Dobsonian weightwatchers

[FenlandPaul]

I’ve had the dob base apart this afternoon, trying to deal with some azimuth stickiness issues. While doing this I began to wonder if, like it’s owner, my dob could do with losing a few pounds. It occurred to me that there are 4 segments of the base, where the circular baseboard extends further than the rectangular area of the side panels, that seem to serve no real purpose.  The bearings only extend out for half the diameter of the baseboard.

 I’d need to leave a big enough overlap that the whole maintains its structural integrity, and also to make sure that any cuts I make in the particle board are properly sealed afterwards, but can anyone see any flaws in my thinking here?

And I’d welcome any other thoughts on weight saving dob mods. (Downsizing is not an acceptable answer!!).

Paul

[jabeoo1]

Realistically how much weight will cutting that volume off actually remove?

[FenlandPaul]

3 minutes ago, jabeoo1 said:

Realistically how much weight will cutting that volume off actually remove?

Weight-wise, not a whole lot - it’s manageable as it is. But dimensions but be a lot better - 3 and a bit inches off each side would make it a lot easier to transport along with other clobber when I observe at my dark(ish) site.

[John]

Remaking the base in marine ply would save quite a bit of weight.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Paul your base appears to belong to a Revelation Dob. I have the same base and I fitted large carrying handles to make life easier. You can just see them in the attached photo.

[RT65CB-SWL]

Not being a member of The Dob Mob... will cutting off the highlighted areas affect the overall stability? 

[FenlandPaul]

27 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Paul your base appears to belong to a Revelation Dob. I have the same base and I fitted large carrying handles to make life easier. You can just see them in the attached photo.

 

Good spot, Mark. I see you’ve also attached some to the tube - ditto below - which made life a lot easier.

[FenlandPaul]

27 minutes ago, Philip R said:

Not being a member of The Dob Mob... will cutting off the highlighted areas affect the overall stability? 

Not stupid at all, Philip, and that’s kind of part of my question. I figured if I’m taking off those and the opposite sides (so four chunks in total) it should retain its stability.  Unless......

[Mark at Beaufort]

Paul I leave the main OTA in the garage hence the two carrying handles higher up because it needs to be lifted over a high step. The base is left in a shed at the end of the garden. The two carrying handles, again from WDS, makes the lifting so easy. To be honest Paul rather than cutting your Dob base I would buy some more handles.

[FenlandPaul]

5 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Paul I leave the main OTA in the garage hence the two carrying handles higher up because it needs to be lifted over a high step. The base is left in a shed at the end of the garden. The two carrying handles, again from WDS, makes the lifting so easy. To be honest Paul rather than cutting your Dob base I would buy some more handles.

That does make a lot of sense. The handles for the OTA made a huge difference; having the same confidence in lifting the base would be good too, and I’m sure I can live with the space issue when transporting it (I have done for the last 4 years!). 

Thank you Mark.

[AdeKing]

I have the 8" Skywatcher Dob and switched the base for one of the Orion Optics dob mounts.

This has a significantly smaller footprint and whilst the base is easier to carry and more compact to store I've found that it is less stable laterally and more easily knocked over because the base board is much narrower, if that makes sense.

Ade

[FenlandPaul]

That’s interesting Ade. That same base design is used up through the range, isn’t it? Could be an expensive accident!!

[John]

This base was built for my OO 12" F/5.3 OTA. It's based on the OO design but executed in 18mm baltic ply. Very, very stable mount. Weighs around 10kg.

 

[Peter Drew]

How about some holes in the front board and side panels?.

[John]

2 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

How about some holes in the front board and side panels?.

Like Orion did with the Intelliscope dob base design ?. I'll bet thats made of the same materials as FenlandPaul's is:

 

[Peter Drew]

Yes, that sort of thing.

[AdeKing]

1 hour ago, FenlandPaul said:

That’s interesting Ade. That same base design is used up through the range, isn’t it? Could be an expensive accident!!

Yes, It is the same design throughout, and it is a very good design, I love mine.

However, because my f/6 Dob is tall and thin I just need to be careful to make sure it's level on my lawn, which is a bit lumpy & bumpy to say the least. It's absolutely fine on the flat.

 

[FenlandPaul]

1 hour ago, John said:

Like Orion did with the Intelliscope dob base design ?. I'll bet thats made of the same materials as FenlandPaul's is:

 

That does look very neat! More so than I could produce with my junior hacksaw!!

[Beulah]

I removed the circular 'edges' from my 300p and there are no issues with balance, etc. Weight loss is minimal but easier to cart around on a sack truck!

[Alan White]

I was thinking cut some holes in the side panels Paul like the mount John has posted.
Even a number of 3 or 4 inch holes will remove some weight, seal the MDF of chip board edges though.
Looks a very nice dob though as it is.

[ollypenrice]

I wouldn't want the ground board's upper surface to be uncovered for fear of grit and muck getting onto it and from there to the bearing surfaces. I'm not quite sure if your proposal would leave this part exposed?

As others have said, particleboard is very heavy compared with ply. The 'woodwork' of a Dob is simple to cut out provided you have a router and those are not expensive. (I bought one for the first time in my life two years ago and find it useful for all sorts of jobs.)

Olly