Ridiculously Priced Piers

I have taken a look at some of the piers available out there such as Pier-tech and LaSuer and am astounded at the price these guys charge. I would think a steel pipe with a couple flanges welded on would be under $100.00 to make.

Are there any out there cheaper than these? Not to bash them as I am sure many people appreciate that at least somebody is making them but I cannot see spending upwards of $600 for a piece of steel pipe with some steel plates welded on.

For that kind of money I could buy my own arc welder and make my own. Who knows, maybe I will start making a model that is much more affordable to the humble masses.

XOrionFE

I just made a pier. My friend welded it. It cost about $100 for a 33 inch long piece of six inch pipe, a 12x12 plate, and a block of aluminum to make an adapter to fit my Losmandy head. Used several thousand dollars of machinery and tools to make it. SOme few dollars worth of electricity, welding wire, paint, and so forth. These numbers say that if you have the tools, you can make the pier for a lot less. I did not powder coat, and my finish is good, but probably not to the pro's standards--but it is nice.

Alex

PS, the price of steel has gone way up because of world (Chinese) demand, and the penalty we are paying for violating international agreements regarding steel imports.

Well Robert,

Obviously you TOTALLY misunderstood my point. I don't give a damn about electronically lifting the scope and maintaining a nats ass alignment.

I want to park my scope on a SIMPLE pier for SIMPLE viewing. What in the heck do I need a $650.00 high tech lifting gizmo of a pier. My backyard is not the future KECK site.

I merely was asking for "as you just repeated" a simple pipe with a plate welded on each end with a couple bolt holes. If Pier Tech was smart, they would make one for around $100 and I bet they would sell a ton of them.

There are a lot more of us simple amateurs who just want to grab an hour of visual observing than there are of millionaire amateurs with tens of thousands of dollars wrapped up in equipment trying to achieve professional observatory results.

BTW- It looks like Pier-Tech has an awesome product for a specific small niche of enthusiest. I am not trying to take away from what they made or bash it. If I had a few thousand dollars to throw around like it was nothing, I would probably buy one.

Got it now?
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