Alan64 Posted August 2 Author Share Posted August 2 24 minutes ago, Alan64 said: Oh, if you had that end piece, it could be mended, and work as before, but only after a renovation of the axes. Belay that, for it appears that the D-shaped portion broke off. That would require even more work to repair. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosun21 Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 1 minute ago, Alan64 said: Belay that, for it appears that the D-shaped portion broke off. That would require even more work to repair. Yes it was completely sheared off hence I reversed the worm gear shaft to allow me to attach the cable to the side that was broken. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 3 Author Share Posted August 3 The storage base is almost completed. I want to soak the form using one of my mini bottles of Tide, known as Daz in the UK, to clean it further and de-grease it. That's about as polished as the storage area is going to get, at left... It appears better in person. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 3 Author Share Posted August 3 5 hours ago, bosun21 said: Yes it was completely sheared off hence I reversed the worm gear shaft to allow me to attach the cable to the side that was broken. What sort of telescope do you have to pair with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosun21 Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 10 hours ago, Alan64 said: What sort of telescope do you have to pair with it? I presently have a Williams Optics Zenithstar II 80mm and a Skywatcher 80ED both of which the mount handles easily. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 4 Author Share Posted August 4 On 03/08/2024 at 07:25, bosun21 said: I presently have a Williams Optics Zenithstar II 80mm and a Skywatcher 80ED both of which the mount handles easily. I have a few achromats that will fit this one, from a 70mm f/12.9, a couple of 80mm at f/8 and f9, a 102mm at f/6, and hopefully in future, to the welcome addition of an 80mm at f/5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 4 Author Share Posted August 4 (edited) As it arrived, the very short wall round for the medallion, and from the factory, was always too tight. I could not drop it back in easily. Perhaps it can only fit in one position... Just above, I highlighted where the edge of the medallion meets the arm, and in black. The fit is that tight. Here you can see how rough the medallion's frame was, and jagged even. It had seemed to me that the top of the short wall round the ledge curved inward, rolling over the edge of the medallion even... I didn't want that. Using a cylindrical diamond bit held at an angle, I went round the wall above the ledge to open it up some... At that point, the medallion would drop in, but I could not rotate it easily. I wanted it looser than that. After taking 150-grit wet-dry with drops of lemon-oil to the arm's frame for the medallion, then #00 steel wool, I could spin the medallion with one finger round and round... ...and with only a hint of slop. However, once magnetised, it will be very difficult to remove, but easier than if it were to be glued in place. It must be made more easily removeable, to make adjustments to the axis in future, if and when necessary. Edited August 4 by Alan64 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 5 Author Share Posted August 5 The arm and storage-base in contrast to the rest... Today, I expect to re-join the two. The rest, consisting of the clamp and that related to the axes, had been cleaned somewhat before, but the tarnished remained. The factory had actually painted over rough, un-finished, tarnished aluminium, in fact, and that a despicable practice. I will have to get the clamp looking like the arm and base, and I now have the supplies to do that very thing. I could leave the inner areas of the axes filthy like that, but no, I'll go ahead and take and make, the time and effort, at least to get the four acceptable. One thing I have found for larger flat or curved surfaces is that 150-grit wet/dry paper and lemon-oil is most effective in removing the tarnished layer; better than the oil with steel-wool, even over the oil with the wire scouring bits for the rotary-tool. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 6 Author Share Posted August 6 All I got accomplished today was getting the clamp reasonably spiffy... I could leave it like that, au naturel, but it would reflect head-lights and other. It will be masked off here and there, then primed and painted like the rest. All I have to do to the arm and base before re-assembling is to dry-sand them where primer will hit, and with 100-grit paper that I have coming via Prime. Priming and painting them separate as they are, before reassembling, cannot be done, as some filling will be required afterwards, and with J-B Weld steel-reinforced epoxy; perhaps fortified further with finely ground metal. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 8 Author Share Posted August 8 All are clean... On 05/08/2024 at 15:42, Alan64 said: One thing I have found for larger flat or curved surfaces is that 150-grit wet/dry paper and lemon-oil is most effective in removing the tarnished layer; better than the oil with steel-wool, even over the oil with the wire scouring bits for the rotary-tool. I need to correct myself there. Actually, the #00 steel-wool with the oil has the edge over the wet-dry sandpaper with oil. All M4, at 4mm and 5mm in length, in brass and stainless-steel, for aligning the worm-shafts in relation to the worm-gears... I'll probably use the stainless-steel, as there will be no friction, rubbing between the screws and other during observations, whilst tracking. In other news, I won't be able to prime, let alone paint, until I have all of the phosphor-bronze washers crafted, by compass and saw, as I will be handling the forms until the washers are completed. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 8 Author Share Posted August 8 (edited) The re-assembling of the arm and storage-base began with this, the dry sanding of the base with 100-grit dry-only sandpaper... Everywhere you see there has been readied for the primer, no matter the curve or depth. Any and all holes, throughout the head, will not be painted. All had already been cleaned out with steel-wool. The side round had been sanded as well, although unseen. The flip side... Only the top surface of the short wall round was sanded, as one heads into the storage area which was smoothed and polished. There at the end, at right, I sanded the area for the adhesive with dry 60-grit, then scored a pattern with a knife. Edited August 8 by Alan64 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 9 Author Share Posted August 9 (edited) The arm has been prepared... I forgot, or was too lazy, to remove the paint from the bolts... Once that's done, I may then conduct the marriage ceremony, and all over again. Edited August 9 by Alan64 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 9 Author Share Posted August 9 I took one of the bolts out of the bag. Overnight it will be, hopefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 