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Wednesday, November 3, 2021

A Part That I Wish That I Had Photographed Before Installing It

Some years ago, I used a Celestron CI-700 mount for the (too) massive 17.5" reflector that has gone through many iterations over the years.  Before my stroke, I was strong enough to take the 65 pound OTA (optical tube assembly) off the mount by myself.  As I backed up I backed into the mount which had about 60 pounds of counterweight on it, so it tipped over and one of the parts inside responsible for latitude adjustment broke.  (Cast Chinese aluminum.) So I needed to either repair or replace.  (No chance of finding replacement parts.)  Attempts at welding were a waste of time, so I decided to machine a replacement.   This is the drawing.
I had not had the vertical mill (manual not CNC at that time).  I also used a drill press to drill the round end of that slot.  To be my amazement, it worked perfectly. 

2 comments:

  1. Heh. Congratulations. Now don't be questioning success (I think amazement often leads to such). Just enjoy it. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Heh. Congratulations. Now don't be questioning success (I think amazement often leads to such). Just enjoy it. :-)

    ReplyDelete