This is a garage sale fix up.
I assembled this telescope for another TAAS member from parts donated by
Robert Williams who in turn bought the OTA at a garage sale. The original
mount was missing and the orange steel tube was dented (I wish I had taken
a before shot). A little Bondo, a little paint and a rocker box made it like
new. The side bearings are PVC pipe caps, sanded to the tube profile. The
tube was so light the normal method of having the side bearings ride on Teflon
pads would not work--not enough friction. To fix this, I constructed the
rocker box in a way that caused the two V shaped UHMW plastic strips to rub
against the side of the tube and the side bearings. |
