Farpoint Dovetail Radius Blocks - Celestron 8 Inch SCT

Product Overview

The Farpoint FDC8R is a set of radius blocks machined to the outside curve of the Celestron 8″ SCT. They sit between that tube and a D-size (Losmandy-style) dovetail bar you already own, letting an existing bar move onto a Celestron 8 without buying a second complete kit. Cut from black anodized aluminum, CNC-machined in the USA, and shipping at 0.625 lb.

Who It's For

This is a good match if you already have a D-size dovetail bar — from an earlier scope, a kit you broke up, or a spare in the accessory box — and want it on a Celestron 8″ SCT. It also suits someone running several tubes through one bar, where each tube needs only its own matched block set rather than its own bar.

Key Features & Design

• Cut to the C8 curve: machined to the Celestron 8″ SCT outside diameter, so the block faces meet the tube along their full width.
• Works with your existing bar: the blocks are the tube-specific part; the D-size bar stays whatever you already have.
• Black anodized aluminum: a hard, low-reflectance finish on a light part.
• CNC-machined in the USA: the radius and hole positions cut to a fixed program.
• 0.625 lb: a small addition to the moving mass of the rig.

Mechanical Design

A flat dovetail bar laid against a round optical tube touches it along one line, and everything the clamp does is carried at the bolt holes. Radius blocks fill that gap. Each block's underside is cut to the specific tube's outside curve, so when the bar is drawn down the contact spreads across the block face and the bolt holes stop acting as the only load path. Because the curve is what makes a block set work, the cut is tube-specific: the same bar serves many scopes, but each scope calls for blocks machined to its own diameter. This set is cut for the Celestron 8″ SCT.

Recommended Uses

• Moving a D-size dovetail bar from a previous telescope onto a Celestron 8″ SCT.
• Keeping one bar and several block sets so tubes can be rotated through a single mounting arrangement.
• Replacing worn or mismatched blocks on a Celestron 8 already carrying a Losmandy-standard bar.
• Building a C8 imaging rig where the bar has already been chosen for its length and hole pattern.

Compatibility and Accessory Notes

The blocks are machined for the Celestron 8″ SCT and fit that tube. They install between the optical tube and a D-size (Losmandy-style) dovetail bar — the wider of the two common standards. A different SCT size, or a tube of another make with a different outside diameter, takes the block set cut for that curve. The complete Farpoint Celestron 8″ SCT kit is the alternative for a setup with no bar yet, since it includes the bar, the blocks and the screws together. If you'd like the fit checked against the tube you own, we're glad to look at it before you order.

Good to Know Before You Order

• Blocks only. The package is the radius block set; the dovetail bar is not part of it.
• One tube diameter. The radius is cut for the Celestron 8″ SCT, so a 6″, 9.25″ or 11″ tube takes its own block set.
• D-size bars. The blocks are drilled for the wide Losmandy-style profile rather than the narrow V-size one.
• Sub-pound item. At 0.625 lb the set weighs well under a pound, and shipping is rated at one pound.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do radius blocks do?

They bridge the gap between a flat dovetail bar and a round optical tube. Each set is machined to the curve of a specific tube, so the clamping load spreads across the contact surface instead of concentrating at the bolt holes.

Will these fit my telescope?

They are machined for the Celestron 8″ SCT. A different model or aperture takes the block set matched to that tube, and we can point you to the right one for the scope you own.

Is it difficult to install?

The blocks go between the tube's existing mounting holes and the bar, held by the bar's own screws. It is a short bench job with hand tools, and the assembly comes apart the same way when the bar moves to another scope.

Do I need anything else?

A D-size dovetail bar, which is what these blocks are meant to carry. Without one, the complete Celestron 8″ kit supplies the bar, blocks and screws together.

Bottom Line

In short: a 0.625 lb pair of aluminum blocks cut to the Celestron 8″ SCT curve, machined in the USA, that puts a D-size bar you already own onto that tube.