Recently I acquired a near mint Berlebach Uni24 tripod at around half price from a photographer. My aim was to use it for my EQ6 mount, and knowing that the original head diameter was 160mm, it seemed an ideal tripod for conversion. Of course Berlebach do offer the "planet" range of tripods which come ready to place the mount of your choice - probably around AUD$1000 for most of them by the time they get to your home address.
I started the conversion by rough cutting a 155mm circle from a piece of 6mm aluminium plate. This plate was then spun in the lathe to 149mm diameter, fitting nicely inside the Berlebach head. The round piece was then held in the lathe and a 65mm diameter centre cut.
Three 5mm holes drilled 90mm from the centre, countersunk and a fourth hole drilled between two of these for the azimuth stop.
The adapter plate was fitted to the head with 3 x 5mm countersunk screws.
The hole for the stop was tapped to M10x1.5 and a cut down stainless 50mm bolt used as the stop.
All fitted to the stripped tripod head (removing the rubber took a while)
The centre hole was then drilled out 30mm to a depth of 13mm.
All up very pleased with the result. My aim was to make a more portable mount than my tension leg pier. I have achieved this as the tripod will fit in the back of my 4WD upright!
Great work John, they're excellent tripods. I have the Planet which I bought secondhand, it came with the 3/8" screw top plate. Telescope Express supplied a new top plate to suit my T-Rex last week.
I am not sure if the Uni top plates can be ordered separately.
Excellent result John. I enjoy fashioning astro parts too as a self taught machinist.
I will be interested to hear how you find the stability of the tripod. It looks like it should perform well.
