I make mine from weight lifting weights. all that's needed is a bush made to center hole to whatever the shaft diameter is. A hole drilled and tapped for a bolt to secure it from sliding about. Instead of paying upto $100 for a 5kg weight mine cost me about $10.
People pay for convenience, that's why. I can cook better than the take-away around the corner, but it's there, good to go, and requires no time or effort on my part. Also a lot of folks don't have the resources to drill big holes let alone tap threads in large chunks of iron or steel.
I hear that some people actually consider the aesthetics as well........
well, that's just silly since it's going to be used in the dark ... but you can always cover it all in Al-foil: make it look like bleeding-edge research equipment.
well, that's just silly since it's going to be used in the dark ... but you can always cover it all in Al-foil: make it look like bleeding-edge research equipment.
I didn't spend a small fortune on astro gear just to take it out in the night time, who knows what sort of icky things might be lurking in the dark to get onto the scopes......
I've found the cheapest alternative is to use gym weight. They have small 5kg/10kg plates and they're rubber coated so no rust. You just sandwich them between your existing counter weights and lock the lot.
In the past I made mine from capped poly pipe filled with fishing lead weights/sinkers, topped up with sand to stop any movement inside. They looked OK too.
Aerobic class ankle weights, odd bits of metal and finished off with trusty sticky tape = full flexibility and perfect balance ...the image cares not what the counter weights look like
I use a couple of weight plates to supplement my setup. Allows me to keep the extension short in the OB so I don't knock it in the dark.
The mount was supposed to come with two weights but one gone lost in the mail. Could always give them a quick coat of paint from a spray can if your aesthetics is offended. My money gets spent on more important gear.
This thread is relevant for me as I have a MESU 200 mount on the way, and it comes without counterweights. The MESU uses a 40mm diam counterweight bar so is sort of unique.
Weight lifter plates come with either a 32mm bore or the Olympic standard plates uses a 50mm bore. So do I buy the smaller bore and get it drilled to size, or the Olympic version and have it sleeved.
Probably end up doing what Bojan did and make my own with concrete and lead fishing sinkers mixed in.
Probably end up doing what Bojan did and make my own with concrete and lead fishing sinkers mixed in.
Cheers
Bill
You can take another approach: buy weights with 50mm bore and 3D-print the plastic sleeves.
Concrete weight (with 3D-printed plastic sleeve) is the cheapest option, though. I like the lead sinkers idea, it can significantly reduce the size of the weight.
... but you can always cover it all in Al-foil: make it look like bleeding-edge research equipment. 
...the image cares not what the counter weights look like 
