CAGE

This pic shows the cage assembled around the tube-it essentially splits in two parts-held together by 4 long bolts and nuts-2 at top-visible in pic-and 2 underneath (hidden in this view). the contact surface on the tube can be lined with felt or anything spongy to grip tube tightly-it can be positioned anywhere on the tube to get correct balance and is very sturdy. This pic shows the side bearings assembled. The end pieces are screwed to all side & top pieces.
Different angle - shows how it fits onto base-also details screws holding end pieces in position and better view of the top-from this you should get a good idea on constructingthis part-I used carpet underlay around the inside of the end pieces to "grip" the tube tightly, important when it is pointing at zenith-you don't want it slipping out of cage and wrecking mirrors!

PARTS

2 off large pieces of wood for End pieces-make sure they are wider than tube diameter by at least an inch on sides and 2-3 inches top and bottom. Draw a circle (CRITICAL DIMENSION) in the middle-make it wide enough to cater for the gripping/cushioning material you are using-drill a hole on the inner edge of one of the circles big enough for a jigsaw blade-then saw out circles-it is important that circles on both end pieces align closely-or you end up with a scope skewed out of line when assembled in base-refer to pix above-sketch out details yourself before cutting anything to ensure you know that what you intend to do will work!-cut each end piece in half down centreline-now each end piece is in 2 parts!-check they fit snugly round tube-if not-plane down parts you sawed to get split to increase gap-glue on felt at tube contact surfaces.

2 off pieces of wood for side pieces-these will eventually hold the bearings for mounting scope assembly on the base. make sure they are exactly the same size.

2 off top & 2 off bottom pieces-same length as side pieces-make them half the width-you will have to drill right through the sides in two places to take the long bolts for tightening the cage around the tube, I ended up using same dimensions as side pieces, drilling holes through the edges with a long drill (alignment is important) and then splitting the piece down the middle to end up with 2 parts with perfectly aligned holes.

Before finally assembling all the pieces-line them up, mark them up and pre drill before inserting screws to prevent splitting of materials, its also worthwhile applying glue to all contact surfaces.

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