Got a project, need some ideas

[phylodog]

So I want an adapter which will allow me to attach my iPhone 5s to my Vortex spotting scope. The only adapters I can find cost $60 and that's just a few inches the other side of ridiculous. The eyepiece measures 55cm (2.16") across so I'm thinking of buying a 2" PVC cap and drilling a hole in it, gluing it to a cheap case and voila. The only problem is drilling the hole precisely in the center of the cap then removing that .16" from the inside diameter so it will slip fit over the eyepiece.

I'm thinking that once I have the hole drilled I can but a bolt through the hole from the inside, snug down a nut, chuck the end of the bolt in the drill press and use a dremel/file/whatever to shave the inside diameter. Might not be quick but it should work.

That leaves me with the issue of drilling through the exact center of the cap. How should I go about accomplishing that? Caps are cheap so I could just keep trying until I get it right but I'd rather not spend an entire day on it. Any recommendations?

 

[smokingman]

2:36
[video=youtube;9mPqvzrFYOc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mPqvzrFYOc[/video]

 

[DoggyDaddy]

You want to be able to make calls on your spotting scope??

 

[hoosierdoc]

Why not get this?

ATN Shot Trak-X HD Hunting Gun Camera with Laser sighting

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

There are centering heads you can get for a combination square that will put a line through the center of anything. Do that twice and it'll mark the center, hit it with a punch and drill there. You want more precision, we can chuck it up in a lathe, and for best precision we can use the 4 jaw chuck. How good do you want it to be? I could put a hole to .0001" diameter at .0001" position, or any arbitrary precision up to that, it would take about 5 minutes and I'd do it for free, but you'd have to wait until I got the garage cleaned up a bit. Or we could just shoot a hole in it with a .223; that's not much off from a .216.

 

[phylodog]

Or we could just shoot a hole in it with a .223; that's not much off from a .216.

I'm more than a little disappointed that I didn't think of that.

 

[phylodog]

Well I got it done. Finding the center was easier than expected because the cap end wasn't round, it was octagonal so all I had to do was to draw straight lines across the corners. It's not pretty but it works, going to require a little tweaking here and there to get alignment where I need it but overall I'm pleased for less than $20.

A few pics using it, 20x versus 60x

 

[451_Detonics]

mmmm....glad you're not my neighbor...could get embarrassing as pant-less is the norm in my house.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Yeah, where are the naked chicks? You bogartin the good pix?

 

[phylodog]

Won't be any neked pics with this setup, she gets used on the range and in the woods. I'm not sure there's anyone in this neighborhood anyone would want to see sans clothing anyway, especially me.