4 - Rebuilding and Restoring the TAL Pedestal Mount The pedestal mount for the TAL-1 comes in a variety of colors. This one was dove grey and black and like the rest of the scope in poor condition. Stage 1 - Stripping the Pedestal Prior to work on the mount assembly the pedestal had to be removed from the mount head. These units are normally screwed down very tight. I used a strap wrench to remove the pedestal tube from the mount but its very much a two person job. The res of the pedestal strips down easily. The pedestal tube is in two parts and the legs for the pedestal simply unscrew. This mount had lost two of its vibration suppressors. You can see in the picture above the topmost leg has a base while the lower one doesn't. These would need replacing.       Stage 2 - Replacing the Missing Rubber Feet The solution to the missing their vibration suppressors was a local shoe repair shop. They gave me free of charge some scrap shoe rubber. This stuff is extremely tough but easy to work with and a great vibration damping material. First trace round one of the legs. And then roughly cut the rubber to shape. It will cut easily with sharp scissors or a craft knife. Use a strong glue to attach the rubber to the leg base. I used a glue called Serious Glue. To be honest I wasn't hopeful but it worked very well at bonding the rubber pads to the metal legs. The glue was left to set with the weight of the leg on the rubber pad. The glue I used took 12 hours to get to full strength.       Finally the rubber pad was cut with a sharp knife to a closer fit and then sanded into shape. Here is the finished article.         BACK TO THE TAL RESTORATION GUIDE MAIN PAGE