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Skeletope II was built from the guts ( Mirror, Secondary and Focusser ) of Skeletope I so it could be carried on an EQ6. I got the bare 'OTA' weight down to 11kg and with all accessories loaded it is about 18kg.
I bought a router to cut better circles but they could have been done carefully with my existing jig saw and the rest was just with common hand tools. A lot of the materials, tubes, wood was recovered from scrap being chucked at work (lucky timing with their big clean out I admit). As Lee says it was worth it for the experience if nothing else and it has been a very successful build as far as I am concerned.
The Serrurier truss design eliminates the need for any extra balance weights. The triangular bracing and short tube lengths of the design means you are not using biger diameter tubing to maintain rigidity, Mine was strong enough to stand on end and I could stand on it but it's only using lightweight 20mm alum tube.
Biggest issue is accuracy and care in the design and build to keep it all square and straight.
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