| Feel free to use my design and ideas to build your own
stabilizing system. However, keep the following in mind:
DISCLAIMER: I take no
responsibility whatsoever if you use my design and ideas to build your own
stabilizing system. It worked for me, but it might not work for you. It's
up to you and your skill what the result will be. The drawings and information
herein is provided for free for non-profit, personal use only.
Starting the design
I visited a local hardware store and browsed around. I found some aluminum pipes and
bars and thought that it would be nice. Aluminum is light, fairly strong and yet easy
to work with, e.g. drill and cut. So I had my camera base and post material decided.
One problem that arose then was how to connect the two. You can't really solder
aluminum as you can with copper and brass. And since I wanted to make a simple,
cheap solution I excluded soldering. So I needed some kind of socket or similar.
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OARLOCK SOCKETS |
While browsing the hardware store I came across the marine section
and suddenly found nylon oarlock sockets. Perfect! I measured the inner and
outer diameter of the socket and concluded that I need a pipe with either an
outer diameter of 18 mm or an inner diameter of 24 mm. If I pick 18 mm then
the pipe's thickness wouldn't matter, i.e. it's probably easier to find whatever
the standard thickness might be. So be it. Next, counterweight(s)...
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SQUARE WASHER |
I found huge, square washers. I think they are used when connecting walls when
you build houses (at least wooden houses). They are 50 x 50 mm and 3 mm thick,
made of zinc coated steel. The package didn't have any weight details, but it's
easy to calculate with the formula for volume, plus the density of steel
(7.8 g/cm3):
Weight: 5 · 5 · 0.3 · 7.8 = 58.5 g
The washer is available with various diameter of the center hole, and I picked the one
with the smallest hole, since I want as much weight as possible. Therefore, I assume
one washer weights 55 g.
The oarlock sockets I picked, has two mounting holes which are 4 mm in diameter and
50 mm apart. That makes it possible to mount two washers side by side underneath the
socket - we just have to make the two holes a little bigger. With two bolts we can then
add as many washers as we need to balance the rig.
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1/4" x 10 mm |
Every camera has a tripod receptacle underneath, which fits a 1/4" x 20 screw. My problem
is that in Sweden we use the metric system, and it's almost impossible to find screws
with imperial threads. So here I have an issue I have to solve: where to find the
camera screw.
After much searching I found a store which specializes in all sorts of screws and bolts.
Problem solved. I bought two screws, although I only need one - can be good to have a spare
if I lose one.
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PLATES WITH SLOTS |
The camera base should be adjustable, since I don't know where the cam's center of gravity
is - it should be aligned with the tripod receptacle, but that's not for certain - so
I will need to be able to shift the cam around the post's center. To do this I'll use two
plates, one that I attach to the post, and the other will hold the cam. They
are connected together with a bolt and screw. The "post plate" has a lengthwise
slot and the "camera plate" has a sidewise slot. In that way, I can slide the
cam sideways as well as back and forth to find its balancing point.
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SQUARE NECK BOLT |
Since the plates will be screwed tight together I must use screws with flat heads.
Except the screw which fixes the cam's position. Since I want to be able to
freely adjust it, I'll use a round head, square neck bolt, which don't need any tools
to tighten, and a flowerette knob underneath. |
Now the design and materials have been chosen.
Next, we need dimensions »
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