WTB - Aurora Precision Truss Clamps & Brackets

[Philip Manela]

Hello TACos,

I was saddened to learn a couple of weeks ago that Aurora Precision had exited the ATM hardware business, and that their excellent Truss Clamps and Brackets were no longer available.
Does anybody have a set that they are not using, and would be willing to part with?

— Philip

[Akarsh Simha]

I do, and yes. I only have the upper clamps for 1.5” OD, 0.065” wall thickness

I’ve been happy with my knockoff 3D printed Webster clamps so far and plan on keeping them for various reasons.

Regards

Akarsh

— Philip

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[Akarsh Simha]

BTW very unfortunate news. This follows a larger theme, where unfortunately a lot of small astronomy component / accessory shops we rely so heavily on are going out of business and there are no new players to replace them. Nate made some of the best astronomy parts, but I can be sure it makes no financial sense for him to make them. Chinese manufacturing has sort of reset our expectations on what it must cost to fabricate a part.

Unfortunately what we can’t pay in price, we hav to pay in time and investing in skill acquisition as a result. The good news is, if you don’t want the fine finish that makes a product, you can certainly make your own bottom clamps from angle aluminum, 1/4” thick. Just cut it and mill a slot on one side, make a hole on the other side. The precision from typical garage mills and saws should suffice, since the tube inserts will take some load.

Happy to give you my 3D printed knock-off Webster clamp design too, if you’re brave enough to use 3D printed truss clamps…!

[Philip Manela]

Akarsh,

I’m curious about the Webster design.  Please share!

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[Akarsh Simha]

Here is the Webster page:
https://webstertelescopes.com/truss_clamps.htm

They are no longer in business.

They are cheap injection molded plastic. The clamps kept breaking and I was down to my last spare so I measured the components out and made a 3D model, which I printed in PETG. Now I have a couple spares. I'm running 3 original clamps and one 3D printed clamp on my telescope right now and it's held up fine. I have to be careful to orient them right so that I don't put too much stress on them and break them. Each 3D print costs about $2 so I don't mind just printing spares as I break them!

I just 3D printed in regular PETG, I'm sure Akshay or Randy can 3D print them in nicer carbon-fiber infused filaments which are much stronger.

Here is the 3MF file for the 1.5" clamps I use: http://asimha.net/WebsterClamp_v0.2.3mf

These clamps are two articulating plastic pieces that clamp like collars around your poles with a bolt-nut assembly. The reason I like them is that you don't need to commit to the length of your truss poles. This is unfortunately important for me since my mirror cell has only two collimation knobs, so the only way I can adjust the range of focus is by adjusting tube lengths. You can choose to scale them down to size, but you'll also need to scale the T-bolt that goes through it and the clamping bolt/nut assembly (I use 1/4-20). The alternative is that I made the CAD design parametric, so if you know your way around FreeCAD, you can change the parameters and recompute the design.

Regards

Akarsh

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[Akarsh Simha]

If you like the 3D print solution but don't trust it to hold up your precious diagonal mirror and Ethos eyepieces, one thought I had was to add a safety backup -- something as simple as a strong bungee cord that wires directly to the poles that take seconds to tether to the secondary cage during set up. If I were using my 3D prints on more than two of my poles, I'd add this.

[Francesco Meschia]

Would stage light clamps do the job? They are available for 1.5” and 2” tubes.

On May 9, 2026, at 15:20, Akarsh Simha <akars...@gmail.com> wrote:

If you like the 3D print solution but don't trust it to hold up your precious diagonal mirror and Ethos eyepieces, one thought I had was to add a safety backup -- something as simple as a strong bungee cord that wires directly to the poles that take seconds to tether to the secondary cage during set up. If I were using my 3D prints on more than two of my poles, I'd add this.

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[Philip Manela]

The ones from Aurora Precision have some very nice features that facilitate attachment to the UTA and make  scope assembly and disassembly easier. 

I think I’ve found what I need. 

Thanks. 

Sent from my iPhone

On May 10, 2026, at 10:02 AM, Francesco Meschia <francesc...@gmail.com> wrote:

Would stage light clamps do the job? They are available for 1.5” and 2” tubes.

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