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DIY dovetail bar
The dovetail bar on my Celestron frac is a short one and I couldn't adjust the scope enough to counterbalance some of the camera gear, so I thought "why not make one?". I melted some aluminium (from BMW suspension arms, so good quality) and cast some bars. I machined the thinner one so it would screw to the scope rings and powdercoated it green. It works fine, although there are a couple of machining marks on it (I really need to buy a flycutter for doing larger flat surfaces), and cutting the dovetail angles was a bit tricky, although I've since thought of a better way (next time).
One problem with powdercoating is the parts are very slippery so after the tube nearly slipped out of the saddle I glued a piece of thin leather to a piece of ally bar that fits over the clamp part, which also saves marking the bar itself. Seems to work ok.
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