DIY Steadicam

supermangyan · 07-07-2010 12:40pm #1

Good Day,

I am working on a DIY steadicam, I'm currently stuck at bending the tubes that carry the weights..

I just want to ask if anyone knows a place where I can get tubes bent?

I don't want to buy a bender just for this project.. I'd pay someone to do it though.

Thanks!

Tallon · 07-07-2010 12:41pm

What tubes are they? What material are they made of?

Any plumber should have a little thingy-ma-jig

supermangyan · 07-07-2010 12:45pm

I have a couple here, some of them I got from old clothes hangers, they're 3/4" white painted steel tubes which are very hard.. some are very thin stainless steel of the same diameter & I also have a 3/4" PVC. I wanna try all of them as they are of different weights, want to see which one will work best.

do you know a plumber I could ring?

Tallon · 07-07-2010 12:48pm

Not in Tallaght.

Ask in a DIY/harware shop, or woodies/B&Q they might even do it for you

supermangyan · 07-07-2010 12:49pm

found one! thanks!

supermangyan · 07-07-2010 1:03pm

rang more than 10 people, none of them can do it.

magicbastarder · 07-07-2010 1:18pm

some of those pipes may be too brittle to bend.

PabD · 07-07-2010 2:30pm

Put water in the tubes, freeze them and then bend away.

EDIT: You will be able to bend in a vice or something like that.

supermangyan · 07-07-2010 3:10pm

PabD wrote: »

Put water in the tubes, freeze them and then bend away.

EDIT: You will be able to bend in a vice or something like that.

haha yeah I saw that on TV, problem is I don't have a big enough freezer.

magicbastarder wrote: »

some of those pipes may be too brittle to bend.

yeah they are brittle, destroyed 3 of them already.. I've managed to bend one though, slightly hammered to flatten it a bit then bended it.. loads of kinks came out but I'd fill them up with body filler.

Tallon · 07-07-2010 3:14pm

supermangyan wrote: »

yeah they are brittle, destroyed 3 of them already.. I've managed to bend one though, slightly hammered to flatten it a bit then bended it.. loads of kinks came out but I'd fill them up with body filler.

Would you mind taking a pic to show us what they're like?

magicbastarder · 07-07-2010 3:14pm

i suspect copper would be much easier to bend.

PabD · 07-07-2010 3:19pm

What about using a small blow torch to heat the pipe up before bending?

supermangyan · 07-07-2010 3:28pm

PabD wrote: »

What about using a small blow torch to heat the pipe up before bending?

I don't have a blow torch.. closest thing is a cigarette lighter.

Photos coming up!

Kintarō Hattori · 07-07-2010 3:42pm

supermangyan wrote: »

I don't have a blow torch.. closest thing is a cigarette lighter.

Photos coming up!

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1320

supermangyan · 07-07-2010 3:48pm

here's what's keeping me busy the wholeday.

as you can see there are loads of kinks, just have to fill them up with body filler, sand it then re-paint.

silver pipes would have been very good because you can screw the weights at the end.. I'll make use of those if I find someone to bend them for me.. still have loads of them here.

I also found this in the basement & tried to bend it.. quite stiff & might work.

here's the gimble assembly, I bought a u-joint at a hobby shop in town & a ball bearing from citycycles. the black thing with the screw is from a broken ball head from my softbox. I'm planning on using my worn out SLIK pistol grip as the handle.. & maybe attach a 5" monitor in the screw.

roughly here is what it'll look like.

& here, if I'd be using the flat bar.. don't like the profile of it though.:D

at the moment I'm missing the flat metal sheet where the DSLR would sit, & the attachment of the gimble to the sheet itself. I'll rummage down the basement, maybe I'll get lucky. :rolleyes:

I'll post more photos as I progress with this project, hopefully I get to finish it soon!!

fade2che · 07-07-2010 7:36pm

Looks good Supermangyan,
I had a go at this a while back, got something to work on the 2nd go, however the machining precision was an issue. I ended up with a slightly of center design that couldn't be seen by the eye and could only be detected in the slow panning constantly in one direction.

The balance of the camera also had to be adjusted in that I was using the 5dmII and its heavier on one side.
I also found that the balance of the handle needed a lot of adjustment to be comfortable enough to use.

Good luck and keep us all posted.

supermangyan · 07-07-2010 9:31pm

fade2che wrote: »

Looks good Supermangyan,
I had a go at this a while back, got something to work on the 2nd go, however the machining precision was an issue. I ended up with a slightly of center design that couldn't be seen by the eye and could only be detected in the slow panning constantly in one direction.

The balance of the camera also had to be adjusted in that I was using the 5dmII and its heavier on one side.
I also found that the balance of the handle needed a lot of adjustment to be comfortable enough to use.

Good luck and keep us all posted.

Thanks, can you show us your rig? I will be using a 500D, at the moment I'll try balancing my 50D on it, I might get a 5dmkii or 7D sometime in the next few months.

I got the gimble fixed to the handle now, did a quick trip to Woodie's & bought a 3/4 coupler, surprisingly it fit's perfectly in my SLIK grip.

here's a photo.

I am now excited to construct the attachment to the plate.. will have to make another trip to the hobby shop & look for an aluminum RC chassis..

But now that you mentioned machining.. do you know a place where I can have parts custom made?

iMax · 07-07-2010 9:46pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6Q072tuF7M

No bending required

supermangyan · 07-07-2010 10:02pm

Thanks for the link..
I've seen this amongst other vids on youtube.. this is stable but cannot ensure keeping the camera level at all times since there are no moving parts.

this is what I'm trying to copy..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pLBUC-O1js&feature=related

there's another one that used bent PVC pipes & used a lot of very affordable materials.. here it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohuHNZySHQE&NR=1&feature=fvwp

my worry with the second vid is most of the parts are made from plastic & it really doesn't offer a lot of adjustments in terms of balancing the camera.

PabD · 14-07-2010 2:42pm

Any update on this?

supermangyan · 17-07-2010 2:12pm

Hi,

Got stuck with the top part now, & figured out I need to have some serious machining to do. & now since I'm back to work, I won't have that much time to work on it I can finance this project better. anyone who knows who can fabricate Stainlees steel parts? I can have the details done in AutoCAD with precise measurements.

I'll make them as simple as possible so I'll do the final assembly myself.

starlight89 · 28-03-2011 11:58pm

hey guys i am just wondering was there any luck building the steadicam in the end??? i am in the middle of construction at the moment and have hit a few walls such as how should i get the cameras centre of gravity for the top platform or how do i no where 2 place my camera 2 balance the system??? any suggestions???

BlastedGlute · 29-03-2011 4:19am

Www.cheesy cam.com

TheeMUCKSAVAGE · 27-09-2011 1:25pm

For anyone wanting to bend metal tubes for a diy steadycam,just go over to B+Q and buy 12mm stainless steel tube for 12 euro,its 2 meters long and buy a a 12mm tube bending spring,insert the spring and bend away.The spring is meant for copper but it worked perfect on the stainless steel for me.Obviously you want to cut the tube to the desired length before you bend it.

So where can i buy a u-joint in Dublin for my steadycam ?I need a ballbearing too..

DIY Steadicam

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