Tripod Legs

I mentioned a design problem several weeks ago about how to keep the inner tripod legs from falling out the bottom of the outer legs.  There is enough disparity in the leg dimensions that it would not be a close enough fit to rely on friction.

One of you made a suggestion so elegantly simple that I have abandoned my attempts to machine an all carbon fiber solution.

The inner legs are 3/4" inside square and just a few hundredths inch thick wall.  The outer legs are 1.03" +- .02 inside.  I can buy 1/16" x 24" strips which I will epoxy onto the 3/4" square inner legs.  (This makes the inner leg very close to the inside inner dimension of the outer tube.  I can use thumbs screws at the bottom of the outer leg to lock the inner leg in position.

At the top of the inner leg I will drill a hole large enough for a nylon guitar string.  At the top of the outer leg, another where I will use a stainless steel SHCS to hold the other end of a 24" long guitar string (perhaps a little shorter to make sure the inner leg does not slide out).

The screw at the top of the outer leg is to simply removal of the inner leg for repair if needed.  Both legs will be cut at 60 degree angle to get a flat surface match.

I have also mastered the gCode for cutting circles.  If the legal historian work ever relents the first step will be cutting .875" holes in those 1" squares for the needle bearings.  The first attempt produced.872" holes so I may fiddle with the radius slightly until I get .875" ID.  Maybe start with the nominal .875" hole then adjust the radius .,005" until I hit the needed ID.

I also need a 4" OD disc on which the ears that hold the mount in various latitudes will be screwed as well as the slots into which the tripod legs will be mounted on a .5" axis.  This will be clearer when it transitions from the drawings in my mind to pieces of carbon fiber that I can photograph.