Another few firsts with my lathe (still learning). The attached image shows some counterweights and attachment rods that I've made for the telescope tube. Although I have a dual sliding weight (see previous posts) that will allow variable adjustment, I realised that may not be enough to cope with a large change to the balance (eg. replacing the STL-11000 with an eyepiece for visual use).
The main points:
- The threaded rods will be able to be screwed (M8 end) into some threaded stainless inserts in the tube wall.
- The counterweights are centrally drilled and tapped to screw on to the M12 ends of the threaded rods (not easy tapping M12 sized holes in stainless steel!!)
- The counterweights can then be snugged up on a small flat platform on the tube wall which will make them more or less self-supporting (ie. negligible cantilevering).
- I made some knurled thumb nuts to lock the counterweights in place. My very first attempt at knurling - was supposed to be a diamond knurl but ended up with more of a spiral pattern as I didn't get one of the knurling wheels to "bed in" very well. Oh well, still looks OK.
- The only thing left to do is drill a small hole in the M12 end of each rod that can be used to tighten it on to the tube (by inserting a small screwdriver or similar through the hole to get some leverage).
You can see a rod / weight / knurled nut screwed together in the image to give an idea of what I am talking about. I went a bit overboard with the weights (3 x 600g and 2 x 300g), but I figured better to over do it a bit rather than get caught short later!