Winter projects - What are yours ?
 

My workshop can be made nice and cozy with plenty of hot coffee on hand so that is my winter retreat. True photogs might say that is chickening out :).

First project was repairing an ancient ballhead that came with my Benbo tripod and then making a new centre clamp screw with a 1/4 UNC stud to take a flash when the arm is used in the horizontal position ( good for macro ). I will take and post a pic later but enough to say the tripod currently has a huge bage of swarf hanging from it :rolleyes:.

Next up is a little project to go with that, and was inadvertantly inspired by Andy's comment that each of his tripods has an Arca style QR plate. So I thought I would have a go at making one but instead of a locking screw I would go with a lever locking mechanism similar to the RRS job but if all goes well I should do it for around a tenner. Easy part was doing the sketch and that has taken 3 days. The hard part is now going to be the making, and I commited myself to not spend anything on tooling or materials. So it has to be made with what I have around. Just hope it works or it could be embarassing. :D

Don

PS : At least Duncan will know where I am when I am not on here. ...... ha, ha.

Winter is when I really start to feel inspired by my local landscape. Summer is a really off season for me, it just doesnt work for me visually up in the Dark Peak. Autumn is better, but the bleakness really works in winter, so I get up and out on my local high moors or up in the mountains in the Highlands to find and prtray the grandeur that exists when these landscapes are at their harshest. So for me, it's on with some layers, and then a few more, and off up the hill...

Certainly looks Heavy-Duty Don. What material?

Duncan,
Lucky me as I picked up a some aluminium bar ends and rounds at a steam rally earlier in the year otherwise I would not be able to do this.

I have done a couple of snaps of where I am before I get going.

1) The mods I have done to the Benbo.
2) The materials that I will use to make the quick release. Cutting the handle out of 30mm bar may look over the top but it machines a lot better than the odds of black bar I have around.

Don

Hi Don, there are Arca Swiss locking plates with lever fitments instead of screws - if memory serves correct - look at Markins and Kirk and Arca Swiss themselves - may help you with design and locking action. The reason I went with the screws is I do not think the levers have the same weight bearing capacity.

Cheers Andy.
I did look at Arca Swiss. Some serious stuff there with double dovetails. :eek: Possibly for 10 x 8's.

As mentioned, what you have gave me the idea, and I will be certain to do a bench stress test before hanging my camera from it :). If the lever is not good I can easily convert to a screw. I am quite positive all will be OK as RRS seem to do them but at a serious price, and RRS seem to have a good name in the States.

Don

Best of luck Don, I forgot to mention RRS, by the way my Arca Swiss B1 has a load rating of 90.... yes 90 lbs weight - the Markins Q3 takes 65 lbs - and my smallest - the Acratech GV2 takes 25 lbs. Strange, but I wouldn't trust a Manfrotto plate to take the lightest of these loads.

Well I finally completed the lever quick release clamp. So I have attatched a couple of quick snaps. Workshop is an even bigger tip than when I did the shot of the lever, and I will have to have a serious tidy before getting out the flash kit for some decent pics :).

A couple changes from my origional sketch. The jaw alignment is now maintained by two hardened steel pins rather than the cut step (far greater accuracy of jaw alignment). A single 3/8 unc head fixing point rather than a 1/4 and 3/8 as origionally envisaged. Addition of safety stops on the release plate. ( Belt and braces job as the lever clamp is very effective, in fact probably stonger than the more normal screw fit, but a bit of extra safety as the clamp is released allowing the camera plate to float. )

The lever clamp allows the jaws to open and clear the plate so there is bags of clearence when unlocked and the camera can be brought straight down on to the clamp surface. When used on a monopod the lever can be operated easily by the thumb from full open to closed in a single sweep without needing to move the hand position. Similarly to dissmount the camera, so really quick and easy in operation.

Am I chuffed ? Well you've got to believe it. So chuffed in fact, I am now looking for more aluminium, to make another to save swapping this one between monopod and tripod.
Further thoughts for ver2, not a requirement for my style as I never carry the camera mounted on a tripod, but for the ultimate in pickiness I may look at a detent stop for the lever (self locking) so it cannot possibly be accidentally released.

Don

Andy,
Although a screw fit is a lot easier to make I will now swear by lever lock. I do not have kit to measure applied force but my lever would have to be replaced by a large diameter knob maybe 40mm dia to achieve the same degree of clamp force.

Don

Gorgeous bit of engineering Don, just imagine how much something like that would have cost as a bought item.

Excellent piece of engineering Don. Now you have the clamp, all you need is extra plates attached to the items you will use in the head. I have plates permanently attached to all my lens collars and "L" brackets on the bodies.

Cheers Duncan,
Cost if bought complete is probably the reason I have not seen these lever jobs available in the UK. Lots more parts than the screw type. Add the cost of a fancy lever and I am reminded of my days at work where even a few pence per unit was argued about.:rolleyes:

A couple more views attached for you.

