Part of the reason why it's taking sooooo long to complete my stabilizer project is because I'm still working out how I want some components to operate.  I pretty much agreed with WSCLATER when I built my "Merlin" handle grip, and think I may work on a curved tubular solution rather than my present flat bent bar solution.

And working with my other project, a mimic of the Steadicam Pilot, I took some time working out the handle gimbal on that too, but finally worked out a solution.

But on both of these, I didn't quite feel comfortable with my ideas for the camera sled.  I needed it to be sturdy and yet have the ability to move the camera in an X-Y axis so that the user can pinpoint accurately balance the rig before use.  I also wanted to be able to dynamically control the position of the handle, knowing that the center of mass and center of gravity will depend on which camera, which lens, which battery, etcetera.

Fortunately for me (in many ways) my wife and I arrived early for the Jackson Browne and Sheryl Crow concert at the Tokyo Exhibition Hall in Yurakucho Tokyo Japan.  With time on our hands, we wandered into a Bic Camera located adjacent to the Hall.  While looking in the Tripod section at quick releases, I came across a couple of X-Y Axis Focusing Rails used in Macro Photography.  And this my friends is exactly what we need.

These guys are the perfect solution to a nagging issue in my head. I had several ideas about how to implement my XY alignment, but just couldn't decide if any was "best" and kept putting off that section of the rig.  Finding these were perfect. The "XY" Focusing rail for the top of the Merlin Wannabe, and the Pilot Wannabe, and the "One Way" Focusing Rail for connecting to the handle of the Merlin Wannabe.

The XY Rail has a easy to turn knob for alignment of either forward/backward alignment, or left/right alignment.  There is no bubble level, but I have a couple I had planned on using there anyway.  The One Way Rail just goes forward and backward, and will be used on the Merlin Wannabe for the Dynamic Handle alignment, which only needs to be forward/backward.

They fasten down using a typical photo 1/4" bolt, so all I need to do is drill my plates, thread them, and insert a threaded stud between them. I hope.

Of course all this comes at a time when I have to go to Okinawa on business for the next couple of weeks, and am not sure when I will have time to return to the project. Hopefully before the end of March. I am so close! Besides, I want to get back into PIC programming for summer projects, and cannot do this until I finish my winter projects, heh. So until then.

Cheers!

-- SmugWimp

I am taking a forced Hiatus on my stabilizer project for about 2 weeks.  My job keeps me traveling quite a bit, and so until about the end of the month, I'll be in Okinawa Japan doing an installation of some of the latest and greatest Radiology Equipment in a clinic down there.  It's quite cool stuff actually. I hate to blog about my job, because I don't want to say the wrong thing from a "corporate" standpoint, so I usually leave them out of it.   But it's a great company, and I love my job. Most of the time ;)

In any event, I won't be around my house to work on my SmugCam stabilizer for a bit.  However, it's just as well.  In my quest for perfection, I have found a fairly consistent need for a drill press.  When I came to grips with this thought, I went looking for one, but could not find a decent one except at Cainz, but they do not have them in stock, you have to order it.  So I ordered one and it will take about one Okinawa trip length to arrive. Perfect.   When I return, I stop by the store and pick it up.

I bought all of the small aluminum stock I need for my camera sled, and my friend Kirt was kind enough to pick up my large aluminum stick  in Akihabara for me; he works nearby.  It started life as about a meter long straight flat piece of aluminum, and now look what I did to it.  Basically for the sharp bend, which my Camera Sled will attach to, was made by clamping the aluminum to my table, and pressing firmly down until I achieved the angle desired.  I didn't pick out the angle scientifically.  It's what we call a "WAG" (a Wild Ass Guess).  The sloping bend was made by my hands and my knee.

But I think it will end up working fine, although I believe I might be better off going with tubing rather than flat aluminum.  It's windy outside today, and looking at it makes me think it may be more susceptible to inclement weather than tubing would be.

But with the new drill press I can make precision holes for my sled.  I don't trust myself to make them manually. Yes I know it "can" be done, but I'd rather gather the right components first, and guarantee a perfect drilling time after time.  And I see myself modifying it for a lathe and some other things as well.

 What I really want is a decent CAD program to draw out my plans. I have them in my head, and before construction I draw them out on paper, but nothing "pretty" enough to publish.  I'd like to be able to provide at least some kind of decent electronic plan for this sooner or later; I think some things, like the sled adjustments, will go over really well.

Cheers!

-- SmugWimp