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Saturday, October 7, 2023

Not Made in PRC

 I am used to buying fasteners made in Taiwan; it makes me happy.  If only they made telescope mounts.  I needed some 10-24 knurled thumbscrews.  Why?  The antique Edmund's Scientific mirror cell on the scope my father and I made had a feature that I have seen nowhere else.

First of all, mirror cells have adjustment screws for collimating the mirror's optical axis to the diagonal and eyepiece focuser.  There are usually three such adjustment screws; some fancy mounts have nine, although I do not see why.  The Edmund's mirror cell also has three locking screws. Once collimated, if you don't movbe the scope around very much, it should stay collimated once those locking screws from the frame that attaches to the tube have been turned against the frame that holds the mirror.  Those screws were Philips head and ugly from too many years near salt water.  I wanted some thumbscrews, easier to tighten and loosen.

I found some 10-24x1 1/2" thumbscrews and not made in PRC or Taiwan.



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