Charlie Hein
Postmaster
Reged: 11/02/03
Loc: 26.06.08N, +80.23.08W
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Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
#5644301 - 01/26/13 12:18 PM
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Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
By John Hayes
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shams42
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/05/09
Loc: Kingsport, TN
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
[Re: Charlie Hein]
#5644373 - 01/26/13 01:06 PM
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Unbelievable! Thanks for posting that cautionary tale.
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dlpville
member
Reged: 07/09/07
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
[Re: shams42]
#5645133 - 01/26/13 09:07 PM
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Claiming patent protection on a product is a violation of US Code, specifically; 35 U.S.C. 292.
"Whoever marks upon, or affixes to, or uses in advertising in connection with any article the words “patent applied for,” “patent pending,” or any word importing that an application for patent has been made, when no application for patent has been made, or if made, is not pending, for the purpose of deceiving the public
—Shall be fined not more than $500 for every such offense. Only the United States may sue for the penalty authorized by this subsection."
Might want to inform Mr. Clinard of his impropriety; or the Patent and Trademarks Office.
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Laz
journeyman
Reged: 10/18/12
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
[Re: Charlie Hein]
#5645357 - 01/27/13 01:18 AM
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notify sky and telescope mag, he places ads----they may help
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rfr66
member
Reged: 12/07/11
Loc: Long Island, NY
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
[Re: Laz]
#5645714 - 01/27/13 10:01 AM
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You can file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and Consumer Affairs. They can help to get your money refunded. If you had paid by credit card (always a good idea)you could have disputed the charges.
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Mike E.
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/26/10
Loc: Moonstone Observatory
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
[Re: rfr66]
#5646022 - 01/27/13 01:00 PM
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I must say I was impressed by the website when I first saw it a couple years ago, gave me a sense of old world quality with a no nonsense approach.
Thank you for posting, and I hope you find eventual satisfaction; I've scratched them off my list for future consideration.
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andysea
sage
Reged: 09/03/10
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
[Re: rfr66]
#5646034 - 01/27/13 01:08 PM
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Whoa! I can't believe the poor quality of the machining. That is beyond bad. I am speechless. Thanks for posting the detailed review! I Hope this gets around.
Andy
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Sean Cunneen
Let Me Think
Reged: 08/01/07
Loc: Blue Island Illinois
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
[Re: andysea]
#5646210 - 01/27/13 02:55 PM
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Mr. Hayes's experience is just terrible. The condition of the worm drive teeth are unbelievable and I hope he gets some remedy. None of those parts appear to be functional much less properly finished!
I get a kick out of the scribe lines, perhaps this would be my cue to get into the "Handmade" Mount business!
Sean
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rockethead26
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/21/09
Loc: Indiana, USA
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
[Re: andysea]
#5646224 - 01/27/13 03:01 PM
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Holy Cow! That's about as bad as it can get. Sorry you're having to eat $1000. Agree with rfr66, file complaints with the BBB and Consumer affairs.
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chuck52
super member
Reged: 12/03/09
Loc: Quartz Hill,California
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
[Re: rockethead26]
#5646340 - 01/27/13 04:16 PM
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Mr Hayes,
I hope you pursue this and try to get your money back.I too had considered a purchase from this website but thats off the table now.Thank you for sharing your experience with us.I can only say the other satisfied customers must have extremely low standards of acceptability if this is typical of the product sold.
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Deep13
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/25/05
Loc: NE Ohio
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
[Re: chuck52]
#5646475 - 01/27/13 05:19 PM
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Wow, thanks for the warning.
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StarStuff1
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/01/07
Loc: South of the Mason-Dixon Line
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
[Re: Deep13]
#5646552 - 01/27/13 05:57 PM
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Very enlightening and close to being depressing that a company would show such behaviour.
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cspell
journeyman
Reged: 05/14/11
Loc: NJ
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
[Re: StarStuff1]
#5646746 - 01/27/13 07:21 PM
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I am awaiting delivery of a system I recently ordered from OC. Took a very deep breath after reading John's review.
Up to now, (with one exception) all the reports and experiences on CL and elsewhere I found were very positive.
I don't know what else to say except John, I'm really sorry about your experience and thanks for the very detailed report.
