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Adapting aluminium pier for HE-Q5


Eddie Jones

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Hi All,

I've recently acquired an aluminium pier with an owls nest.
pier-owl.jpg.24158e1fd5a4f1f06a3cc2e9e8c9785f.jpg
The top plate is 150 mm and has a 59 mm hole.
Unfortunately this is slightly too small for the base of the HE-Q5 (which is 60mm)

I can see two options:-

a/ find a way to enlarge the existing hole to 60-62mm ( I thing a little tolerance would be fine ?) and fix a plate underneath to receive the fixing bolt

b/ Ignore the owls net and find a 'pier adapter plate' to fix above the existing top

Would really appreciate any help or advice thanks!
  

pier-top.jpg

pier-lenth.jpg

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What I would do is tap the top out and then find someone near you with a large enough lathe to machine the hole to the required diameter, and then tap the top back in.

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I suspect it has been sweated on. Meaning the cap was cooled and the tube was warmed. Then the tube was pushed onto the spigot machined into the cap.

When cooled it formed an interference fit and that’s what you have now. Best to get the hole opened up or hire a rotary diamond saw and do it yourself. Just use some cutting fluid to keep the aluminium cool and lubricated. The saw will have it done in no time.

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Might be do-able - will be difficult to drill/cut straight - will give this some serious thought.
Maybe plug it with wood first then drill both

Googled reamer but nearly fainted at the price for 60 mm

My understanding is that the big hole for the HE-Q5 is only there to keep it in place whist the main screw is tightened. So no need for a super precise fit ?
 

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May have some sort of glue, have you got a heat gun to warm it ?

If you can get the top off and put it in a pillar drill a Starrett hole saw will cut it easily.

Dave

Edited by Davey-T
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Without the option of a lathe I would use a flap wheel as Doc mentions. Don't separate the part from the tube.  Then I would choose a 50mm dia flap wheel, 40 or 60 grit, and use oil or tallow etc to prevent clogging. Then gradually sand at the hole and rotate the tube to get an even shape. Just make sure the drill doesn't overheat. 

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Thanks All!

Brilliant, I think a combination of file and flap wheel will do it !

Just need to get a plate for the main screw - I saw a website (somewhere recently) that did custom circles etc
A tap set and some bolts to fix it all together and a North Peg thingy - might have to make that by filing down a bolt ?
love it when a plan starts to come together :)

 

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If I didn't have a lathe I would use a sufficient length of tube to go between the base of the mount and the top of the pier and then bolt through as in plan a)

I wouldn't recommend plan b) in this instance.  I think the flap wheel would take some time!     🙂

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  • 1 year later...

Update
Sorry all, probably should have reported back on this a while ago
I ordered a half round diamond file online which took several weeks to arrive. it took about 2 hours of careful fileing to get the fit for the HEQ5 base. never got around to ordering a flap wheel but sandin through from 200, 400, 800 & 1000 quickly smoothed out the file marks.
The next dilemma, was how to manualy drill accuratley through the thick alluminium to fit a an aluminium disk that would bolted underneath and be tapped for the HEQ5 centre Bolt. 
Unfortunately i was unexpectedly made redundant at the end of August - this all went on the backburner.
Next thing I'm back in work with some redundancy money and a very tempting secondhand mount upgrade... (My plan was for an EQ6R-Pro  but skywatchers 2020 price hike made a Losmandy G11  seem like a bargain )

Here how it ended up... :)

IMG_20210613_160103.jpg

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