North Star II Field Tripod Construction - Assembly of the Legs 2

 

Placement of the faceplates on the three legs for the NS II field tripod... (Click for enlarged view)

 

To get started, I established the location for the lower faceplates on one of the legs, keeping in mind I had to make certain the bolts that hold them in place do not interfere with the height adjustment locking mechanism. In doing so, I positioned the bottom of the lowest faceplate to be 1.5" above the bottom end of the outer main leg supports. This allowed the bolts that hold the bottom faceplate to the main leg support to be above the height adjustment mechanism, which is comprised of three components: T-Nut, Strap Hinge, and Knurled Knob. The top of the upper hinge will be attached approximately 12" inches from the top to the bottom end of the outer main leg supports.

Note: Since the outside leg sections tended to bow out from one another, a clamp was used to pull the sections together so that I could mount the faceplates in their proper positions. For some strange reason, I had to to this with all three legs!