Well, took delivery of a long sought after TRex (many thanks FlashDrive
) and had to spend some time figuring out how to mount this on my existing concrete pier. I built the pier for visual use some years ago. It only has a single 16mm bolt, not what is needed for securing the TRex. I also wanted to raise the overall height of the pier to cater for a longer refractor OTA.
I think the photos tell the design story. I have fabricated it out of scrap aircraft grade alluminium. It took just over a day of lathe and milling work. The slowest job was cutting the top and bottom plates out of a large irregular shaped billet and then squaring and facing all of the sides and ends. The end plates are 120x120mm by 22mm thick. The risers are 25mm diameter.
Total cost was $3.40 to cover the four stainless nuts.
I am quite pleased with the design outcome, structurally and aesthetically. It is absolutely rock solid, probably way over designed for visual use. But that is okay.
Cheers
Steve.