10 Author Share Posted August 10 Fresh from the remover... There is paint still within the sockets, although I haven't tried to pick them out yet. I don't want to use the rotary-tool, with the diamond-encrusted bits, so as not to disturb the feng shui of the hexagonal walls, although I do have several pairs of +3.25 reading-glasses. I held one bolt and one lock-washer up to one of my magnets, whereupon they fell madly in love. The bolts and washers are of common steel. I had re-formed the lock-washers, at their splits, but they'll just get flattened again when battened down. Interestingly, the first was quite easy to pry apart, but the second one was not so easy; more iron within its matrix? The last was in between those two in difficulty; spring-steel, bah. In that the bolts and washers were hermetically sealed by Synta's rembrandts, I'd rather have cast-iron split-lock washers. I've heard of Nord washers, to use in pairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 12 Author Share Posted August 12 The M5 bolt-lets and lock-washers are now clean and clear of paint... I'm torn, however, between the use of those split-lock washers, and Nord-type washers which I would have to order, therefore delaying the union of the arm and storage-base. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 12 Author Share Posted August 12 I went ahead and ordered some Nord look-alikes off of AliExpress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 12 Author Share Posted August 12 Oh, here's the listing. I hope they work out... https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805269633528.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.5.38801802JqsXk4&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa I got my own order of twenty, including shipping, for a little over £2. That was due to the automatic inclusion of a late-delivery coupon during checkout. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 12 Author Share Posted August 12 Such wonderful things arrive in Monday's mail... I found no "Made in..." anywhere, however the script on the label appears to be Japanese. The knobs snap onto the D-shaped ends of the worm-shafts rather tightly, although one noticeably less so than the other, but still tight enough so as not to come off in the hand whilst in use. These are so much nicer than the stalked variant that came with the mount. I just hope that they won't interfere with the axes's clamps... The lever would be least likely to brush against, bump into, or collide with the other. I won't know for certain until later. I had contacted the seller of this listing... https://www.ebay.com/itm/285608802119? ...and when they had only one for sale, asking if they had more. The following day or so, they replied and said that they had two, as they do today. In the end, I passed them by. These controls are as scarce as proverbial hens' teeth. I was lucky, at the right place, at the right time. I had ordered them from this vendor in New York... https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1196141-REG/vixen_optics_25818_slow_motion_control_knob.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnTN Posted August 13 Share Posted August 13 I am following this thread with great interest. Keep up the good work! When finished, you will have a "better than new" mount. I can't wait to see how you implement the roller bearings. Your photos of the internal mechanisms are especially interesting to me as I have a Sparta WD006, which may or may not be a copy of your mount, but it is similar. When I received it new a week or so ago, it exhibited significant play in the altitude axis. Your photos will help if I decide to repair it myself. Thanks for posting this. John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 14 Author Share Posted August 14 (edited) 21 hours ago, JohnTN said: I am following this thread with great interest. Keep up the good work! When finished, you will have a "better than new" mount. I can't wait to see how you implement the roller bearings. Your photos of the internal mechanisms are especially interesting to me as I have a Sparta WD006, which may or may not be a copy of your mount, but it is similar. When I received it new a week or so ago, it exhibited significant play in the altitude axis. Your photos will help if I decide to repair it myself. Thanks for posting this. John You're welcome John. Yes, my thread here should help you, to an extent. If I'm not mistaken, your own may be a clone of a mini-Porta instead. There is also some plastic, but if it's done well, then there should be no major problems. Edited August 14 by Alan64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixies Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 On 12/08/2024 at 23:17, Alan64 said: The lever would be least likely to brush against, bump into, or collide with the other. I won't know for certain until later. I had contacted the seller of this listing... These are available in the UK via the usual importer: https://www.bresseruk.com/vixen-fine-adjustment-knob-for-ap-gp2-and-gpd2-mounts/X000046?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwq_G1BhCSARIsACc7NxoWjShUb4eRbfNJ78AjyGPxa409ukwN2XjJJE7pgBk1mVKhyIQirJgaAijnEALw_wcB But at £18 incl postage, more expensive per gram than silver. (Which is why I have an ad in the Wanted section for one) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 14 Author Share Posted August 14 4 minutes ago, Pixies said: These are available in the UK via the usual importer: https://www.bresseruk.com/vixen-fine-adjustment-knob-for-ap-gp2-and-gpd2-mounts/X000046?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwq_G1BhCSARIsACc7NxoWjShUb4eRbfNJ78AjyGPxa409ukwN2XjJJE7pgBk1mVKhyIQirJgaAijnEALw_wcB But at £18 incl postage, more expensive per gram than silver. (Which is why I have an ad in the Wanted section for one) I saw that the price includes VAT. But that's only one for my pair, approximately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 14 Author Share Posted August 14 (edited) I got a couple of bow-compasses, without graphite, lead which I don't need. Instead they have a tool-steel(I hope) tip, on both legs. They won't open up very far, but they will serve nonetheless... https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805362845045.html I have 0.020" and 0.008" thick phosphor-bronze sheets, but I would need a few washers of each thickness to match the original plastic/nylon washers. With these however, I will need only one from each sheet for each axis, nice 'n' tidy... Although, I think that they'll arrive sooner. Edited August 14 by Alan64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 17 Author Share Posted August 17 All of the parts required to complete this mount have left China heading to, probably Chicago. Incidentally, "Chicago" is an American Indian word meaning, "place of the bad smell", believe it or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan64 Posted August 19 Author Share Posted August 19 The USPS tracking numbers for the parts are about to be activated in a day or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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