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Dovetails and plates

Kaliska

By Kaliska
in DIY Astronomer

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Kaliska

Kaliska

Posted
Posted

Looking at the prices of ally dovetails and plates, does anyone get these made through and engineering company? I realise a lot of you guys can just order the plate locally and machine it yourselves, but I'm not in that position.

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Chriske

Chriske

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1 hour ago, John said:

Surely the end product would have some flex in it :icon_scratch:

Hi,

Depending on the material and the thickness of the part it will flex, or not.  That's the whole point, choosing the correct filament for the job.
Not only that, also important is in what direction the layers are printed. Has to do with the applied forces on that part. If you print it in the 'wrong' direction a part could fail in your setup.
I'd use PLA or even PETG if the part should not be allowed to bend at all. They're both very stiff. Care should be taken not to design slimline parts to avoid flexing or even breaking. Slimline parts look very nice but that's about it. In the end they all break when forces are involved.
As a matter of fact I'm busy designing a maintenance-bike-stand for my son. All will be printed in PLA(most parts are already printed).

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Kaliska

Kaliska

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Thinking about it, 3D printing might be an option. I'm just looking for something like this https://www.astroshop.eu/mounting-plates-and-rails/william-optics-vixen-style-dovetail-plate-long-version/p,16529?utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=16529&utm_campaign=1801&utm_source=froogle&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2OWxi9rK2AIV7bvtCh0uTAAnEAYYASABEgIUz_D_BwE&utm_content=

All im mounting on there will be power distribution board, dew heater, mini pc and battery charger for the camera, so flexing won't be an issue and it will just be covered in Velcro. Are there companies or people here (for a fee obviously) who could do this?

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Chriske

Chriske

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There's plenty of free software that can be used for this task.
Easy to use..? well all depends on how much time you're willing to invest to learn.

I myself use Inventor(Autodesk).  = not free...!  But If you say your a student, it is...:happy4:

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Kaliska

Kaliska

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On 1/10/2018 at 11:27, Chriske said:

Correction...! found dimensions. it is bigger than I expected in the first place.

So new price is 7£..!

So, I done a very quick 3D image of what i wanted (plate is 300mm x 100mm on top of the dovetail) and sent it to a company who does online 3D printing and got a quote back....

£265 ! lol oh well

3D Dovetail Plate.jpg

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Chriske

Chriske

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A good printed part is ve-ry strong.
Did some testing in the past with a very small piece of PLA, If I remember correctly it was 100x50x10mm(4"x2"x3/8". 50mm of the 100mm was secured with a heavy duty clamp on a workbench. The rest was overhang. I hung a load of 120(!)lbs on that short overhang. Just as I was going to add some more weight, the rope on which the bukket hung snapped.

Most people have absolutely no idea how strong printed parts can be made. Most important setting to make strong parts is the infill.
And indeed flexing is possible but not with a correct choice of material. I'd say PETG for this job is the best choice.

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Gina

Gina

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PETG is certainly incredibly strong but it is slightly flexible.  Oh, and I'm afraid I can't take orders for 3D printed parts here as it's against the CoC, sorry.

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Kaliska

Kaliska

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1 hour ago, Mr Spock said:

I wouldn't skimp on a dovetail. They are a weak link in the scope/mount interface and can lead to a lot of flex and wobbles.

I agree, but this isnt for a scope, just something to cover in velcro and mount my mini pc, dew heater etc etc on. :)

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