Thus
far the project has taken 10 days averaging about 4 hours work each day.
Balancing
the tubes in the cradle and making the tube/cradle attachments leaves us ready
to make a coupler to link the tube upper ends.
Rigel finder, finder scope and plywood scraps approximating coupler
weight are taped on upper tubes prior to final balancing.
cage
balanced via ¼” bolts tubes balanced
in cage accessories taped in
place tube shimmed then drilled
ply/masonite
tube reinforcement w/5/8” t nuts glued and ready to attach using temp plywood scrap
reinforcement
glued down ¼” & ½” masonite
shims go on bolts then tube is slid into place and bolted to
tube
reinforcement t nuts
Balancing
the tubes with accessories attached and then shimming to center in cradle was
tedious, but the result is well aligned tubes, one swinging up/down, the other
left/right. Either or both tubes can be adjusted within the cradle by changing
number and thickness of shims on either side of tube, should any further “fine
tuning” be needed. I used 5/8” hex head
machine bolts to attach the tubes--easier to get allen wrench into center space
between tubes to attach the up/down tube.