Managed to get the last mounting finished and welded all three to the pier. I was sceptical at welding these, as I wanted a nice clean weld. The welds came up very nice, only because I practiced for about half an hour on scrap before hand.
Next job is to weld the legs tubing onto the plates.........
Now the process of making the stabilisation supports for the pier legs.
Step 1. Cut your pieces to size as accurately as possible, and grind the edges that are going to be welded at 45 degrees for better penetration. Clean up the faces that are going to be internal, as you wont be able to get to them later due to the size of the finished product.
Step 2. By using welding magnets, align at least three pieces together and tack weld lightly. If you start welding straight away, your material will start warping out of shape and alignment. Once you have the entire piece holding together by tack welds, only then start your welds on all the joints. Notice there are no welds on the inside, as its too hard to get a nice weld in such a small area.
Step 3. Grind off as much weld as possible with and angle grinder, be careful not to grind any edges accidentaly. Then if you have a linisher or a disk/belt sander, grind off the remaining weld until you reach a uniform finish. You can lower your grit to get a smoother result and also use it to chamfer your edges slightly so they are not sharp.
Next step, is to weld them onto the pier legs...........
Well, today I welded the supports to the pier legs.
In this stage of the process, the only crucial aspect is alignment, the welding in this case does not really matter as you will be grinding it off anyway.
When, grinding, be careful not to grind off too much, so its better to use a finer grit paper for the disk grinder. Yes, more work and time, but at least you lower the chances of stuffing something up.
Well, today I have pretty much been working on the pier all day.
Legs are completed and I have attatched them to the Pier to see the result. I'm happy to say the least.
The adjusting bolts work smoothly and levelling the pier is really easy.
I finally made the decision to get the pier painted in two-pack, so I got it back from the paint shop last week primed with 3 coats and baked between each coat. I will be taking the legs this weeks for priming.
Once I got all the parts primed then the sanding begins with 240 grit, then 400 grit and finally 600 grit. Then off to the paint shop again for final coat of white.
that should be nice, I hold a special spot in my heart for the good old eq6, i think its the amatures work horse, great bang for buck (well least it was). I have the big old 10" newt jammed up ontop and it tracks a dream. and now im getting my proceedure for setting up sorted, its getting easier.
the use of a engineers spirit level, a digital inclometer, and a good orienteering compass sees me to a very accurate alignment straight up . Now all i need is the guide scope and the camera! and ill start shooting my guts out
Though i have already stated my plans for the patch of lawn out the back corner so stay tuned, for a vewing deck come ROR and to that extent, 2 trees have already been "Sacrificed" HAZZAAAR :d
Got it back from the paint shop today, and it looks a million bucks!
Had to re-thread all the threads to clear the paint, and I also stuck some anti chip tape between the legs and the leg supports, just prevent any chipping when screwed on tightly.
I forgot to give them the rotating plate for painting, bugger! so that will have to wait until another time.
Mark, this is a fantastic job.
Your hard work and attention to detail has paid off with a pier that you can be well proud of.
Thanks for sharing the progress of this building project, I am sure that it will inspire many of us into doing something similar.
i like the way you have taken your time to put it together right, though its also handy having the tools.
. Now all i need is the guide scope and the camera! 
