Farpoint 14 Inch Universal Dovetail Plate

Product Overview

The Farpoint 14″ Universal Dovetail Plate is a general-purpose D-size (Losmandy-compatible) dovetail bar with a variety of mounting hole options along its length. At double the length of the 7″ version, it suits longer tubes and gives more fore-and-aft range for balancing. It is machined from aluminum with a black anodized finish, CNC-machined in the United States, and weighs 2.313 lb.

Who It’s For

This is a good match if you…

• run a mount with a D-size (Losmandy-style) saddle and a tube longer than a 7″ bar comfortably carries.
• need more balance range than a short bar gives, particularly with a back-heavy imaging train.
• are putting rings, a guide scope, and a camera on one plate and want room to space them out.
• have rings whose hole spacing does not match a tube-specific dovetail.

Key Features & Design

• 14″ length: double the 7″ bar, which widens the ring spacing available and extends the range over which the assembly can be slid to balance.
• D-size profile: cut to the Losmandy-compatible standard, the wider of the two common telescope dovetails.
• Variety of mounting holes: multiple hole positions rather than a single fixed pair. Farpoint publishes a product drawing with the full pattern.
• Black anodized aluminum: the anodized finish takes handling wear and holds down reflections near the optical path.
• 2.313 lb: the figure to carry into the mount’s payload budget.

Recommended Uses

• Carrying a longer refractor in widely spaced rings on a D-size mount.
• Balancing a back-heavy imaging train that runs out of travel on a shorter bar.
• Mounting a main tube and a side-by-side guide scope on one plate.
• Serving as a D-size foot for an instrument or accessory that shipped without one.

Compatibility and Accessory Notes

• Dovetail standard: D-size, Losmandy-compatible. It drops into any mount or saddle cut for the D standard.
• Mounts with a Vixen saddle: a D-size saddle or a V-to-D conversion brings the mount up to the wider standard.
• Ring hole spacing: the published product drawing gives the hole pattern for comparison against your rings. William Optics and similar clamshell rings on 60 mm spacing are served by the metric 14″ bar, which is drilled for that pattern.
• Material: black anodized aluminum, CNC-machined in the United States.

Tell us your scope and rings and we’ll confirm the fit.

Good to Know Before You Order

• Rings and hardware are separate. The bar is supplied on its own; tube rings, clamshells, and their screws are bought to suit the tube.
• D-size, not V-size. A mount with a Vixen saddle takes this bar by way of a D saddle or a conversion.
• The hole pattern is fixed in the metal. It is generous, but it is a defined set of positions, and the product drawing is what shows whether a given ring spacing lands on one of them.
• 60 mm metric spacing has its own bar. Farpoint drills a separate metric 14″ version for rings on that pattern.
• Length costs weight and payload. At 2.313 lb this bar carries about 0.9 lb more than the 7″ version, which is the trade for the extra balance range.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it difficult to install?

It is a hand-tool job. The rings or accessory bolt down through the holes in the bar, and the bar then slides into the mount’s D-size saddle and clamps. Choosing which holes to use so the assembly balances is the only step that takes thought.

What is a universal dovetail bar for?

It is the blank canvas of the dovetail system — a D-size bar with multiple mounting holes that accepts scope rings, guide scopes, and accessories, after which the whole assembly drops into any D-size saddle.

Will my rings bolt to it?

The bar offers a variety of hole options, and the published product drawing is the reference for checking them against your rings’ spacing. Rings on 60 mm metric spacing are covered by the metric 14″ bar.

Which mounts will this work with?

Any mount with a D-size (Losmandy-style) saddle. Mounts still carrying a narrower Vixen saddle can be brought up with a D-size saddle or a conversion.

How does it compare with the 7″ bar?

This one is twice the length, so ring spacing can be wider and there is more travel for balancing a long or back-heavy tube. The 7″ is lighter and more compact for short tubes and accessory plates.

Bottom Line

In short: a 2.313 lb, 14″ D-size bar with a generous hole pattern, for longer tubes and for imaging trains that need more balance range than a short bar provides.