The equatorial head and axis housings were cast from aluminum and each axis has a 1.5-inch chromium steel shaft with two bearing in the polar assembly and 0.5”x 6” flanges that separated the polar assembly from the declination assembly. The polar shaft was connected to the declination housing with a steel pin that soon began to loosen so it was replaced with a larger and harder pin. The aluminum surfaces provide additional stability; however, by adding a thin disk of Teflon to separate these surfaces further stabilized the assembly and acts like a 6-inch bearing surface. The polar dive is a Mathis 10” worm drive and fitted to the polar assembly using home made hardened aluminum plate and attachment hardware to the end of the polar axis.
The declination shaft did not have bearings so a 3/8th-inch aluminum disk was machined to fit the shaft (with set-screw) in the 0.5”x 6” flange at the top of the declination shaft and a thin disk of Teflon separates the disk and flange. The disk is bolted to the aluminum saddle plate. Some sanding to the inside of the top and bottom housing allowed a thin sheet Teflon to be inserted around the shaft to act as a bearing. The Teflon surface provided roller bearing smoothness anyway.
Also, a tangent arm declination drive was machined using scarp metal and old DC motor. A ½”- 13 screw was machined from braze stock to fit inside a threaded aluminum block and associated hardware to drive the arm back and forth to adjust the declination axis. A slot was milled in the tangent arm end tightly fitted to a hard bolt to avoid backlash and to move the axis north or south.
This old mount has been around a long time and has been used by several amateurs with a variety of telescopes. I first used the mount for a 12.5” Cassegrain and then a 12.5” Newtonian then it went to Carlos Hernandez for some years before he found it too heavy and had no room to store it, so he sent it packing back to me. It is still a sturdy mount that will track celestial objects across the sky with very little backlash in the gearing. Winds of 10-15 MPH hardly effects the telescope, so after nearly 3 decades of use it is back home. Hum, guess it could use some paint!
I have a 16” on the other side of the house that is even heavier! The observing platform is only half around the scope, but someday I’ll finish it. With the 12.5” all I have to do it point it and put in the webcam in and sit in my room and watch the images. 
