Anybody seen any Formica sheets in the sheds or any other place (I'm in Chesterfield Derbyshire area)
Want about a square meter to cut a circle out of for a hard wearing slippy surface for my telescope rotatable base. Other method might be a "lazy susan bearing" but that would need to be about 24" diameter and most that are for sale are max 12".
Thanks guys
I haven't seen Formica sheets in any of the diy sheds. I have seen similar sheet materials in specialist timber merchants. You should be able to locate a stockist via
You could also try your question on uk.sci.astronomy. They're normally quite helpful (well, they have been in the past).
The message from "Philip Thompson" contains these words:
What about a car wheel hub? Weld a stout frame onto it and set the stub axle in concrete. Very solid, very smooth.
An alternative which worked for my dobsonian, a large baseframe from
2*4 timber with a vertical pin and 4 ptfe pads, one surrounding the pin and 3 equidistant from the pin. The four pads support the base of the box which locates on the pin to form its azimuth bearing. I made the base of the box from coated mdf...the sort of stuff kitchen cabinets are made from, very slightly textured and quite slippery. The trick is to made the central ptfe pad one thickness of paper higher than the three surrounding ones. This gives freedom to move but retains sufficent stiction, my telescope can be moved with a touch of my small finger (10" f/6 Newtonian)"Grumps" typed
but ignore/killfile 'Oriel 36'...
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