Excellent work Lee,
A micro-pier/obs sounds very sensible. I was very fortunate to have a friend who does this work and got mine made very cheap. Seems like you got everything sorted but here is a link to my (totally overkill for a future 16" APO when I become a Billionaire) pier if it helps with any ideas:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...highlight=Meru
Do post pics as you build!