New fork mount needed for Helios 6.3s

[Tenby2]

Hi. I need to buy a new fork mount for my 6.3s 20, 30 or 38 x 100 because the one I have now keeps slipping! The grubs screws and knurled bolts are worn and imho difficult to replace. I'm not sure who made the supplied tripod or fork mount as they were given to me a few years ago. I've been looking at a few fork mounts priced  around £260 - 550ish. Then I read about fluid heads but think my bins may be a bit on the heavy side for them. Can anyone recommend a fork mount suitable for the 6.3s? 

[BinocularSky]

You're right about most fluid heads. If you can lay your hands on a Manfrotto 504X, it'll take the weight, but you'll need to tighten the tension increasingly with elevation (because of the increasing turning moment from the weight of the binos).

You could try advertising in "Wanteds" - maybe you'll find someone who has mounted one on an alternative and has an unused fork taking up space. Or, if you really want to get fancy, APM do a fork with encoders 🙂 (at a price, of course). Or make a wooden one - you could use the existing trunnion bolts and have a "pinch" system to control friction.

I notice you use a Rigel Quikfinder - great, aren't they!

Edited November 18, 2021 by BinocularSky
Typo

[Tenby2]

Thanks for the response. I was considering an Omegon head, bit cheaper as money tight atm. And yes the quickfinder is great saves time and easy to use. Only other bugbear with my model of the 6.3s is they only take the dedicated eps, 20x, 30x and 37x. Older model I presume although adequate I think I could squeeze a bit more magnification out of them and am trying to source, without any luck, pair of reducers of some kind as the eps measure 1 3/8" instead of the regular 1 1/4"!

[Peter Drew]

I would have thought that it wouldn't be too difficult to "repair" the slippage?   The adjustment thumbscrews  on the top of the mount appear to bear down on the altitude axis.  If you remove them and place a piece of nylon or similar to the bottom of the hole the screws should renew their effort.  Similarly, PTFE or similar washers placed between the outer thumbscrews should improve that action.  If the binocular is slipping then it must be unbalanced, that too should easily be addressed.       🙂

[Rusted]

On 18/11/2021 at 12:12, BinocularSky said:

You're right about most fluid heads. If you can lay your hands on a Manfrotto 504X, it'll take the weight, but you'll need to tighten the tension increasingly with elevation (because of the increasing turning moment from the weight of the binos).

Agreed. I can confirm that fluid heads are a design problem still waiting to be properly addressed.
I have an unused 500 Manfrotto head bought specifically for a larger spotting scope. 88mm.
Even with the built-in bias the telescope made a quick nosedive below the horizon. Or VTO above the horizon.
So I bought a large gimbal and have never looked back. Except at the ridiculous price and the weight.
The gimbal can be perfectly balanced to be neutral in altitude using the height adjustment and a long dovetail plate.
If you are static then you could build a plywood mounting with Dobby bearings.
 

[Tenby2]

Thanks Peter, I will try a few other fixes, tried nylon washers. But PTFE tape, not thought of that. Just seems a lot of weight on 2 bolts bearing down on knurled rods particularly when I put my phone holder and phone on the bins, obviously unbalancing tbe mount

[Doasqa]

How about Oberwerk, you can get the cool wood tripod too if you need to replace that. I bought their wood tripod that comes with the mount, I couldn’t afford the fork mount. But my BT100’s aren’t heavy enough to need one. 

Edited January 16, 2022 by Doasqa

[bomberbaz]

If you do go down the new mount route, have you considered a parallelogram. I got one for my astro bins and simply love the flexibility they give.

Given the weight of yours you would need the Orion heavy weight ones.  The ones below come with tripod but I am sure cheaper can be found without the tripod. 

Orion 05752 Monster Parallelogram Binocular Mount & Tripod (Black): Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo