My permanent pier with my brake rotor pier mount
- Kerry C.
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My permanent pier with my brake rotor pier mount
I decided to do pavers around the pier because I had some laying around not being used.
I think the brake rotor pier mount turned out pretty good. I am patiently waiting for some clear skies to get back to imaging.
Anyway I thought I’d share some photos here.
Come on clear skies!
Kerry
Scopes; William Optics GT 81mm Triplet, TS Optics APO 102mm f/7refractor, Cestron Nexstar 8SE, Gskyer 80mm x 400mm refractor
Mount; Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro
Cameras; ZWO ASI 2600MC Pro, QHY5iii462C, ZWO ASI224MC, Canon 600D DSLR T3i.
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Re: My permanent pier with my brake rotor pier mount
I hope you get a lot of use from it.
The only thing I will suggest is try it in that position then try it lower down on the spreader bolts.
Long steel bolts under tension like to act like tuning forks.
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Re: My permanent pier with my brake rotor pier mount
Nice bit of work. You should get a lot from it.
You have cameras. Do you have any photos?
(Your neighbors seem close. )
Best Regards,
Mike M.
Michael E. Marotta
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Re: My permanent pier with my brake rotor pier mount
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- Kerry C.
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Re: My permanent pier with my brake rotor pier mount
Yes I plan on decreasing that space. I just have it that way while I get things set up.Lady Fraktor wrote: ↑Fri May 21, 2021 4:51 am What a great idea Kerry!
I hope you get a lot of use from it.
The only thing I will suggest is try it in that position then try it lower down on the spreader bolts.
Long steel bolts under tension like to act like tuning forks.
When all is said and done I’ll just have enough room to have access to the mount bolt for tightening.
Thanks for looking out for me.
Scopes; William Optics GT 81mm Triplet, TS Optics APO 102mm f/7refractor, Cestron Nexstar 8SE, Gskyer 80mm x 400mm refractor
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Re: My permanent pier with my brake rotor pier mount
Thanks. I hope it serves me well.mikemarotta wrote: ↑Fri May 21, 2021 11:53 pmNice bit of work. You should get a lot from it.
You have cameras. Do you have any photos?
(Your neighbors seem close. )
Best Regards,
Mike M.
Yes I have cameras. I’m not sure what you mean by having any photos, but yes I do have a few.
Kerry
Scopes; William Optics GT 81mm Triplet, TS Optics APO 102mm f/7refractor, Cestron Nexstar 8SE, Gskyer 80mm x 400mm refractor
Mount; Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro
Cameras; ZWO ASI 2600MC Pro, QHY5iii462C, ZWO ASI224MC, Canon 600D DSLR T3i.
Guide scope; ZWO 60280 f/4.6
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Re: My permanent pier with my brake rotor pier mount
I love re-purposing items like this.
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Re: My permanent pier with my brake rotor pier mount
It would be great to see the construction phase photos. Did you cast the pier in concrete?
It's definitely the way to go for me eventually. The time that I will struggle to lift the mount and tripod together will probably coincide with the time that I retire (a few years!) I best start the design phase now.
Did you make the pier mount adapter? Or is that a Skywatcher thing?
Regards
Graeme
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Re: My permanent pier with my brake rotor pier mount
cameras : asi 1600mm-c/asi1600mm-c,asi120mc,prostar lp guidecam, nikkon d60, sony a7,asi 290 mm
mounts : eq6 pro/eq8/mesu 200 v2
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- Kerry C.
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Re: My permanent pier with my brake rotor pier mount
Thanks Graeme,Graeme1858 wrote: ↑Sat May 22, 2021 7:49 am Great project Kerry.
It would be great to see the construction phase photos. Did you cast the pier in concrete?
It's definitely the way to go for me eventually. The time that I will struggle to lift the mount and tripod together will probably coincide with the time that I retire (a few years!) I best start the design phase now.
Did you make the pier mount adapter? Or is that a Skywatcher thing?
Regards
Graeme
I have photos of most of the construction, I’ll post those photos hear.
So yes, the pier itself is concrete reinforced with rebar, it is 8” in diameter and goes 3’ in the ground, the top of the cement is 37” above ground. I used 6 bags of 60# concrete mix, they cost $3.25 per bag. I had to use 2 concrete tubes joined together then cut to the length I needed for my pier, $10 each. The rebar was about $6.
The pier mount is made from 2 brake rotors. This is not my idea, copied it from a thread on Cloudy Nights. I ordered my rotors off of Amazon, they were $15.00 each. The HEQ5PRO and AVX mounts as well as a few others have a 60mm center mount hub. The rotors I ordered match up perfectly with this. What rotors you use would depend on your mount. I used a piece of scrap aluminum for the cross brace that the center mount bolt attaches to the scope mount.
