To draw your circles on the plywood, use trammel points or just a screw, pencil and a piece of string. The fin support was about 9" tall by 4" wide.The fin was a little over 12" wide by 13.5" tall.The ground and base board were both about 14" in diameter.Do you have a small newtonian that needs some extra height on the fin and a bigger base to support it? Are you using a very small spotting scope? For reference, here are some measurements that I used: Mine was about 12" long by about 5" in diameter, and not very heavy - I'd say 4 pounds. For your base and ground boards, consider your own telescope's parameters. A support piece for the fin so it doesn't flop around or break.A large "fin" to extend up from the base board to where the telescope mounts.A circle of the same diameter as above for the base board, which the mount attaches to.A circle for the ground board, which is what the whole thing sits on. To create this design you really only need to cut four different pieces out of the plywood (three if you use the cake plate as a base): The cake plate was about 1-1/2" thick by 14". I loosely based this design off two things: the aforementioned Orion Starblast telescope, and a wooden cake plate I found kicking around in my garage. Trammel points or a piece of string and a wood screw.Disc sander or drill drum sander attachment (optional).Sandpaper (sander is helpful but not necessary).Wood screws (about 1" long but might vary depending on your wood, etc).2x 3/8" bolt about 2.5 - 3" long plus washers and nylok nut.Aluminum or steel stock, ~2" wide by 6" long.A few pieces of teflon or furniture glides.About 14" in diameter, anything 12"-18" would also work - too much bigger gets unwieldy. Thick wooden cake plate/board for the base, (you can use plywood for this, but the cake plate is thicker and heavier).Sheet of 3/4" plywood - I prefer baltic birch for the look and sturdiness, but use what you have!.I used a vintage Celestron C90 from the 80s, which is a 4" Maksutov style telescope. This Instructable is entered into the Modify It Speed Challenge contest - be sure to vote if it's useful or inspirational! I based the design parameters off this telescope's mount, which is regularly used as a checkout telescope for libraries around the country. I created this project for my nieces (three of them aged 8-18) and they love it. If you have a small spotting scope or maksutov telescope (up to ~4" in mirror diameter and short, about 18" long at most), follow along to upgrade it to a tabletop telescope mount that is easy to make and even easier to use! I find this a helpful upgrade to a telescope to make it more user-friendly, especially for kids. I made my first telescope with not much more than a $2 corded drill and a jigsaw, and chose this style - I've been in love with it since! They are functional, dead simple, reliable, sturdy, cheap, and can be made out of a variety of woods with simple tools. I'm very much into astronomy and telescopes, and have a keen interest in altitude/azimuth (alt-az) mounts. This Instructable details making a mount to repurpose a spotting scope or small telescope that would normally mount on a tripod or equatorial mount onto a small alt-az or dobsonian mount. He is now publishing personal Instructables over at member ID MechaNickW. Author's note: This Instructable was written and published by our Making and Tinkering Programs Manager, who's personal Instructable account we co-opted.
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