Winter projects - What are yours ?

[Don Hoey]

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 .

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.

Don

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

[gordon g]

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...

[yelvertoft]

Certainly looks Heavy-Duty Don. What material?

[Don Hoey]

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

[andy153]

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.

[Don Hoey]

Cheers Andy.
I did look at Arca Swiss. Some serious stuff there with double dovetails. 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

[andy153]

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.

[Don Hoey]

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

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by andy153

..............The reason I went with the screws is I do not think the levers have the same weight bearing capacity.

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

[yelvertoft]

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