The clamping parts for the axes...
But that's not all of them, oh no...
Buttons...
- buttons.jpg (25.09 KiB) Viewed 7464 times
...black, plastic, buttons. Those two buttons have no business whatsoever being inside my mount-head.
Many years ago, I ordered a special tool from the Preac Tool company of Bellmore, New York...
It came with two options: a small table, and a large table. As you can see, I splurged. Sadly, the company, and the owner, are no longer with us.
Brass is non-ferrous, too...
- brass rod3.jpg (10.01 KiB) Viewed 7464 times
Glamour shot of the finished, bevelled, brass buttons...
- clamp buttons2ha.jpg (17.91 KiB) Viewed 7464 times
Aside from the habit of making a metal replacement for a plastic part thinner and/or smaller, I wanted to ensure that the clamping-levers engaged with their stops...
...so I made the new brass buttons a little thinner than those unspeakable.
I could've made the brass button for the
DEC-clamp the same thickness as the others, yea, thicker even, but there's still enough clearance between the lever and the body; in the locked position...
If it ever proves to be a problem, I can make another, and thicker.
Alas, here we go again: yet another problem with Synta's quality-control. Once I installed the clamp-lever for the
RA-axis, it clamped just fine, but when unlocked the lever was too loose, sloppy, wiggly, so I installed a 0.005" thick aluminium shim into the threaded hole, about halfway round...
...fixed. As to the shim's longevity, your guess is as good as my own. I can always make another, or one of brass, or bronze perhaps.
It just so happens that a fellow member within another astronomy forum had the exact same problem, in the exact same spot, and with their Sky-Watcher
EQ-5. Sounds like a going concern.
These are Chinese clones of those Japanese, but something got lost in the translation.
Both axes, with the clamps engaged, do not move, at all, even when a bit of force is applied. No need to apply more force to test, and risk damaging the outside surfaces of the worm-gears. What I did was quite satisfactory.