starting of my scope pier

[jinxsta]

well with permission from the minister for war and finance giving the go ahead for the pier and deck in the back yard, ground was broken, steel pipe lugged home and cement stacked in the trailer, first aid box stocked, let the blood, sweat, tears and a few choice words begin.
will attached a few pics as it rolls along.
jinxsta.

[jinxsta]

ground broken, then getting bigger.

[jinxsta]

the size of the pier is 7 foot long, 6 inches inside diameter,its a peice of line pipe I picked up for $60 as a bit of scrap, the hole is 3 1/2 foot deep 2 1/2 foot square.

[jinxsta]

well it took 20 x 20 kg bags of cement mix to fill that hole back in and my arms and back is killing me but will be well worth it.

[I.C.D]

jinxsta
How are you going to mount the scope to the pier by welding or bolts

[iceman]

Wow, fantastic. What a great backyard to be able to do that.

Are you going to wrap an observatory around it?

What scope are you putting on it?

[Garyh]

Now thats some concrete block there. You must have plans for a big scope!
Hope the waethers better your way than here at the moment!
cheers Gary

[h0ughy]

what a worthwhile project!!!

[eqcradle]

Nice soil! I'd need a jackhammer to get a hole like that in my lawn.

CL.

[jinxsta]

thanks guys the scope is an 8 inch reflector which will have an gstar exc attached to it when I get the order in.
the bolts will be cemented in but have an idea to bend and weld the end together so it won't pull out.
will start on the deck and maybe some sort of observatory not sure yet wich way to go yet but will have about 8 foot by 7 foot deck to play with.

[shane shaw]

nice job there mate. Keep the photos coming and keep us up to date looking forawrd to seeing the building continue.

[jinxsta]

ok got a little more work done today before the rain.
have the plates and bolts sorted just need some good weather to
start cementing.
I welded the bent bolts together and welded rod spacers to keep bolts in place while pouring cement and will add reo down the middle to keep cement together just in case I ever get a bigger scope down the track.

[jinxsta]

another update and some pic's.
a little more cement some paint and a trial fit.
will start on the decking and then can't wait for some clear skies.

[jinxsta]

Another update and a couple more photos.
Have done the decking between rain showers and the next thing will be a handrail and then have to work out some sort of cover for the scope.
but all in all I'm chuffed with the way it has come along.

[iceman]

Looking awesome!

[Ian Robinson]

That's a lot of concrete.

Question : the idea of the 2 small metal fins welded to the tube is ?

[Ian Robinson]

Filling the tube with concrete is probably overkill .... if it's thick enough metal it would be plenty solid enough.

If I had been doing this I would have left the tube hollow , can put power and data and computer cables inside it that way (If needed later) , I would have capped the tube's top with nice thick piece of steel plate , with the levelling bolts pre welded to it.

Anyway , not too shabby a job .

PS : roughly how much did the materials for your pier and platform set you back roughly ?

You can do mine now :D.

[jinxsta]

Thanks guys for the comments.
Ian the fins on the bottom of the metal tube where to stop the tube from spining in the cement, and filling the tube with cement was so I could hold the bolts for the plate and to stop the tube from vibrating and sounding like a bell when it was it was tapped.
so far costs are.
approx
$150 concrete mix bags including the bags for the posts
$200 for timber
$60 for tube got it at scrape price
$50 in nails bolts etc.

thats about it so far and haven't started on the handrail yet.

[Ian Robinson]

I see , should have thought of that. (the fins).

The fill could have been sand too. At least it wont blow away or bend in a cyclone or a flood.

[Matty P]

A very cool project Jinxsta. Looking very good.

Thinking about doing the same thing myself. Probably wont happen though.:lol:

[MrB]

It's probably less for strength than to dampen any resonances etc if the pier is bumped. Eg, raising the tubes resonant freq.

EDIT: oops sorry, just noticed that's already been commented on...:thumbsup:

[AlexN]

Looking good!

Seeing peoples observatories = brain storming.
brainstorming ends in headaches.
Damn rental properties...