Frankenscope woes

[Dave_D]

Hey all

It's funny that 'things' you need (well, want) pop up on fleabay like buses... non for ages then 2 come at once.

Found an Orion Optics VX10 tube on fleabay so snapped it up as a direct replacement for my old battered (and to be honest, badly modified) Orion Optics GX250, so now the scope doesn't look like an embarrassment lol

Treated myself to a low profile focuser, as you do, and then a day later, much to my surprise, a 10" mirror cell appeared on fleabay.

Managed to get both for the lofty sum of £65 and proceeded to rebuild the scope. This time, managed to flock the tube perfectly thanks to a neat trick with a dozen small bulldog clips and I'm actually quite pleased with the result.

Anyway, I digress. Now, the problem is that the mirror cell is about 4mm too big to fit in the tube 😕 (seems like Orion Optics failed GCSE Maths and didn't quite manage to count up to exactly 11 inches lol) but as the fixings are adjustable I recon that with the right tools, the overall diameter of the bottom plate of the cell can be reduced. Now I know I could easily just take a hacksaw and cut straight across, but as I'm taking my time and doing this right, can anyone think of a way to reduce the diameter of the bottom plate but keep the ends curved to fit the tube?

Even better, is there anyone in South Manchester that has the tools?

[Rusted]

The brackets, which fit the tube, appear to be bolted on and are projecting beyond the base plate.[See image]

The holes in the brackets could be easily slotted outwards with a round file. To allow you to slide the brackets inwards.
If the base plate is still too large then use a flat file and forget.
Do NOT touch the threaded holes in the base plate. These are your bracket fixing points.

The difference in curvature where the brackets fit the inside of tube is only slight.
Any changes you make would be invisible once the cell is fitted into the tube.
If any bare metal cause you sleepless nights then just use some paint.

 

[Dave_D]

wow i think this is going to work  3d printed a plug for the bottom plate to rotate around and fixed my palm router to a piece of laminate flooring 🤣

[Peter Drew]

This is what I was going to suggest but didn't realise you had suitable equipment.     🙂

[Dave_D]

32 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

This is what I was going to suggest but didn't realise you had suitable equipment.     🙂

must admit, i was originally thinking along the lines of a big disc sander but i remembered i had this palm router tucked away... i really should do an inventory of what tools i have 🤣