The handles used are solid brass with a satin aluminum plating.  They are 4" and had to be special ordered as all the handles you generally find in the hardware store are 3".

The brass handles are plenty strong, I bought an initial sample to destructive test and they are robust enough for this purpose.  After a year of use the handles are still solid, I routinely lift the entire assembly using two of the handles.

The handles are held in place using gr. 8 allen cap screws and washers. Do not use the hardware that comes with the handles!

Place a piece of 2" wide masking tap on the fork arms for protection and as something to mark the layout lines and drilling points on.

Taking two pieces of wood fasten the handle to the blocks so the long faces are together and the ends are offset by 1/4" total (1/8" on each end).  Place the jig in a vice and tighten until the ends of the wood are even.  When you remove the handle from the jig the spacing on the holes should be 4".  The handle will arch slightly during this process, if you squeeze the jig slowly the arch should be symetrical and neat in appearance,

The plate is fabricated from 3/4" X 3/16" mild steel plate and the handle is bent from 1/4" mild steel rod.  The length of the handle (5 1/2") is such that it will clear the RA housing when swung through to 90 degrees DEC.  (The first one didn't....)  the handle is sized so it can remain on the OTA when stored in the Telescope Trunk.

The two parts are brazed together.  Brazing was selected for the appearance of the weld as excessive strength was not required.

The handle is primed with Zinc Chromate primer and finished with Krylon Satin Black.  The next version will be powder coated.

Once you have the handle made you will need to deal with the fact that Meade drilled the holes in the mirror housing of the scope but elected not to thread them!  Here are the instructions for threading the holes without taking the OTA apart