AOS Samson spruce up.

[croweater (Richard)]

Hi crew. I gave my old 80's Samson mount a clean up the last few days. I've had it since I bought it off Claude (AEC) second hand about '92. Pulled it to pieces and gave it a paint job in gloss grey (I never was keen on the original blue). Wiped/sprayed silicone spray over all the parts. Still moves and runs very smoothly. I'm waiting for a vixen/losmandy plate to arrive and will bolt that on. Joshua Bunn made a lovely set of tube rings for my Parks 8 inch f6 a while ago so will be good to go. The mount is very heavy for me now so I might have to put wheels on it.
Cheers, Richard

[Wilso]

Nice Richard,
Still looks blue in the photo though
I wonder if you could fit those flip down casters to the base?
Just a thought , looks nice sometimes the older gear is better

[croweater (Richard)]

Originally Posted by Wilso

Nice Richard,
Still looks blue in the photo though
I wonder if you could fit those flip down casters to the base?
Just a thought , looks nice sometimes the older gear is better

Thanks Wilso. Yeah it does look a bit like pale blue. It's actually more grey in reality. The original blue was quite dark. Ive been looking at heavy duty castors in Bunnings. Yes the old stuff was built pretty solid. Stainless 1 and1/4 inch shafts, cast iron and steel. Some aluminium. No wobbles with this thing. Was very well built. It will outlast me I think haha.
Thanks for your interest.

[croweater (Richard)]

Wheels added, plus dovetail clamp for rings
Cheers Richard

[Tinderboxsky (Steve)]

Looking good, Richard. I like it.

Steve.

[croweater (Richard)]

Originally Posted by Tinderboxsky

Looking good, Richard. I like it.

Steve.

Thanks Steve. I appreciate your interest. You may have noticed I have an embroidery ring in front of the 1st tube ring. Works pretty good for rotating the tube when rings are loosened to give a good eyepiece position.
Cheers, Richard

[doppler (Rick)]

Hi Richard,

How is your plastic / nylon? worm ring gear holding up?. I have an old Samson mount in the shed 240v motor still works but the teeth on the ring gear are pretty bad. One day I might get around to restoring it. And yes they are a solid mount compered with today's offerings.
Cheers Rick

[croweater (Richard)]

Originally Posted by doppler

Hi Richard,

How is your plastic / nylon? worm ring gear holding up?. I have an old Samson mount in the shed 240v motor still works but the teeth on the ring gear are pretty bad. One day I might get around to restoring it. And yes they are a solid mount compered with today's offerings.
Cheers Rick

Hi Rick. Yeah the teeth are still in pretty good nick. Just curious, what would you do to replace the gear? I believe it was lapped to the worm. Hope you get yours going someday. It's a pretty nice mount to use. No vibrating when you breathe on it
Cheers, Richard

[doppler (Rick)]

It was a freebie, but I am sure there would be a way to plastic cast a new one, most of the "teeth" are in tact. Just another thing in the retirement to do list.