Jump to content

Vixen Porta


Recommended Posts

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.

  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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...

storagebase2.jpg.edda7911c79a717865c1108741d2beaf.jpg

It appears better in person.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

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.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Posted (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...

arm-medallion4.jpg.fec8db399c41c2f5c56f4737330fa53e.jpg

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...

arm-medallion3.jpg.d3cb1b77300c73d773ad22a4734b619a.jpg

 

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...

arm-medallion2b.jpg.bc820b92f07495c640522f418ab7c730.jpg

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...

arm-medallion5.jpg.8d5feda348b0a45f4ac3150c6d4f2931.jpg

...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 by Alan64
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The arm and storage-base in contrast to the rest...

components.jpg.7f60bb9aceaae60cbf8447bc309b60db.jpg

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.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

All I got accomplished today was getting the clamp reasonably spiffy...

clamp2.jpg.ba75d5a7f8c53892437ad4674c6537b7.jpg

clamp3.jpg.a0be5fcf1f19f34f311020ce26d15639.jpg

clamp.jpg.83a0bc45398b302404f0a7832d3d5cdc.jpg

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.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

All are clean...

allclean.jpg.6b7ec14ea61f6340afb89e6b489001fe.jpg

allclean2.jpg.4778aaecddb916b2c58da7ae4e5c1dab.jpg

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...

setscrews.jpg.c541aa9c4be97be7c73de5b9577df744.jpg

setscrews2.jpg.9bded4b032fe9bfca3df3939563b3f74.jpg

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.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted (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...

baseprep.jpg.35114fe6369e338031226b56694bfa39.jpg

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...

baseprep2.jpg.5d57729a1ce86033544fac0ee030a614.jpg

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 by Alan64
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted (edited)

The arm has been prepared...

armprep.jpg.b6b464f5a0cb484857df628852dd3fad.jpg

I forgot, or was too lazy, to remove the paint from the bolts...

boltprep.jpg.7491b5349fae87fc77ff373ef8bb3f67.jpg

Once that's done, I may then conduct the marriage ceremony, and all over again.

Edited by Alan64
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fresh from the remover...

arm-basebolts.jpg.4bba61a949a771ff4b58c5a5d6a7b766.jpg

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

The M5 bolt-lets and lock-washers are now clean and clear of paint...

boltprep3.jpg.8e828578cdbb1356cbb5bd02e9d57428.jpg

boltprep2.jpg.0f8771567128facf4acb3118b6a6aad6.jpg

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.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Such wonderful things arrive in Monday's mail...

Vixenslow-motionknobs7.jpg.593d54902b5bfa86b752913db0ff637a.jpg

I found no "Made in..." anywhere, however the script on the label appears to be Japanese.

Vixenslow-motionknobs5.jpg.ae6cd83b4aecbcca47520dc6bfb53aa9.jpg

Vixenslow-motionknobs3.jpg.b4091763a0550293232c01cd850a1cbb.jpg

Vixenslow-motionknobs4.jpg.3b7659aaedfb755a90a29d6a376eae99.jpg

Vixenslow-motionknobs2.jpg.87ca9e6956203b705ab232a371efd7ac.jpg

Vixenslow-motionknobs.jpg.318490f241c5951a5516ad4bf75a0128.jpg

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...

redknobslevers3.jpg.c070dd68dcb1c3457472fe876e4a076e.jpg

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

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted (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 by Alan64
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

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

Posted (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...

rvGIfZR.jpg

Although, I think that they'll arrive sooner.

Edited by Alan64
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.