger but the part that fits into the tripod is the same. Info in this thread.

 

Just remembered that the adaptor came with an M10 bolt in the centre and was threaded for a 3/8 on the bottom. I drilled out just the 3/8 thread to allow a standard EQ5 threaded rod with knob to thread through from the bottom and be used as you would to fasten an EQ5 head in place. 

 

 Yes the WO tripod had a large hole in the top with a mounting flange that screwed into the top for mounting the WO Alt-Az mount. Hence the Ali plate.

       John

 

[AdeKing]

Thanks for clarifying John. You are of course right, there is only a small bit of the AZ4 that actually fits into the EQ3/EQ5 tripod, it's not quite the same as the EQ5 head that goes all the way into the well.

I'll look into that adaptor unless I find a cheap ally EQ3 tripod I can cannibalise first.