Everybody who likes aligning a finder or guide scope mounted in a classic two-ring mount, please raise your hand. Nobody huh? Well...except for that guy wearing the heart shaped locket with a picture of Richard Nixon. Sicko. It has been my experience that no one within local phoning distance of sane enjoys the task fiddling with 6 screws, placed at 120 degree angles, which require loosening of one or more other screws before you can make an adjustment. And if gets knocked out of kilter, you get to start all over from scratch. A finder is exasperating enough, but how about locating several guide stars a night in -15 degree weather wearing mittens? Like anybody would on such an expedition, I started thinking about sewer pipes.

The project described here is a quick and dirty version like the first one of these I made using a hacksaw, electric drill, and a 1/4 -20 tap. It was literally constructed in less than an hour. Also shown in the pictures here is a carefully machined version made using a mill, lathe, bandsaw, etc. (most of the work was done by my friend Harry Britt.) Use this project as a jumping off point. Make your guider mount as simple or as complex as you like. Just remember - function is beauty. Any guider mount that works as well as the ones I have is definitely a beautiful piece of machinery!

 Mark the T so you can cut it as shown in figures above (a permanent sharpie marker works well for this). You'll want to leave at least 1/6^th of the circumference of the fitting for strength. Clamp it in a vise and use your hacksaw to cut out the extra opening from the T and trim to your marked line. This should be pretty quick....even with a hacksaw. After cutting the excess material away, sand the rough edges. How "professional" your mount looks will depend on how carefully you do your cutting and sanding. Of course, nobody will see it in the dark!

Mark holes for 1/4-20 thumb screws at 90 degrees in the positions indicated by the Green Rods in images above (6 holes total). Mark holes to accept the springs in the positions indicated by the Blue Rods in images above (8 holes total). How far the spring holes are from the end will depend on the size of T you are using and the diameter of the springs you have. Make sure the springs will clear and the thumb screws by about 1/32nd to 1/16th of and inch. The extra screw holes and extra spring holes in each end allow the mount to be used in either a left hand or right hand orientation. If you know for sure you will be using the mount permanently in one position, you can leave out the extra holes.

The Red Rods indicate the positions of optional 1/4-20 mounting holes. I recommend putting these in even if you don't plan to use them immediately - they might come in handy later!

Drill the 6 thumb screw holes and the 2 mounting holes with your No. 9 bit as squarely as possible with the fitting. Any weird angles here will be translated into weird and difficult to use screw angles in the finished mount. It's better to use a real No. 9 bit instead of the alternate 13/64" bit. The No. 9 gives a tighter thread hole and a better feel to the adjusting screws.

Tap all of the thumb screw and mounting holes with your 1/4-20 tap. I tapped the white mount by hand and the black mount in the mill. If you tap the holes in a mill or drill press, it is very important that you carefully limit the downward pressure on the tap - especially when removing it from the hole. The threads in the PVC can be easily damaged or cut out altogether by too much tap pressure.

Drill out the 8 spring holes using the larger bit. No magic here - just break the edges of the holes with sandpaper, a counter sink, or deburring tool so that you don't slice off your finger tips later.

Finally, clean up your sewer pipe and put all of the parts together. Thread in the screws so they stick through just enough to get the plastic tips on. Mount the T on your main scope now - it will be much less frustrating than trying to do it with the guider in place. Next install the guider in the T and have your springs ready. Installing the springs is the toughest part of the whole operation - and the most dangerous. Grab an assistant if you can.

PUT ON YOUR SAFTEY GLASSES NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY DONE SO!

Insert your guide or finder scope in the T. Now, CAREFULLY install each spring by pushing one end through a spring hole, holding it in place, and then stretching the spring around the guide scope and through the second spring hole. Once you have both ends of the spring pushed through the holes, connect the ends of the spring together. This is much easier said than done - an assistant may be very useful here. Use a sturdy pair of needle nose pliers and a flat blade screw driver for this operation - using the screw driver to hold one end of the spring while you pull the other with the pliers. You can probably do the whole operation with your fingers, but you might end up with one of the spring hooks embedded deeply in your hand. After you have both springs in place, snug up the adjustment screws and test the tension by pulling the scope away from the adjustments screws and letting it be pulled back. I also like to hold the mount and shake to whole assembly. If the mount can be shaken up and down without the scope sliding back and forth, you have plenty of tension. If the springs are too loose, try tightening the adjustment screws first. If this doesn't do the trick, you will need to shorten the springs or get stronger springs. Use care in selection of your springs - you don't want so much tension that you crush the tube of your guide scope!

Bungee cords can be used in place of springs if you have a reasonably light guide scope. They are easier to install and are less likely to go shooting across the room.

If using the mount to hold a guide scope, try to find a good guide star as close to your target object as possible. The sewer pipe mount makes it very easy to find guide stars and has a very wide range of movement (on the order of several degrees!) If you choose a guide star too far from your target subject, guiding errors will be introduced.