Have been beavering away on the counterweight section...but first.
Malcolm, any plans etc...love to see more of this stuff here. Thanks Jo, your creations are first class...if you build a focuser this is easy(ish).
As this mount is for a refractor I have seen lots of 19th Century mounts. The first photo is where I got ideas from for the CW shaft. I could have done a 1" thick SS shaft but that is not really what I wanted and have built this. Made up of aluminium with the usual pile of bolts holding it all together. An SFQD bush will be bolted to the 2" shaft. The central shaft is 20mm thick and bolted at both ends. 5/16th brass threaded rod on the outside to stiffen the contraption up. Inside up to five Skywatcher 5 kg weights fit beautifully, don't think I'll ever need five.
Eventually the central shaft will be SS or perhaps Brass. I have a Brass rod that is .5mm too thick for the CW holes, so a lathe might just be around the corner...
Now this is together, is it too over the top I wonder? A 1" SS shaft might still be the go....
I weighed the mount...tips the scales at 44.3kgs so far
In the pipeline....Tangent arm...some kind of dovetail arrangement...RA gear assembly...Az adjustment....some form of plate to attach to a pier/tripod.