( ABOVE): Total cost of the red oak tripod project was around $50

After using an 8" Dob for two years, I decided to ease my way into astrophotography with a Celestron C8. I chose the G-8 model because it's FastStar compatible and comes with an German equatorial mount, the CG-5. The nice thing about this versatile mount is that it can be used with other tube assemblies. Several other amateurs have re-built this mount and made it usable for astrophotography, as well. This quickly became my plan.

The first thing I did to the CG-5 was to dismantle it completely and clean the thick glue-like grease from all the components inside the head. The best guide for this intricate process is a Web page by Jeff DeTray (Astronomy Boy) at http://www.astronomyboy.com/ . You must have clear directions if you've never done this before. Even with Jeff's excellent resource, there are many ways to go wrong. After the head was dismantled, I was impressed by the quality of the machining and the robustness of the mount. Mine had two ball bearings in the R.A. axis. This reinforced my belief that the CG-5 could become a sound platform for visual and CCD imaging. I was convinced!

Once the head was re-built, the next logical step was to replace the tripod. I looked into Surveyor's tripods but I wasn't sure if the head on the CG-5 would match the tripod. I also considered buying after market wood legs from Nature Watch Tripods at: http://www.naturewatchshop.com/ . In the end I decided to try building the legs myself. I had no plans, just a few simple concepts inside my head.

I don't own any fancy wood working tools, just a basic work bench with a vice. Some of the tools I absolutely needed were, a vice, hammer, hack saw, wood saw, two old rusty clamps, drill motor, file, and various common hand tools. I happened to have an old brass hammer. This is designed to leave a minimum of dimpling in the brass when you shape it with the hammer. However, I had to straighten and then re-shape some of the brass strips. They were totally beat up by the time I was done with them so don't be overly concerned about appearances. Next>>>