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Glen A W
sage
Reged: 07/04/08
Loc: WEST VIRGINIA USA
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
[Re: cspell]
#5647041 - 01/27/13 10:05 PM
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It looks like the spur gear was damaged, and it sounds like he offered to replace it. The rest of this seems petty to me since it looks like it would work okay. GW
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Joe F Gafford
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/15/06
Loc: Denver, Colorado, US
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
[Re: cspell]
#5647049 - 01/27/13 10:09 PM Attachment (126 downloads)
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Yes! I had problems with this guy. First, when you send him an e-mail, he only reads the first sentence. I sent one out saying that the motor gear would not mesh with the reduction gear and the second sentence I said that they were of a different pitch. I had to send a second email with an image of the problem after he said to adjust the motor down so they mesh. Here's the image:
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Joe F Gafford
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/15/06
Loc: Denver, Colorado, US
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
[Re: Joe F Gafford]
#5647155 - 01/27/13 11:10 PM Attachment (94 downloads)
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After sending back the motor and reduction gear, I found out that the motor was bad. I sent the motor back and he claimed that the manufacturer said that the motor was abused by some unknown error they did not recognize and I would have to pay for a new one. Um, I have experience with syncronous motors being an electronics technician and I suspected that the wire color coding was wrong. I reluctantly paid for the new motor and got the thing to work on my old Meade DS-10 mount.
I then put the scope on the mount and gave a test ride in the backyard with an illuminated reticle. The drive's sinusoidal tracking error on the OC 6.6" drive was almost as bad as the 3" original Meade gear! I then sent him some emails describing the problem and got essentially the same response that John got. This error was too much for the autoguider on my camera.
I then took the worm and worm gear to a local machinist and he said that it was "fair" and he could not do anything unless I would have to pay some serious wampum to replace it. I was peeved to say the least!
I took it home and as I was sitting in my plush chair, I removed the 6.6" worm gear out of the box and put it edgewise on my lap. Then I got the worm assembly and placed it on the gear and got the teeth to mesh. I was thinking where to go from there when I noticed that the worm resting on the gear did not align to the large gear's plane. It was nearly 2 degrees off! I then flipped the gear, the same! I flipped the worm housing, the same! I tried to get to mesh in the plane and to 1 degree to the opposite side, it would flop back! I then mounted the whole thing back onto the mount and added a shim to canter the worm about 1 degree from the 6.6" worm gear plane. I took it outside that night and had a reduction of the sine error peaks of less than 20%! I then put the ccd camera on and it guided!
The old Meade drive electronics had been gutted long ago and replaced by my own circuit design with an autoguider option. I still use the original joystick with trimtabs. Still works to this day. I did the two solar events and imaged at a star party with this scope this past year.
Joe
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johnnyha
Postmaster
Reged: 11/12/06
Loc: Sherman Oaks, CA
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
[Re: Glen A W]
#5647316 - 01/28/13 01:35 AM
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Quote:
It looks like the spur gear was damaged, and it sounds like he offered to replace it. The rest of this seems petty to me since it looks like it would work okay. GW
I guess that's easy to say if you haven't paid $984 for... this thing. I find this completely indefensible. I think the author is 100% justified in writing this and letting the community know what we are dealing with here. There are multiple issues, the gear is just one of many. This looks worse than something built in middleschool shop class at a School for the Blind. Shoddy. And quite possibly the worst customer service I have ever heard of, very disappointing to hear.
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Thanatos78621
member
Reged: 05/09/12
Loc: Elgin, TX
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
[Re: johnnyha]
#5647340 - 01/28/13 02:02 AM
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That someone would market themselves as a precision machinist while produce that level of product is insane. I've seen better work from first year engineering students.
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Joe F Gafford
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/15/06
Loc: Denver, Colorado, US
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review
[Re: Thanatos78621]
#5647371 - 01/28/13 02:57 AM
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To add:
1) When I got mine about 6-7 years ago, he had a Ford Motor Company email address.
2) What edge break? I had to do that myself!
3) The worm (spur) gear is made from aluminum and it looked good when I got it.
4) There were burrs in the shaft hole as well.
5) The worm itself wasn't what I expected and the shaft that is mounted to has a rough surface as pictured and was slightly bent. The shaft is springy anyway. Mr Clinard responded to my questions of these observations as a non-problem.
6) My motor is of a different type of AC motor than what Dr. Hayes got. I had to supply the AC cord and the buss bar for the cords and the capacitor. My motor is reversable according to the motor wire in which the capacitor is hooked to, a switch could do that for northern/southern hemisphere adjustment. That was a no problem for me anyway. I made a separate insulating housing to cover the motor with. I used a 3 pronged AC cable for safety.
7) I got the same grip marks on the worm shaft standoffs.
8) I am early forced retired and have a limited income from my savings. I could not afford a Paramount type mount. I could not fight this "machinist" due to my income.
Joe
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Howie Glatter
Vendor
Reged: 07/04/06
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Re: Optic Craft Machining Clock Drive Review *DELETED*
[Re: Glen A W]
#5647471 - 01/28/13 06:37 AM
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