Andy,
Well thats not much to do then. All of my lenses are in the 12-180mm range so no seperate tripod foot, apart from my only long lens that is. An old Ais 400mm f5.6 and the saga behind that one is in this thread.
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...ead.php?t=1985

Yes, I know I'm a bit crazy. :D :D

Don

Well done Don all I can say is Kirk, Markins, RRS et al eat your hearts out - there looks to be a new leader of the pack -- LOL :D

Thanks for the complement Andy, but I don't think I can compete with RRS other than mine probably cost around a fiver in materials. Heat particularly, would have added to the final cost but then I'll not know how much until the electric bill arrives :eek:.

I have had a good dig around and still have enough materials to make another. Big decision is should I go for an 80mm long version or stick with a carbon copy of my 60mm version. My big problem with 80mm is that I would have to sort a method for machining, as my machine vice has a max jaw opening of 62mm. No problem until cutting the dovetail which must be done in a single setup for max accuracy.
So into the future will I get any benefit from 80mm as I already have a Manfrotto long plate QR release. My QR has a 60 deg dovetail whereas Manfrotto use 45 deg, so my existing Manfrotto long plates would not fit my QR anyway. Mmmmmmm. Plenty of time to think as I carve another lever :rolleyes: :).

Don

Hi there Don, I have looked at my clamps and plates - Wimberley and others all seem to use the 45° dovetail?

Taking a bit of a break from filing ( lots of it ). I have started on QR no2 and have now shaped the lever, still to be cut off and polished to a chrome finnish though. Pic attatched.

Andy,
You are indeed right in that Arca use 45 degree for their dovetails. Before starting out I thought I would check for a drawing. Arca's plates are shown as 32mm wide into the clamp with 45 deg dovetail. My preference is for 60 deg based on workshop theory. Most lathe top slides have 55 deg and they deal with major forces so I opted for 60 deg as being the nearest. Saved having to buy a 45 cutter for £25, and I am not likely to lash out on the storebought QR plates for these, as I can make my own for a couple of quid each. So my plates are 38mm wide into the clamp with 60 deg dovetail ( closest to 55 deg ). May have less contact area for a given height, but the shallower angle makes the dovetail stronger and in practice the clamp is really tight.

Something I did come across in that bit of research, was that although a number of manufacturers state Arca compatable, I found this link that shows this is not necessarily true.
http://www.afximages.com/stuff/arca-plates-xref.html

Don

Don, you're not filing out the levers from solid, are you?

I may be crazy Duncan but not that crazy :D. I mill as much away as possible with a 1/4 inch mini mill, but then still have to do a fair amount of filing. I am not really equiped for this sort of thing so the whole process is a bit long winded. Probably about 12 hours start to finish cutting out of a 30mm bar end. I use that as its my only means of holding it in the machine vice. The bits of black steel flat sections I have are a bit rough quality ( lots of hard bits randomly spread throughout ) and tend to eat milling cutters.

Now if I had still been at work, I could have had the outline laser cut in a couple of minutes then only around an hour to mill the spindle slot and drill for the pin. :rolleyes:

As an aside and in response to your ealier comment as to how much it might have cost ready made, I found Robert White doing the Arca version less plate, for £130 excl vat. :eek:
Link to a review of that particular item.
http://liaoyusheng.com/arca/

Don

Thanks Don, It may be that I've been lucky. I printed off the chart from your link and I'm now checking all fittings. The Arca Swiss B1 is a monster and works with all my plates but I have a Novoflex Castel-Q focusing Rack and I'm going to have to remove the various stop screws to get it to fit properly. Thanks for the Link.

Some days progress is a bit slow.
Today after I had finished polishing the new lever I only managed to make the pin. :rolleyes:

Still I am impressed with the changed profile of the new lever - more pronounced thumb curve, so this is now attached to the monopod QR. :)

Don

Fair does that is a great bit of engineering.

Lever quick release no.2 is now complete.
As this one is for the monopod I could afford to make it 4 mm thicker to allow for a couple of design changes. Location of pins and springs swapped over from ver.1 allowing longer slots to be cut for the safety stops. Also more meat in the base to accommodate the locking grubscrews.

Just waiting for delivery of a 12 inch length of 3" wide x 1/2" deep aluminium to arrive to make more plates. :)

Don

After a bit of a delay, the metal finally arrived to make a set of plates for the two quick release bases.
Three have a 1/4UNC screw, two for cameras, one for bins, and the other one is 3/8UNC to fit a base I made while waiting, for a Nikon EDIII field scope.

Seems these are lever operated Q/R's are gaining in popularity as I see Markins are now producing their version, albeit at the moment only as an option with the M20 ball head. Link
http://www.markinsamerica.com/MA5/M20.php?req=M20LK

Don