A few nuts and bolts, 1 can of rattle can paint, a drill, and a couple of taps for your preferred bolt size.
Anyway, if you have other questions I’ll try to answer as best as I can. Here are some construction build photos. Sorry for the random order.
Kerry
Scopes; William Optics GT 81mm Triplet, TS Optics APO 102mm f/7refractor, Cestron Nexstar 8SE, Gskyer 80mm x 400mm refractor
Mount; Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro
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- Thefatkitty
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Re: My permanent pier with my brake rotor pier mount
Nice bit of work for sure!
All the best,
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Re: My permanent pier with my brake rotor pier mount
When I built my last pier I used a piece of scrap aluminum (3/8" thick) that I picked up from the scrap yard for $5.00. Sure beats the expensive 'store bought" ones!!!
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Re: My permanent pier with my brake rotor pier mount
Thanks Gordon. If/when I upgrade my mount I’ll keep the bottom rotor and manufacture the upper portion out of aluminum to fit whatever mount I get. Now that I know what I am doing it should be pretty straightforward.
Kerry
Scopes; William Optics GT 81mm Triplet, TS Optics APO 102mm f/7refractor, Cestron Nexstar 8SE, Gskyer 80mm x 400mm refractor
Mount; Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro
Cameras; ZWO ASI 2600MC Pro, QHY5iii462C, ZWO ASI224MC, Canon 600D DSLR T3i.
Guide scope; ZWO 60280 f/4.6
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Re: My permanent pier with my brake rotor pier mount
Very very clever. Most of the machining and holes that you would need to do to a solid piece are already done here. And because you are repurposing a common mass produced part, you aren't paying the astronomy tax.
I have been known to look in the discard bin of engineering shops and have found bits and pieces that only needed minor re-machining to re-purpose.
When I was 19, I saw a truck brake drum in the waste bin of my university mechanical engineering dept. The flange was bolted down and the drum slid exactly inside my steel pier almost like it was machined to fit.
The only thing I had to do was to drill and tap some holes in the pier to lock the pier to the drum.
This really should go in the
Thanks for your post.
Joe
Amateur astronomer since 1978...................Web site : http://joe-cali.com/
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Re: My permanent pier with my brake rotor pier mount
Thanks Joe,OzEclipse wrote: ↑Tue May 25, 2021 10:10 pm Hi Kerry,
Very very clever. Most of the machining and holes that you would need to do to a solid piece are already done here. And because you are repurposing a common mass produced part, you aren't paying the astronomy tax.
I have been known to look in the discard bin of engineering shops and have found bits and pieces that only needed minor re-machining to re-purpose.
When I was 19, I saw a truck brake drum in the waste bin of my university mechanical engineering dept. The flange was bolted down and the drum slid exactly inside my steel pier almost like it was machined to fit.
The only thing I had to do was to drill and tap some holes in the pier to lock the pier to the drum.
This really should go in the ATM or Home Observatory section.
Thanks for your post.
Joe
Like I said it wasn’t my idea but I did a few of my own mods to suit my needs.
I have had a chance to use it and I am very very pleased with the outcome.
My guiding has improved a lot which I give credit to the permanent pier.
I didn’t know for sure where to put this thread. If it needs to be moved perhaps a moderator could do that.
Kerry
Scopes; William Optics GT 81mm Triplet, TS Optics APO 102mm f/7refractor, Cestron Nexstar 8SE, Gskyer 80mm x 400mm refractor
Mount; Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro
Cameras; ZWO ASI 2600MC Pro, QHY5iii462C, ZWO ASI224MC, Canon 600D DSLR T3i.
Guide scope; ZWO 60280 f/4.6
Guide camera; ASI290mm mini
Filters; Optolong L-eXtreme 2”, Optolong L-Pro 2”, QHYCCD IR/CUT, QHYCCD IR850
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Re: My permanent pier with my brake rotor pier mount
I went ahead and moved this to the "Home Observatories" subforum.
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED80CF, Skywatcher 200 Quattro Imaging Newt, SeeStar S50 for EAA.
Mounts: Orion Atlas EQ-g mount & Skywatcher EQ5 Pro.
ZWO mini guider.
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Re: My permanent pier with my brake rotor pier mount
Mount/tripod's: Meade LXD-75 EQ; Orion Starseeker IV ALT/AZ; Celestron Heavy Duty ALT/AZ Farpoint UBM (Universal Binocular Mount)
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Barlows: Orion 2x Shorty; Meade 4000 Series 3x
Binoculars:Brunton 10x50 Celestron Skymaster 15x70 Oberwerk 25x100 IF delux
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