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TexBiker
super member
Reged: 12/18/07
Posts: 130
Loc: North Texas
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I have an Orion Skyview Pro mount for my 127mm Mak. It seems like a solid mount but the aluminum legs seem a bit light/flimsy compared to the heavy Bogen/Manfrotto SLR tripods I've used in the past. With the scope attached, the whole assembly is incredibly top heavy. This is my first scope/mount, so I may be way off base here.
I have a good supply of old teak (from the deck of a 19th century clipper ship that was dismantled in Charleston harbor in 1898). I used most of it to build a dining room set and I'd love to fab a set of tripod legs for this mount, but I don't know if heavy/dense wood would be better or worse for dampening vibrations in this application.
What say the experts in this area? Are these aluminum legs designed to dampen vibes better than wood or are they used simply because aluminum is adequate and cheap?
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Michael
Dallas, TX
Orion 127mm Mak-Cass
Orion 10" Dob
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vinnie
Latinist
Reged: 01/05/08
Posts: 1446
Loc: Queensland, Australia
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Hi Michael,
In your case the Aluminium legs are used because they are lightweight and cheap. Making a set of wooden legs will definitely improve the mount stability. Generally this applies to the cheaper mounts.
Some of the higher end mounts (Vixen is a good example) use Aluminium tripods of much higher quality.
Vin
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Al Canarelli
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/06/07
Posts: 1539
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Take a look at my legs, as the pics should give you a fair idea of how to make them. I have many pictures on my web page and if you should have any questions, I would be happy to help. www.alsastro.com Wish I could get my hands on some teak...fairly hard to get around here.
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TexBiker
super member
Reged: 12/18/07
Posts: 130
Loc: North Texas
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Al- Thanks for the info. The pictures on your site are very close to what I had been sketching. However, I love the details you've added, especially the clamp shields and "Leg Locker". It's always easier when you can walk down a road that someone else has paved! 
Guess I need to fire up the bandsaw and experiment with some of my cheap pine stock soon...well, as soon as the temp in my shop drops below 110 degrees, anyway. Might be Halloween before this project comes to fruition!
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Michael
Dallas, TX
Orion 127mm Mak-Cass
Orion 10" Dob
Edited by TexBiker (08/05/08 01:31 PM)
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tim53
sage
Reged: 12/17/04
Posts: 317
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Also take a look at some of the Takahashi mahogany legged tripods. The ones on my NJP don't extend, and they're made out of full 2" thickness stock - very solid.
My EM-10 has extendable legs, with clamping and fittings similar to those Al makes (apologies if I have this wrong). it's also very solid, able to hold a C-8 with 2 dovetail plates and a Megrez 80 piggyback just fine.
-Tim.
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"We`re just waiting looking skyward as the days come down.
Someone promised there`d be answers, if we stayed around."
-Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, "The Romance of the Telescope"
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Al Canarelli
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/06/07
Posts: 1539
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Michael,
I thought you said you owned teak? No need to experiment, go directly to work on the teak. If you should have any questions, get in touch with me from my web page and I'll be happy to help.
Btw, the bandsaw is not what you will be using...unless you don't own a bench saw. The problem you will have is making the metal clamps and other metal parts. Hope you could weld.
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Wes James
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/12/06
Posts: 2423
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Quote:
The problem you will have is making the metal clamps and other metal parts. Hope you could weld.
That's what booged my tripod project down- I couldn't come up with the brackets such as you have for clamping the legs, and I wasn't satisfied with what I found I could make out of wood. Have some nice ash stashed cut to size for a set of legs if I can ever come up with some brackets like those! You've done some beautiful work in the past, Al- I know you've got to have a lot of satisfied customers!
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Wes
Atlantic Beach, FL
Some bino’s from Miyauchi 5x32 Binon's up through Garrett 20x110 Signature's,
Some telescopes from a Stellarvue 80mm NHNG up through a couple of 8” reflectors…
And a wonderful 4.25" Delmarva Shiefspiegler!
Some good friends, made here on C/N.
Oh- several cats and a wonderful wife!
Anyone want a cat???? :-O
"When your work speaks for itself- Don't Interrupt" -Gamble Rogers
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Luigi
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 07/03/07
Posts: 1960
Loc: Massachusetts
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Weight for weight, tubular aluminum, steel, or composites can be lots stiffer than wood. For medium and lighter weight scope/mounts, the 2" dia stainless leg CG5 tripod is very stable. Wood offers mass and some intrinsic damping of high frequency vibrations, and in some ways is more robust than the other materials.
