Been busy in the workshop. I have hit a road bump with my 6" f5 TravelScope build with truss securing so have been fabricating some of the spider hardware.
Wanted it small and light weight but also robust enough to not move during transport so went back to my build for the original 10" and with better tools made a better smaller version.
So from 20mm square alum tubing it uses a hard rubber block internally as a pivot and lock for the mirror axis and 4 small screws to adjust mirror angle. Haven't done the vanes yet, a pair wings in 20mm wide 1mm thick alum which will mount against the bare area below the screws with a couple of small self tappers. It will get a coat of satin black soon to finish it off but it's extremely solid. Only 32 mm wide at the screws, the diag is 43mm at it's narrowest axis.
I'm building a 25 mm one now with a slightly different design reducing the weight further as an exercise, they are quite fun to build and putting the mill and lathe to good use.
Pics below, the 25mm version is shown mocked up in the last pic for comparison. I was looking at using a copper mirror support plate to handle heat distribution for dew control at the diag.
If anyone is in 'build' mode I'd be interested in offering a custom made at cost plus a bit of labour & time. The design is quite flexible for positioning vertically and laterally and as I said very solid and stable.
