[djbunting]

Hi guys thanks for the input.

Mike you are right. The old box the tube came in has Astro Optics written on it. It seems the last person to pull it apart and put it back together has just done it up too tight.

With a lot of kero and some brute force i managed to unscrew the counter balance mount buy standing on the wooden tripod (laid flat out) and turning the tube shoulder as hard as i could.

There was a lot of old gluey, near solid, grease everywhere. There are 2 grub screws in that bottom counter balance mount. The mount doesnt need to be screwed tight. The grub screws hold the mount on the shaft. Ill post a couple of photo's later which may explain better and help someone else in the future.

I have now managed to clean all the old grease up and lightly sanded all of the surfaces with 1200# wet dry so they are smooth again. Ive got my lithium grease ready to go.

Will post photo's shortly

Thanks for help

Regards,

Drew