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17.5" f/5 Discovery Truss
IM715 7" f/15 MCT, Eon-120ED
Lunt 60mm single etalon HA
CG5A coffee grinder, Orion Skyview Alt-AZ
35,19,15 Pans.9 Nag. Meade 24.5 4kSWA, 4.7 5kUWA.
BO-TMB 7mm planetary.
Zeiss Diascope 85
Zeiss, Leica, Canon IS, Fujinon, Nikon binos
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Avatar
super member
Reged: 05/27/06
Posts: 140
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It depends on the type of wood you use. The average specific gravities of differnt woods vary greatly. The "furniture" woods that have been mentioned for use as tripod material aren't necessarily that dense. I have one old wood tripod that you can dig you fingernail into. Still, in the same general size range, I think wood is always more forgiving than steel or aluminium. BTW, does Takahashi actually sell their tripods as "mahogany"? What's the price?
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Paul WB
member
Reged: 01/10/05
Posts: 75
Loc: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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There is a nice article by Chauveau Mathieu in the article section entitled "Making a Sturdy Wood Tripod" (link http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1309) that describes building a wooden tripod. It looks fairly straight forward. In my own case, I replaced the legs my Vixen HAL110 tripod with oak legs the same dimensions that were longer in length (I am 6'2", and I wanted a higher tripod). I bought an extra tripod tray (for keeping the tripod stable), and it works fairly well. Here are some pictures that I took of the new tripod. I find that the use of hardwood - oak - works great. I was able to find these three pieces at a wood supply store for about $20 Canadian (~ US). They were "off cuts."
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Vixen Sphinx SXW mount
C8 SCT, William Optics 102 ED refractor
SBIG ST-2000XM camera
Edited by Paul WB (08/05/08 07:44 PM)
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TexBiker
super member
Reged: 12/18/07
Posts: 130
Loc: North Texas
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Quote:
Michael,
I thought you said you owned teak? No need to experiment, go directly to work on the teak. If you should have any questions, get in touch with me from my web page and I'll be happy to help.
Well, when I fabricate something in the workshop, I always make a prototype out of cheap wood first. Then I can see where the mods/changes need to be made before I start on the expensive stuff. If I screw up a piece of this teak, there is no way for me to replace it. I want to be sure I have the final design perfected before I pull the good wood out of the racks. I made 4 complete dining room sets out of yellow pine and plywood before I even laid a tape measure on my teak!
Quote:
Btw, the bandsaw is not what you will be using...unless you don't own a bench saw. The problem you will have is making the metal clamps and other metal parts. Hope you could weld.
I only use my table saw for ripping rough stock down to size. I use the bandsaw for legs/posts since it gives me a bit more control and precision. That's just the way I was taught. My neighbor is the opposite and prefers the table saw. It drives us crazy to watch each other work.
Welding isn't a problem. I've also got a small milling machine to help me with the metal parts. If my local hardware store doesn't have it, I can probably make it myself.
Thanks again for the offer of help. You may be getting a few emails from me when I start this little project.
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Michael
Dallas, TX
Orion 127mm Mak-Cass
Orion 10" Dob
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Luigi
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 07/03/07
Posts: 1960
Loc: Massachusetts
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Density of the material is important but so is modulus of elasticity, which in metals are so much higher than wood that it far outweighs the density, so to speak. What does come into play is general robustness. A very thin wall SS tube may be much lighter and stiffer than wood but it would be very easy to dent.
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17.5" f/5 Discovery Truss
IM715 7" f/15 MCT, Eon-120ED
Lunt 60mm single etalon HA
CG5A coffee grinder, Orion Skyview Alt-AZ
35,19,15 Pans.9 Nag. Meade 24.5 4kSWA, 4.7 5kUWA.
BO-TMB 7mm planetary.
Zeiss Diascope 85
Zeiss, Leica, Canon IS, Fujinon, Nikon binos
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sang33ta
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/08/08
Posts: 539
Loc: UK
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I don't know about tripods I've always used metal but I've used aluminium and wooden ladders and I was surprised how light a neigbours wooded ones were compaired to my aluminum ones.
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Hioptic 152mm f12.5 Maksutov
Celestron Advanced CG5-GT Mount (Mr Noisy!)
Meade 4000 Super Plossl Set
Casio QV-2900UX
Got fed up of waiting for Meade ETX-150 so put this together for £500/$1000
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