When getting ready to photograph the sky a significant amount of time is spent setting up the mount. This eats into exposure time and on marginal nights becomes a decision point on whether it’s worth setting up at all. I decided to build a permanent pier in my backyard for my trusty Orion Sirius mount to make setup quicker and hopefully get in more exposure time.
I started by designing the steel pier itself. As is often the case with my projects, this led to a significant tangent. I wanted to do the design with a CAD program, but that wasn’t really part of my “current skill set.” I had learned and used AutoCAD a little bit many years ago, but now what I need is a “simple” 2D CAD software that’s free. I did some digging and came up with NanoCAD. There’s a bit of a learning curve, but there are excellent tutorial videos and copious information to be found online. It’s similar to what I remember from old versions of AutoCAD; in the end I’m happy with it and totally recommend it.
Having designed a lovely pier I set about finding a welder. An acquaintances’ son is a welder, and I got in touch and sent him my drawing and asked for a price. I was truly shocked with the price he gave me, although I admit I had not thought realistically about what it would actually cost. The project came to a screeching halt in the middle of the phone call, and I had to apologize that I was out of my depth on cost. I made it clear I didn’t question the value of his skills – I know enough to appreciate a welder’s skills – but the number was out of question for me. Good fellow that he is, within a week he had found some leftover material that was in fact slightly better than what I had specified, and he worked a price for me that I could just barely get my wallet around. I was back in business!
P.S. If you ever need a welder in Dutchess County, NY, Dan Winne is your man! (email me for contact info)
A few days later I picked it up – truly beautiful as raw steel, but I knew I would need to paint it for protection.
Now I had to dig a hole for the footing. I’ve done enough hole-digging to be worried, but there was no cure for it except to do it. That was a full Saturday project. Very much like real work!
The footing needs some concrete…
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The steel pier needs some holes drilled. For the base we need 11/16 holes. The bottom plate is 3/8″ thick. This is not going to be easy.
Now we need a piece to fit the telescope mount to the top of the pier. There are some nice fancy aluminum ones available but they’re quite pricey. I saw that a couple of people had tried 3D printing these, but I didn’t see any follow-ups to say how well they worked. While less than ideal for stability, I decided it was worth a try for the potential cost savings. I’m lucky my friend Bill has a 3D printer, so I designed a part as sturdy as I could, and will print in with 100% infill for added strength.
Bill tells me it’s going to take NINE HOURS AND TWENTY-SEVEN MINUTES to print this thing so I’ll be back when we see the result.
Check back for updates!
