Introduction: Binocular Parallelogram Mount
This parallelogram mount is for binoculars with a front 1/4"-20 mount, Celestron SkyMaster 15x70s in this case. It has five degrees of freedom, and the binoculars are well balanced. The height is for standing children or sitting adults.
I made it from scrap parts I had at home.
There are many variations possible.
Notable parts:
- Four cherry strips for the horizontal sections. These are scrap wood from a discarded crib.
- Paired strips of 1/2" Baltic Birch plywood, laminated together, for the upright members, for the semi-circular binocular holder, for the azimuth rotating section, and the leg attachments.
- 1/4-20" knobs and carriage bolts from Amazon
- Bondable PTFE pads (from Amazon) bearing against CD inside the azimuth rotating section
- PTFE washers inside all the rotating joints
- PVC tube legs
- Webbing for making the legs not go far apart.
Some construction notes:
There is a section of 1/4"-20 threaded rod with a glued-on knob that mounts the binoculars to the semicircular section.
All the circular and semi-circular portions were cut with a router.
The very ugly counterweight is sand inside a bubble-wrap envelope. There is good reason for it: it's so that when one kid is moving the binoculars, other kids who might be near the other end don't get too badly hurt, as they would if there were a hard counterweight.
Enhancements:
Since the pictures were taken, I strengthened the central upright with additional oak pieces to make for less torsion.
I made it from scrap parts I had at home.
There are many variations possible.
Notable parts:
- Four cherry strips for the horizontal sections. These are scrap wood from a discarded crib.
- Paired strips of 1/2" Baltic Birch plywood, laminated together, for the upright members, for the semi-circular binocular holder, for the azimuth rotating section, and the leg attachments.
- 1/4-20" knobs and carriage bolts from Amazon
- Bondable PTFE pads (from Amazon) bearing against CD inside the azimuth rotating section
- PTFE washers inside all the rotating joints
- PVC tube legs
- Webbing for making the legs not go far apart.
Some construction notes:
There is a section of 1/4"-20 threaded rod with a glued-on knob that mounts the binoculars to the semicircular section.
All the circular and semi-circular portions were cut with a router.
The very ugly counterweight is sand inside a bubble-wrap envelope. There is good reason for it: it's so that when one kid is moving the binoculars, other kids who might be near the other end don't get too badly hurt, as they would if there were a hard counterweight.
Enhancements:
Since the pictures were taken, I strengthened the central upright with additional oak pieces to make for less torsion.