The first step was choosing the materials. I visited a couple of home improvement super stores, looking and pricing wood and other materials. I chose red oak for the legs and brass 1"x12"x0.64" strips for the guides.

(ABOVE:) Close Up Of The Top Guide. This Guide Moves With, And Is Attached To, The Center Leg Component only. My Metal Working Technique Was Rather Primitive But The Legs And Guides Are Strong And Adjust Nicely.

The outside leg components were made from red oak1"x2" (real dimensions 3/4"x1-1/2") x36"long. I shortened them to 32".

The middle leg component is actually made from laminating 3 pieces together. I needed the middle leg components to be 1-1/4" thick so that it matched the thickness of the projections on the tripod base, which are also 1-1/4" thick. The 3 legs attach and screw onto theses 3 tripod base projections. I had no access to a jointer/planer so I couldn't mill down a 1-1/2" thick piece down to 1-1/4". Because of the wierd way lumber is dimensioned, I laminated 3 pieces of red oak 1/2"x2" (real dimensions 7/16"x1-1/2") x 24" long which gave me the 1-1/4" thick dimension I needed. This means the outside leg components are parallel when screwed on to the projections of the tripod base so the center leg can move without binding or being too loose.

Laminating the three pieces together was easy. I just made sure I used plenty of glue and clamped the three pieces together for 8 hours. I used old clamps on the ends and screwed the vice down in the middle of each piece. The middle leg components are like a rock!

Fabricating the brass guides was the most difficult part of the whole project.  My concept for the guides was really simple. Wrap the brass strips around all three components, that make up each leg, and use screws to hold them together. The dimensions between each bend in the brass strip correspond to the dimensions of the legs. The top guide is fastened only to the center component and moves with the center leg component. In other words, it's adjustable.. The center legs must be adjustable in order to level the equatorial head. The bottom guides are fixed and fasten only to the two outside leg components.

Hammering the 6 brass strips so as to shape them into the guides was a bit of an ordeal. I made a few of the guides too tight so the legs would not move to adjust. I had to straighten them out and bend them all over again! Those poor brass strips took a terrible beating!! Next>>>