How to ship my telescope?

I have Orion XT6 Dobsonian telescope. I am moving to a different city
and want to ship the telescope to my new location. The tube is easy, I
still have the packing etc. But for the stand, I am not sure if it can
be dismantled? Has anyone tried it? What I am doubtful about is if I
remove all the screws, will I be able to reassemble it? I remember that
I had to sort of dig into the wood to tighten the screws, won't they
become loose if I remove them?

"tulika" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have Orion XT6 Dobsonian telescope. I am moving to a different city
and want to ship the telescope to my new location. The tube is easy, I
still have the packing etc. But for the stand, I am not sure if it can
be dismantled? Has anyone tried it? What I am doubtful about is if I
remove all the screws, will I be able to reassemble it? I remember that
I had to sort of dig into the wood to tighten the screws, won't they
become loose if I remove them?


You probably will hear a lot of opinions, but, I recommend DO NOT
DISASSEMBLE THE BASE.

Go to a local truck rental place such as U-Haul or Penske -- most of them
sell boxes -- measure the outside dimensions of the base and get a box that
is larger than the base. Stuff a lot of packing paper around it and ship it
in the box -- if you try to ship it outside a box you are running the risk
of smacking it against something and ruining it.

It's particle board and once you put the screws into it, you pretty much
need to leave them in. Particle board is not like real wood that will
"heal" itself and let you put a screw in and take it out several times.

If you do take the screws out, you may be able to re-assemble the base but I
doubt you could do so more than once.

If you do take the screws out, do so carefully -- take them straight out.
When you re-assemble the base, if the screws won't grip tightly, you use
carpenter's glue -- dip the threads of each screw into the glue, and, put a
bit of glue in each hole before driving the screw in. Of course, this will
glue the screws into the particle board and you won't be able to disassemble
the base again.

Joe S. wrote:

"tulika" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have Orion XT6 Dobsonian telescope. I am moving to a different city
and want to ship the telescope to my new location. The tube is easy, I
still have the packing etc. But for the stand, I am not sure if it can
be dismantled? Has anyone tried it? What I am doubtful about is if I
remove all the screws, will I be able to reassemble it? I remember that
I had to sort of dig into the wood to tighten the screws, won't they
become loose if I remove them?

You probably will hear a lot of opinions, but, I recommend DO NOT
DISASSEMBLE THE BASE.

That would be my vote too. It will survive OK if boxed and wrapped with
bubble wrap or cheaper crumpled newspaper. I am amazed how well stuff
survives shipping when properly packed. Strangely in the UK using
airfeight seems to be highest risk of damage!

NB it is critical that things cannot bounce around if the package
spends most of its time upside down or gets dropped. My equatorial
balance weight broke through the floor of the stoout box it was in with
only a small amount of freedom to move,.. They must have dropped it a
long way onto a corner for that to happen - but nothing else suffered
at all.

Go to a local truck rental place such as U-Haul or Penske -- most of them
sell boxes -- measure the outside dimensions of the base and get a box that
is larger than the base. Stuff a lot of packing paper around it and ship it
in the box -- if you try to ship it outside a box you are running the risk
of smacking it against something and ruining it.

Good advice!

It's particle board and once you put the screws into it, you pretty much
need to leave them in. Particle board is not like real wood that will
"heal" itself and let you put a screw in and take it out several times.

My instinct based on an old particle board wardrobe is that they will
stand at most two dismantlings before becoming unserviceable. And a dob
base might be more tricky.

If you do take the screws out, you may be able to re-assemble the base but I
doubt you could do so more than once.

Agreed.

If you do take the screws out, do so carefully -- take them straight out.
When you re-assemble the base, if the screws won't grip tightly, you use
carpenter's glue -- dip the threads of each screw into the glue, and, put a
bit of glue in each hole before driving the screw in. Of course, this will
glue the screws into the particle board and you won't be able to disassemble
the base again.

Actually you can still take them apart with brute force, but only with
significantly increased risk of serious damage. After the third time it
is essentially scrap wooden board.

Regards,
Martin Brown