Hello all,
the dob I'm looking to rebirth still is of the original 'Sonotube' construction.
One idea I've had is to cut off and reuse the top section of the tube containing the spider and focuser and rebuild the rest, reconecting the "cage" with either three or four poles.
Three poles lightens the overall weight, marginally, four poles may stress the integrety of the remaining Sonotube a lot less than the benefit of the reduced weight.
Anyone know of the strength of these Sonotube contraptions, their machineablity and suitability for this reworking?
I've also being designing on paper clamp ideas for attaching the cage to the mirror box. I am open to suggestions to ideas that would not direct clamping stresses to the tube, or greatly reduce any residual stresses.
All the best.