ATM More Optical Tooling

[Anthony Stillman <atmer@flash.net>]

When I last posted about my tip-tilt mount, I estimated I had, in twenty
days, completed 95 percent of it.  After another month, a couple of back
steps, some good advice, a little more epoxy, and a coat of battleship gray
cement paint, I would say it's now 99 percent done.  It still needs a
couple of bits screwed onto the back to hold it upright.  However, I as
yet, have nothing on which to hold it upright on.

An optical table.

Next on my list is the construction of an optical table.   Today, I
purchased the majority of wood I will use in its assembly.  Yea, I know,
but if I could afford to make it out of graphite epoxy composite and Invar
steel, I would instead be motoring to the Winter mansion on the coast in a
Lexus.  The Porsche of course, being in the shop.

Anyway, the plan is to use the same construction technique I did for the
tip-tilt mount.  The top and bottom of the table are of tempered hard
board. The side panels and internal structure had originally been planned
as composite board.  But after some bending experiments, I've opted for
milled lumber again.  Since I seal the wood inside and out, I'm hoping
humidity won't warp the bed too obnoxiously down the road.

The table dimensions are 3 feet wide, 8 feet long and 4 inches thick.  The
1/4-20 insert hole spacing is again 3 inches.  This means an array of 384
holes, ugh.   Thanks to Jim Miller, I now know I needn't use T-nuts, and
pry over some 1500 plus little spiky things.  Instead I'm ordering 400
weld-nuts from  McMaster-Carr.  No spiky things, and I save money.

The three foot dimension might seem a little odd, two issues drove this.
First, I have to store the table.  On the garage ceiling actually (thanks
Ken).  And though a 4 foot wide table could fit between the beams, it would
required me doing the "C" thing(1).  Second,  I figure it's a good idea
that I be able to move around the table.  When I suck it in, I can just
side step though a one foot wide space(2).

I'm not entirely sure how the table will ultimately be supported.  I'd like
to float it on air.  And, between now and dream land I'm thinking two saw
horses and some high density foam.

Foolishly, I photo-documented the construction of the tip-tilt mount, and
for some strange reason feel compelled to do the same for the optical
table.  This of course means I must now enter the 1990's and figure out how
to put up a web page(3).

Anthony


1)  Clean
2)  I'm editing the clutter out of any pictures I put up.  No one must know.
3)  When I was a kid we didn't have no new-fangled internet.  A web was
where a spider lived and a sight was a cute girl.  And we liked it like
that.