Home Built Stabilizer Modification Tips Preview

8/8/2019 Home Built Stabilizer Modification Tips Preview

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HomebuiltStabilizerModificationTips

For

TheGlidecam

V16/V20series


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Praises

Once again, special thanksgoout toCodyDeegan forhiswonderful 3D

drawings.Hehasalwaysbeen tookind tohelpoutwhenever I askhim.

Thanksforheedingmycall.

Iwant to thank Igor, Taylor, Brad andJonathan for providingmewith

picturesoftheirmodifiedsystems.Theywillcertainlyprovidepeoplewith

goodinfoandinspirationonhowtomodifycertainpartsoftheirrig.

SpecialthanksgoouttotheGlidecamindustryandtheGlidecamforum

fortheirsupportansweringsomeofmyinquiries.

Last but not least, a big thanks to Casey, who resides often on the

DVinfo.netcommunityforumgivinganyhelpfulinfotothosewhorequest

it.

Andtoallthosewhodecidetobuythisbook.Thanksforallthesupport.


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Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedinany

form,storedinaretrievalsystemortransmittedbyanymeans,electronic,

mechanical,or

otherwise,

except

in

areview,

without

the

written

consent

of

thepublisher.

2004CharlesKing


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Contents

Introduction

Page8

ToolOptions

Page

10

Faceliftingyoursled

Page21

ItemsRequired

Page30

Gettingdowntobusiness

Buildingthebatteryfore/aftmodule

Page43

Connectingthe

lower

post

Page84

Buildingthemonitorbracket

Page87


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GlidecamOwnersmodifications

Jonathanssledmodifications

Page109

TaylorMooresvestmodifications

Page123

Igorssledmodifications

Page118

Finalwords

Page127


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Introduction

Yep!Itsanotherhomebuiltseries.InthiseditionIllshowyouhowonecan

modifyanalreadyprefabricatedsled, like thatof theGlidecamV16and

V20series,usingofftheshelve itemsmixedwitha littlescratchbuilding.

The methods could also be used on similar lowend stabilizers on the

marketbutIchoseGlidecambecauseofitssimplicity.

Pursuingthegoalforabettersledhasalwaysbeenmypersonalcrusade.I

tendnevertobesatisfiedtillIgetwhatIwant.Inthisrespect,ithastodo

withhaving

asled

that

has

feasible

options.

Everything seems to come at a high cost this day and age. Looking for

somethinglucrativeisachallengeinitself.Wetendtowantthingsinallits

gloryandgetting it shouldbeatapriceweall canafford.Sadlyenough

thingsareneverthewaywewantit.Sowhatdowedo?Wefindacheaper

methodofgettingthethingswesowantbywaysofdoingitourselves.This

evenappliestogettingthebestoptionsoutofthingswetendtousemore

oftenand

operate

at

acost

that

is

reasonable

for

our

pockets.

In

short

As

anoperator,howdoyouimproveonsomethingthatisvitaltoyourwork?

Weather as a hobbyist or professional operator one can only afford an

equipmentbasedonwhatthepocketscandishout.

TheriseofsomanycompaniesofferingtheirversionofaSteadicam isa

testimonytothecompetitionthatexistswiththistypeofproduct.Themore

manufacturers thatproduce thisdevice thecheaper theofferingsbecome.

Unfortunately,the

price

reduction

also

means

shortcomings

of

options.

To

be able tomaintain a reasonable price range for hobbyist and semipro

customersalike theproductioncostwouldhave tobemaintainata level

thatwouldnotoverstep thepurposeof lowercostproductsof this type.

Thatswhy companies likeGlidecam and other lower level companies

offerproductsofthisgradetoitreachthemiddlerangepublic.Mindyou,

Glidecamdoesofferhigher rangeproducts for theireversodemanding

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clientsbutof course, this comesatapricewhich is theoppositeofwhat

theirlowerlevelproductsoffer.

