Carbon fibre tubes for Newts

[Leo.G]

I was just directed to an item on AliExpress which I found somewhat interesting:


https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005833597374.html


I'd love to convert my GSO 8" F5 Newt to a much lighter carbon fibre tube.
They seem to be listing 6" tubes for Skywatcher so I'll possibly contact the seller later (or not, I couldn't really afford it if I wanted it at the moment) but one day.....


As is there's no reviews and no comments on this companies products (or this one anyway) I wouldn't be jumping the gun but it still seems interesting.
I notice every day the 8" GSO gets just that tiny bit heavier.

[MarkInSpace]

Here is the link for the 8" tubes: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005833686626.html
my worry is that the tubes seem thin. I thought good CF tubes were quite thick - 2-5 mm?

[Leo.G]

Thanks Mark!
I'm not in a position to buy but I will have a peek, eventually be an interesting project (or spend money on a decent mount for what I have and buy some dumbbells....).

[Startrek]

I have 2 Carbon fibre Newts 8” and 10” f5 with GSO gear
Originally metal tube
Retrofitted them myself
Bought Klaus Helmerich Carbon tubes from Germany ( took 3 months from order )
Sidereal trading in Melbourne do their own Carbon newts now !!

Best thing I ever did , massive reduction in weight
No flexure
Minimal thermal expansion and contraction
Look great as well
Saved costs retrofitting them myself ( they’re quite expensive buying a complete CF Newt off a retailer )


Cheers
Martin

[Leo.G]

The reduction in weight would be my main aim. I have an 8" GSO RC carbon fibre I bought from another member on here and I love how light the unit is. Plus I'm pushing a small mount, maybe not overly small but a low spec Skywatcher EQ5 Pro with modified RA head (replaced roller bearing with tapered roller bearing).
It holds the steel GSO Newt but I know it's beyond it's rated capacity and were I to attach a heavy DSLR camera.......

[MarkInSpace]

Hi Martin
Do the tubes come with the holes pre cut?
Cheers
Mark

[Startrek]

Hi Mark,
Yes
You can choose between GSO and Skywatcher/ Saxon hole pattern
However !!!
I had to buy a 5mm dremmel and enlarge / elongate a few holes particularly for the secondary and spider on my 8” plus the holes for my finder were not drilled out. Araldite is your friend
The 10” from memory only required to enlarge a few holes , it went together much better than the 8”
Just remember it’s not just a clean retrofit, there’s a lot of night testing and tweaking to do
My 8” wouldn’t come to focus so had to buy some 15mm spacers from Stefan Buda which did the trick
But at the end of the day it all worked out much cheaper than buying straight off a retailer

Cheers
Martin

[Leo.G]

Thanks Martin!
Quick question, how easy/hard is it working with carbon fibre?
I've done a lot over the years with fibreglass (canoes not telescope tubes) but believe CF is stronger, any tips on not damaging an expensive tube?
Or just a Dremel, I have one of those?

[Startrek]

Carbon fibre telescope tubes are only 2mm to 2.5mm thick so easy to drill through with a standard HSS drill bit
If fact when using the dremel to elongate a hole I had to be careful not to push too hard.
It’s really soft as butter at 2.5mm thick
Kayaks and Canoes I’d imaging would be thicker say 3 to 5mm thick in places

Hope that helps

Martin