Look what I made at the Mens Shed

[doug mc]

A dob mount for the GSO 8 inch f/5 ota i bought from Glend a few months ago. Nothing out of the ordinary, except the tube box has a removable top section that clamps down, so i can remove the tube as well as rotate it easily. Shown here, the top section raised a little showing the four threaded bolts in each corner. Wing nuts clamp it down on the tube. I found it only needed two to do the clamping, so a further mod on the way.

[leon]

Wow, nice work indeed.

Leon

[GUS.K]

Neat mount, and a great job well done.

[doug mc]

My first shot at making a dob mount, although i have owned a few commercial ones over the years. As we all know, they are a ongoing project to get operating smoothly. Does anyone know where i can get some Teflon blocks around 5 or 6mm thick by 12 to 16mm square? Looking to improve altitude motion. The lazy susan works for azimuth. Thank you gentlemen for your kind comments.

[glend]

Looks great Doug. As far as those alt bearing are concerned, strips of kitchen counter laminate (like Ebony Star) work really well. I bought some years off eBay, when I built a custom base for my 12" Dob.
I think Dennis at DobStuff also has some components that might help:

http://dobstuff.com/parts.htm

Look here for Teflon blocks:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dobsonian-Telescope-Altitude-and-Azimuth-Bearing-Teflon-/254737845740?redirect=mobile

[Saturnine]

Doug
Looks a very nice job on the new dob base fabrication.

Will send you a PM re Teflon.

[mura_gadi]

Hello,

I had flagged https://www.allplastics.com.au/engineering-plastics/ptfe as a possible source, not sure how little you can order or anything about retail sale/supplys etc.

Option B was buying a teflon chopping board.

and

https://swiftsupplies.com.au/ptfe-sheet-range is cheap thin covers, not sure if they work, but at .15mm cover and its only the surface contact your after...
(240mmx240mmx.15mm Virgin ptfe $8.23)

Steve
PS. Try and get your hands on a copy of "The Dobsonian Telescope" Kriege/Berry, that will have a formula for how much teflon contact area you need for the weight of the scope base bearings or tube assembly bearings.

[doug mc]

Jeff (Saturnine) sent some Teflon strips, definite improvement. Will look into some Ebony star like laminate strips to replace the melamine around the altitude bearing discs. Thanks gentlemen.