How normal are these dimples/divots on dovetail bar?

[Sedna]

Hi all, sorry if this is a stupid question. I have a Celestron 8SE on a VX mount, and each time I screw on the tube on the mount, the dovetail bar gets these big divots (see images below). I believe that some of this is normal, but the dovetail bar is now getting so dimpled up that I'm growing concerned and wanted to check here. This is especially an issue for me because I live in an apartment and have to take my telescope with me in the car to use it, so it gets disassembled and reassembled each time.

Also, I do not screw the tube on at the same point on the dovetail bar each time ... is this bad? I know I'm technically supposed to find the point where the tube balances with the counterweight and attach there each time, but I've only had this since August and haven't done that yet, plus the weight would depend on whether I have the DSLR attached (so I would really need to balance it twice and find two attachment points).

Really my concern boils down to this: will the dovetail bar eventually become unusable? Thanks everyone!

[Ben the Ignorant]

1 minute ago, Sedna said:

Really my concern boils down to this: will the dovetail bar eventually become unusable?

No, they make them thick enough to last indefinitely.

[AdeKing]

In my experience this is perfectly normal.

If the appearance bothers you the only way to stop it from happening is to upgrade to a clamp that uses a pressure plate rather than a screw.

These saddles have a much larger clamping area and are more secure than the standard screw fit ones.

Something like this.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adm-replacement-saddles/adm-vixen-style-saddle.html

 

[johninderby]

That’s why I replace the stock saddles with the more secure clamping type. Always bugged me the way stock saddles chewed up the dovetail as well. ?

[dweller25]

I use a piece of aluminium bar to protect the dovetail......

[Sedna]

1 hour ago, AdeKing said:

In my experience this is perfectly normal.

If the appearance bothers you the only way to stop it from happening is to upgrade to a clamp that uses a pressure plate rather than a screw.

These saddles have a much larger clamping area and are more secure than the standard screw fit ones.

Something like this.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adm-replacement-saddles/adm-vixen-style-saddle.html

 

Thanks, aesthetically I'm fine with it, just worried about the dovetail bar getting beat up to the point that it doesn't work. Sounds like I'm good though (hopefully)!

[Stub Mandrel]

If find it annoying as it's a sign of poor design, but the damage is only cosmetic.

A brass pressure block would have added a pound or two to production costs.

[johninderby]

Bresser fits a stainless steel plate to the side of the dovetail on some of their cheaper scopes. If they can do it on a cheap scope why isn’t it standard?