DIY Guidescope rings

[LAW]

Dunno if anyone has bothered to make their own guidescope rings before but it's about as simple as it gets (not much cheaper than bought ones though).

I picked up a Tasco refractor for $10 (score!) during the week and being the impatient overgrown child that I am I decided to make some rather than wait for them to get shipped.

The Tasco has an outside daimeter of 63mm so I started with some 100mm PVC drain pipe fittings...

http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/oo258/outLAW250R/IMG_2567.jpg

1/4 UNC Countersunk screws to go into the existing dovetail holes in my EQ5 and some long (too long :mad2:) M5 bolts for the adjusters.

http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/oo258/outLAW250R/IMG_2568-1.jpg

As someone has borrowed my Tap set and not returned it I found a drill bit slightly smaller than the bolt shank and drilled 3 evenly spaced holes for the adjustment bolts and one central hole for the mount. I did this by eye because this is just the prototype, the next one I'll measure it properly.

http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/oo258/outLAW250R/IMG_2570.jpg

http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/oo258/outLAW250R/IMG_2569-1.jpg

It's easy enough to wind the screws through the PVC without tapping the hole first...

http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/oo258/outLAW250R/IMG_2571.jpg

I know those bolts are too long, I bought the longest ones in the shop for the prototype, the final version will look much neater. As a finishing touch I added some dome nuts to the bolts to protect the tube from the threads.

http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/oo258/outLAW250R/IMG_2573.jpg

Done!

http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/oo258/outLAW250R/IMG_2574.jpg

http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/oo258/outLAW250R/IMG_2577-1.jpg

It probably took me less than an hour to finish both. :)

[Cam]

Very neat. Good job

[LAW]

Thanks Cam, they won't be putting anyone out of business any time soon :lol: they look better in the dark :P
I still can't seem to work out how to get my pictures to show up :shrug:

I just spent half an hour aligning my main scope, tasco and the red-dot only to catch the counter-weight on the sleeve of my jacket and bump them all off line again :(

[2stroke]

Great work there, i tried myself but it was stainless steel rings. These ended up being scraped due to weight though lol, the pvc is a great idea :)

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: Sweet , less than an hour and probably less than $30 all up , good on ya LAW .
Brian.

[davewaldo]

Nice work Liam, you'll be collecting ancient photons from distant galaxies in no time!