Bino mount parallelogram

A DIY Parallelogram Binocular Mount--first completed in 2011 and modified frequently since

Last revised 2019

Back in the 1980s I got a pair of Orion 11x80 binoculars as a present from my father for Christmas.  I never used them much because at more than 5 pounds, they were too heavy to hold for more than a few minutes.   A few years ago I made a look down binocular mount for them but all too often the mirror would dew up after only a short use.  Later my kids gave me a pair of Barska 30x80s for Christmas and they are impossible to hand hold.  I had to do something.

My original plan was to put the mount on a traditional photographic tripod.  It worked, but did seem a bit tippy, particularly where the mount and tripod connect.  I ended up using  a wood tripod that I'd made for a homemade Berry mount.  This tripod was made out of clear 1x3s and it is much more stable (1). 

The top of the tripod is a 6" round disk of 3/4" hardwood plywood with a 1/4" hole through the center.  Three strap hinges are attached to the bottom of this disk to form an equilateral triangle (2).   The tops and bottoms of the 4' legs were cut at a 18 degree angle before the straps on the hinges were screwed to the 4' long leg sections.  The 18 degree angle gives the tripod legs a good outward spread.

To make the tripod accommodate rough ground I made one leg adjustable in height (3) and trimmed the bottom edges to a 1" width (4).

To save material, I made the spreader out of 1x3 and screwed/glued the pieces into a single unit (5). To make the tripod more stable I bolt the spreader onto blocks that hold T-nuts the three legs.  The resulting assembly is very stable and all vibrations dampen out after a second.  You can also see the T-nut disk at the bottom of the spreader.

You can see the details in the pictures to the right. 

9/15/2016 NOTE:

I've somewhat abandoned the wood tripod in favor of the metal one that comes with an Orion EQ-1 mount.  The Orion tripod collapses with a smaller packing footprint and is, I think, a bit more stable.  The Orion tripod is certainly easier to adjust the height and level and takes up much less room when collapsed.

The only modifications needed to use the Orion tripod were to enlarge a hole on one of the 4 1/2" disks so it would mate with the top of the tripod and to make a 2"x3"x1/2" aluminum plate to secure the threaded rod on the underside of the tripod's head.  The picture (6) below shows the current tripod connection....wing nut on top and aluminum plate below the black tripod head.

The greatest expense in making the mount was to buy the oak 1"x2" needed for the parallelogram.  In retrospect, clear pine would probably have worked just as well.  In making the mount I "flipped a coin" and decided make the double long arms 48" long.  I decided to make the pivot points 24" apart with 1" between the end of the board and center of the hole.  This meant the shorter arms would be 26" long.  I decided to mount the arms 5" apart, originally on top of a 12" post of double thickness 1x2.  After final assembly the mount seemed a bit unstable so I moved the arms down to 9" using the 10" column mentioned above.   Even then I was a bit concerned about the motion around the tripod so modified the tripod mounting assembly to contain  the threaded 10 inch  1/4" rod as described above.  As mentioned, it is now much more stable. 

The parallelogram is held together with four 5/16" bolts and nuts.  There is a washer made from a milk bottle between the rubbing surfaces and a metal washer at the ends.   In use the parallelogram is "snugged" but not overly tightened to allow for up/down movement.  When balanced with a counterweight there is no tendency to sag up/down.

The counterweight is a 10 pound weight from a long forgotten weight set in the basement.  It was chosen to balance my 11x80 binoculars.  Other binoculars would probably require different weight.  The weight can be loosened/tightened such that it's position can be moved up and down the bars as needed.  There is a block connecting both sides of the wood to keep the weight from falling free.  A slight modification to (10) is that I now mount the weight on top of the bars.

The longer arm of the parallelogram was placed on top so I could get more rise and fall.

This is the hard part!  Made well, the mount will be a joy to use.  Done poorly, you'll struggle.  Done well, you can sit in a zero gravity chair and see a 120 degrees of sky.  Done poorly, you'll be moving your chair all night long.

This assembly started with three pieces of 1"x"2" that were 3" long.  Into the piece that would become the center I routed a channel and hole to contain the head and part of the shaft of a 5/16" bolt.  JB Weld was used to attach the bolt in the hole and channel.  About 1 1/2" of the bolt sticks out the end to the left to hold the binocular holder assembly. The other two pieces were glued & screwed to the first, with one on top and the other on the bottom.  A 5/16" hole was drilled through the three pieces, centered and 1" from the open end.  The exposed  edge was rounded with a belt sander to prevent binding as the binoculars are swung back and forth.

Two additional pieces of 1"x2" were added, one above, the other below and anchored to the front of the parallelogram arm.  The screws on the bottom piece run up into the parallelogram.  The screws on the top piece run from the back of the parallelogram into the wood.

All five thicknesses are held together with a 1/4"x20 threaded rod, with milk bottle washers at the contact surfaces.  The pieces are held together by two more plywood/t-nut tighteners.  They seem to need to be tightened fairly well to hold.

The binocular holder (12) was made so that the center of the binoculars was even with the exposed threads on the arm/binoculars holder coupling.  The piece is held in place with a milk bottle washer on each side and another plywood/t-nut tightener.  In retrospect the vertical piece should probably extend lower to make positioning easier.

The binoculars are attached to this holder via a metal mounting support that came with the binoculars.  If the binoculars don't have a mounting "hole" that can be attached to a block of wood (13)

In use, I loop the neck strap around the top of the holder. 

I made provisions to attach a laser pointer to the binocular holder but it really isn't needed even with 30x80 binoculars.

While everything isn't perfectly square, the holder works very well.  It holds position  with no droop or sag even after being left for hours.  It worked well holding filtered 30x80 binoculars for the 800 visitors we had at Broemmelsiek Park for the Transit of Venus event.  It was easy to accommodate the wide range of heights of the adults and children without loosing the sun in the field of view. The only time I've had problems with it was a night viewing in central Kansas with a 20+ mile/hour wind.

There seems to be slight tendency for the tripod to tip while in use so I hang a 20 pound weight from the tripod's spreader.  There is now no instability that would lead to tipping.

It is much easier to use the binoculars now. Star hopping is very easy with the mount. I have used the binoculars and mount to complete a number of the Astronomical League's Binocular Programs: 

• • Binocular Deep Sky

  • Binocular Double Star

  • Binocular Messier

  • Advanced Binocular Double Star

  • Binocular Variable Star

  • Solar System Binocular Certification

  • Galileo Program with binoculars

The mount makes star hopping easy by allowing me to constantly refer to SkySafari on an Android tablet as to where the desired object is located without loosing my place in the sky as I'm reclined on a zero gravity chair.   I have not fallen asleep in the recliner yet, but it has been a close thing.

CS