Ultra-light and portable observing chair
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An observing chair and a map/eyepiece table
are nice accoutrements when observing. Many years ago I
bought a nice observing chair made of oak from KC
Woodsmith who no longer sells them. That chair, being made
of oak, is too heavy for airplane transport and, importantly,
does not come apart. My normal observing table is the
standard roll-up camping table which is pretty heavy
and relatively bulky. For my trip to
Australia, I decided to make the ultra-light
and ultra-portable chair, pictured here, and table, described
elsewhere.
Most of my observing buddies feel that sitting down at the eypiece versus standing up gives you nearly an extra magnitude. I agree, and at high power it becomes really important to sit. |
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The chair was modeled after the one made by KC Woodsmith, but mine is made of poplar, a lightweight hardwood, and it comes all apart as shown here so it can pack in the box with my sleeping bag and aluminum truss poles for the telescope. The three long pieces of wood at the bottom are joined together by short pieces of 3/4" aluminum tubing (the top 3 pieces of tubing seen in the upper right of the picture) using threaded inserts in the end (as seen below) to screw in either 1/4" threaded rod or 1/4-20 bolts. The 3 pieces of poplar above the long ones are used to generate the back legs while the 2 top pieces of wood, along with the 6x13" 1/4" ply on the right are used to make the seat. The seat is joined by the two longer pieces of 3/4" aluminum tubing. The canvas strap is an old Boy Scout belt and holds the front and back legs at the proper distance apart. |
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The threaded inserts that pound into the end of
the 3/4" aluminum tubing are from Superior
Components. They wedge irreversibly into the end of the tube and have a 1/4-20 thread inside.
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The aluminium tubes are used to assemble the three long pieces of poplar to form the back of the chair. At the top of the back, shown here, the 1/4-20 bolts are countersunk into the wood to allow the seat to slip over. |
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The central portion of the back also provides the attachment point for the back legs shown here. Wing nuts on 1/4-20 threaded rod attach the legs to the back. |
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If you want a more detailed description for building the chair along with photographs,
CLICK HERE.
In this view of the chair you can hopefully see how it goes
together. The seat is simple to raise and lower; you simply pick it
up and put it where you want it. It stays there by
friction, which is increased by the use of vinyl electrical tape
at the points of contact with the wood. My most recent change to
this is to put split tygon (plastic) tubing around the aluminum bars.
This is the best solution and will last forever. |
Seat height can be adjusted from 37" to 16"
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