A brand-new set of Dob Alt-bearings

[Chriske]

A fellow observer asked me to repair the alt-bearings of his 10" dob. The glue between the wooden bearings and Formica layers gave up after almost 40 years of intense use.
I said : no, I will not repair them, I'll make you a brand new set instead. I started drawing and while at it was thinking of making these bearings multi-purpose. This is what I came up with.
At the observers(eyepiece) side there are some holes in his new bearings, capable of storing 4 eyepieces.
At the opposite side of his dob there's that second bearing with just one 8mm hole. Well in that hole I'll put a smooth rod + a couple of ball bearings. Hanging on these bearings, actually on top of these bearings, I will install him a platform on which he can put some refreshment, say a beer or so😋. To compensate for that beer sitting on top of that axis I'll add a counterweight at the lower side of the central axis.
So where ever he's pointing his scope in the sky, ball bearings and counterweight will take care not spilling the goodies out of his glass of beer...

These 250mm diameter bearings will be 3D-printed. They're 35mm thick.

More images to come...

 

[Chriske]

From time to time I do drink a beer, preferably a Belgian Leffe. It is a bitter/sweet beer.
Anyway, I need to compensate (in my case that would be) for 875g (about 2 lbs) for both glass and bottle...😳

I was just curious....🤭