Telescope Tripod Rebuild

The central hub of my telescope tripod broke, so I rebuilt the tripod using some quarter-inch plate steel. The project involved cutting the steel and welding it back together in the right shape. I needed to drill several holes and tap some threads into the steel. When drilling/tapping holes, I used WD-40 as a machine lubricant. WD-40 was good for this because the straw applicator makes it easy to get the right amount of fluid exactly where you need it. The steps to repair were these: 1. Acquire a 12" x 12" plate of 1/4" steel. 2. Measure and cut the steel for the various components of the replacement hub. This was done via hand-held plasma cutter, angle grinder (with cutoff wheel), bench grinder, and die grinder. 3. Drill appropriate holes in the steel parts. This was done with a drill press, using WD-40 as a lubricant. 4. For the central hole in the bottom plate, I also needed to tap threads into the hole. This was done with a manual tap tool, again using WD-40 as a lubricant. 5. Where appropriate, chamfer the edges of the steel parts in preparation for welding. 6. Weld it all together. 7. Clean off the oxidation with a wire brush. 8. Prime and paint it. 9. Put the tripod back together again with the new hub replacing the broken one. Altogether, the project went pretty smoothly. Clear skies!