Chuck Lott's Bicycle rim CloverBall

Winter 2018

Thought you might get a kick out of seeing the project completed..
I had another 4.5 inch telescope I picked up at a garage sale that had been in the corner of the garage for awhile, decided to Sudiball it.
Had to bend the bike rims to get the size I wanted.
I heated them up with a torch and bent them around a circle of press board that I cut
(slightly smaller, from experience) than the size of arc I want.
It takes a bit of finesse to keep the arcs smooth, but I'm learning.
It's kind of surprising how easy it is to bend the rims and to what degree.
I was surprised the rims didn't collapse when I made the bends at the top of the legs.

bend heated rim around form
Wanted to get height up a bit for easier viewing and wasn't sure my idea would work,
but bracing with bike cables did the trick.
The stand is surprisingly rigid.

base with cable stiffeners
Then, was In Freddies and found this wild raspberry color called "Shimmer metallic candy razz"
,,,,thought, what the heck.

Bent Bike rim cloverball on bent rim base

I finished too early, still a couple more months of rain to go.
Thinking about going to work on my 8 inch Orion.
I find I'm having more fun building scopes these days than viewing.
Chuck

2018 Feb 20

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