RE: ATM Telescoping truss tubes

["Bruce Sayre" <sayre@foothill.net>]

Kurt Maurer asked: "I'd be most interested to hear if anyone
has [used threaded tube fittings], and if so, what comments
might be made."

Although I haven't used them, I think they would work very
well. Rather than screwing the tube onto a fixed stud, you
might consider using thumbscrews and pieces of aluminum
angle mounted at a slight angles on both the mirror box and
the top cage. You would insert the thumbscrews through the
angles and into the connectors inside the tubes.

This lets you cut the tube square and provides a flush fit
with metal-to-metal contact. You should be able to really
cinch down the tubes and get a much stronger joint than one
provided by traditional clamps.

I assemble my 20" truss tubes using a similar approach with
custom-machined, threaded tube end plugs and spherical
washers (which I need because the thumbscrews aren't
perpendicular to the upper and lower end ring surfaces).
See my Web site for details.

Bruce Sayre
Applegate, California USA
mailto:sayre@foothill.net
http://www.foothill.net/~sayre/