The first set of tools assumes the eyepiece's mounting is true, and allows the system to be collimated whether or not the eyepiece mounting is true. The second set of tools can be used to ensure that the eyepiece mounting is true before aligning the rest of the system. The second set of tools will always yield a true geometric collimation giving the brightest possible image. The first set of tools is much less expensive than the second set, so I will describe the use of this set of tools first.

Before going through the collimating procedure it would be wise to Test your telescope's performance to see if it needs to be collimated.