How I built the 12 inch scope
Before painting

Getting ready for the first viewing. Here it is in transportation form. It fits easily into a sedan. Notice the P.V.C tube with tape around it; this is the counter weight of 12kgs.
I made a dust cover as a bit more protection for the mirror surface. I have also adopted using clamps to hold the poles for the secondary cage.
To support the mirror cell I used 1/4 inch bolts with valve springs. This makes it very easy to collimate each time I take it out.
First stage is to put the poles in place. The longer one is used as a handle, but I will chop it down a bit further.
This is a better view of the clamps. I use a wing nut to adjust the clamp. I wanted to avoid using tools in assembling the scope as I am gifted in loosing tools, nuts & bolts in daylight imagine at night!
It's starting to look like a telescope now. Again I have used wing nut clamps to hold the secondary cage.
Fully assembled. It takes about 5 min to put together and by my self about 10 min to collimate it. Notice the counter weight in place at the rear base. I have since melted all the lead into a 12kg sheet, which slides in place.
I am using a helical focuser with a Vixen zoom eyepiece. A helical focuser is good for a single focus eyepiece, but a zoom is easier to use on a rack and pinion focuser. The Vixen LV-Zoom 8mm-24mm is an excellent eyepiece to use. Again another gift is also dropping things, and when fumbling in the dark for eyepieces, well there is a good chance of it ending up on the ground. With the Zoom, there is really no chance of that.