Just in from a couple of hours and the beast still works. The new cork on the brass clutch plate had to squish down a bit for 30mins or so and then all was fine.
A last photo from the side showing everything
I could fit a very solid 10mm brass plate, instead of 6mm aluminium, for the worm carriage assembly plate, not necessary but....
Brass is so nice! and heavy, and easy to cut...and expensive.
I hope Thomas Gaunt would approve of what I have done to this beauty. As far as I know this is the only one of it's type left....unless anyone knows of another one? When they were built a mount like this cost a small fortune. Love to hear of any others like it....
Finished adding Argo Navis encoders with Steampunk inspired brackets for the encoders.
The only thing left to do is the azimuth adjuster which will also make it easier to bolt the EQ head to the pier...trying to put this thing on the three bolts is a bit tricky.
'Art'...thanks Col I couldn't do any ordinary bracket on this thing...the mount 'told' me what it wanted... sort of
I was looking at Steampunk images and a photo of a machine gun from WW1 that had been re-worked grabbed my attention, and so steampunk brackets were born. Here is a photo of my first bracket ....no way would that be staying.
Have started the Azimuth at long last. Another cylider block design much like the Tangent Arm block. Alumimium plates 6-12-6mm thick bolted to the pier. Still needs a bit of cutting out to do, not sure if the black marker lines come out in the photo. Another 6-12-6 plate will be bolted to the EQ head base, which has brackets for the screw and knobs. Should get 10º or more each side of centre in movement.
As far as I am aware there is one other in possession of the Victorian Astronomical Society (from memory). I think the Power House museum in Sydney has bits and pieces of a third mount.
Hi Lars,
I have been in touch with Rod Brown at the ASV and he didn't mention or know about a Gaunt mount owned by the ASV. I recently joined the State Library of Vic too as they have Marion Millers book about Thomas Gaunt which I hope I can read soon.
In the meantime a bit more on the Azimuth plate.
A couple of hours with my trusty 'ol Jigsaw and drillpress. A bit of cleaning up with a file and paint removing tool and this part is done. On to the EQ head part.
Upper and lower halfs of the plate are now roughly cut out. A bit more drilling and tapping to bolt 6-12-6 plates together along with a liberal amount of JB Weld, then drill, shape and bolt the side blocks into place, followed by a large amount of cosmetic fileing......nearly there.
Upper and lower halfs of the plate are now roughly cut out. A bit more drilling and tapping to bolt 6-12-6 plates together along with a liberal amount of JB Weld, then drill, shape and bolt the side blocks into place, followed by a large amount of cosmetic fileing......nearly there.
Hi Gary,
Haven't had the time to try Argo Navis out yet, getting home around mid night of late and thats a bit too late to start mucking about, but next month I hope...I have set the hand set up
The plan has come together.... and it works nicely. It should work with a bit of grease in between the plates plus the weight of scopes etc on top.
The photos are self explantary. The last is out of focus but you get the idea of the thread movment in the cylinder block.
Now to give it the Steampunk look
In an effort to get this project done I have taken to using those small amounts of spare time. Amazing what 30mins here and there adds up to in a week.
Not quite finished yet but not far off. I have run out of 3/16th" dome nuts for now...another trip to the hardware store. The first time the EQ head has been together for a few weeks too.
At a guess there is 25º of movement either side of centre...The knobs are out of Matti's bag of goodies, that included the RA gear and worm (via Zane I believe )
Think I've gone mad with all the nuts etc....
A bit more cleaning up and a paint job coming up next.
Remember Mt Stromlo in the late 70s Matt ? You now have some Stromlo memorabilia on your mount ....... The red valve handles originated from the workshops at Mt Stromlo !!!
Remember Mt Stromlo in the late 70s Matt ? You now have some Stromlo memorabilia on your mount ....... The red valve handles originated from the workshops at Mt Stromlo !!!
I can never forget Mt Stromlo from the 70's 1979 to be exact...A nice tiny bit of history there Matt... I've just sprayed em black Oh well the red will show through with a bit of use, so not all lost. The rest of it is being painted and should be done late this week.
The azimuth is done and works like a charm, very smooth operation. There are two parts one bolted to the pier with a 20mm pin around which the upper plate turns. I put 4 teflon furniture glides on the bottom plate which gives the smooth movement. The top is bolted to the bottom with 4 M6 bolts going into the cylinder block and two M8 bolts on the outside.
The EQ head complete weighs in at 52kgs...without CW shaft and 20kgs of CW's. I have to break it down into parts to move it, the Dec axis as a single part weighs 9kgs and the RA gear and slip clutch which weighs 7kgs. Still a heavy one to move.
Some photos and probably the last, maybe one or two of the scope on top when Melbourne's weather allows.
1. The bottom plate with teflon and 20mm pin.
2. Black and Brass everywhere.
3. Underneath looking up, the 4 bolts in the cylnder block are removed to lift the EQ head off the bottom plate.
My good man, Matthew, any reply from here forward, on the conclusion of your magnificent project, MUST in no uncertain terms, be done so using an appropriate steampunk font.
Not to do so would be to malign the majesty of so much brass, black, white and silver. BRAVO!
Congratulations, my fine fellow. The final result is testament of all your arduous labour and fecund creative mind.
I would believe that the next project that you shall be undertaking will be to construct an elaborate and graceful and cavernous dome observatory, replete with ornate steel filigree work for the ribs, and a gleaming white exterior and resplendent with gold gilded highlights. Indeed it shall be spectacular!
I doth bow and doff my hat to you.
Alexander.
Last edited by mental4astro; 19-06-2015 at 03:41 PM.
It behoves me at this juncture to express my admiration for this project Matthew.
I admit that initially, I was somewhat dismayed to see such a rare mount modernised and tinkered with. Being a historical conservator and restorer of antique firearms and accoutrements, I had pangs of angst watching the transformation.
I am very relieved to see that my apprehensions were totally baseless. Bravo sir! What a magnificent obsession (incidentally, the name I bestowed to my latest Takahashi).
It just is a true shame a previous owner lost parts or did harm to them.
Enjoy your historically significant masterpiece Matt.
Finished...yeah right! Now I have with this extra part. Courtesy of Stephen (Toranasaurus71) a 20mm thick shaft from an LXD55 combined with a bunch of discs and yet more dome nuts and brass washers. The old shaft was a bit flimsy so I came up with this which goes with the rest of the mods. Cut out with hole saws and jigsaw plus the usual hand fileing. Solid as a rock.
Thus endith this saga.
Wish there was a real Gothic script font, hope thats good enough Alex.
Lewis, I did think long and hard as to how to go about this retro re-build. Your comment is greatly appreicated. All I have done is totally reversable, should I or anyone else want to take the mount back to the 1880's. I did go a bit nuts with the Argo Navis encoder cages I admit...but in real life it looks so good.
The only part I could have done , might yet re-build, is the motor mount on the Dec axis...it's a bit cluncky. A motor wasn't part of the plan when I started the tangent arm.
I wanted to get a final photo of the scope up on the mount...Melbourne weather is not helping, but you all have seen it before.
Here is the new counterweight shaft.
On to my next project...a 2" shaft pillow block mount.
Steampunk
I couldn't do any ordinary bracket on this thing...the mount 'told' me what it wanted... sort of 
....no way would that be staying.
) 