So,wecometothequestion.Howdowe(I)get,atleastsome,oftheextra

featuresassociatedwiththebigboys?Well,readonandseehowonecan

improveonanalreadyavailablesystem.

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Step4,5:

Thisnext

step

is

amatter

of

preference.

It

involves

alittle

bit

of

machining.

By

taking the Base clamp and shaving down about 0.5mm of the surface of thecenteroftheclamp,whereyoumadethetwothreadedholes,itwillthereforebecome

aflatsurface.Seefig19bforabetterunderstandingofwhatImean.

Fig19b

Theflatsurfaceinthe3Ddrawingwiththeonearrowpointingtoit

ishowthesurfacewilllookaftermachining.Thewidthoftheflatsurfacecanbe

anythingbetween1015mm.

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Thereasonformachiningitdownflatjustanotchisthatitlooksbettertohavethe

monitorbarflushedupagainsttheclampthanifitwasjustscrewedondirectly,on

its

original

rounded

surface.

Here

is

apic

of

how

it

looks

on

my

clamp.

See

below:

Thearrow

shows

the

area

where

Ishaved

off

acouple

of

millimetres

of

the

surface

to

flushmountmymonitorbar.

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Step4,5a:

Regardless,ifyou

decide

that

you

want

to

continue

to

shave

off

the

surface,

you

willstillhavetomakeathreadedholeontheclampforattachingtheMonitorbar.Whenyouhaveshavedoffthesurfacethentakea5mmdrillbitandstartto

boreatAoftheclamp.Afterdrillingtakea6mmtapandthreadthehole.The

resultsshouldlooklikethedrawinginfig19cbelow.

Fig19c

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Thepartsdissected

Connectingthelowerpost:

Thenextstepisshortandwilltakeroughly5minutestops.Itonlyinvolves

the additionof the lowerpipeorpost to thebasemodule thatyouhave

completedintheearliersteps.Soheregoes.

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Step1:

Knowingthat

the

lower

posts

OD

is

just

about

less

than

26,90mm

(1

1/16),

all

youhavetodoisdecidehowlongyouwantthepost.Ifyouprefertohavethesame

lengthlikethatoftheGlidecamslowerpostthencutittothatsize.AsImentioned

earlieralengthanywherebetween250mm350mmwillsuffice.

Now,takeyourpieceofpipeandcutittothesizeyouwantusingeitherasticksaw

oranindustrialsaw.Whenyouhavecutthesizethatyouarehappywiththenyou

canconnectittothebasebyattachingittotheclampandsecureitbytightening

theclamp.

It

should

work

just

like

the

original

lower

post

that

came

with

the

Glidecam.

Itsassimpleasthat.Nowyouhaveanewadjustablelowerbasepostthatyoucan

beproudof.

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Thefinallookoftheglidecammodifiedsledwhenputtogether

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Nowthebatterymodulecanbeadjustedforeandaftfordynamicbalancewhichis

one of the key reasonsforbuilding thismoduledevice.Seedrawing above.View

someotheralternativestothedesignaboveonthefollowingpage.

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Thedesignisbasedonmypresentmoduleusingthesamemodificationinthisbook.

Thedesign

has

just

been

slightly

re

design

to

fit

my

taste.

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Alookatmyverylatestandpresentrigdesignpossibility.Itsflexibleandvery

modular.Allpartscanbeintegratedwithoneanother.AsystemIcherish.YesI

know.ItsverysimilartothatoftheSteadicamMini.Theoveralllookofitwas

partofmyinspirationbutthefunctionalityisquiteunliketheSteadicammini.

Certainlyawelldeserveddesign.

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GlidecamOwnersmodification

WelcometothegalleryshowcasingpicsofGlidecamownersconceptual

modifications. Thesemodifications havemade operationsmanageable to

theseownersgivingthemasenseofprideoftheirwork.Thesemodsgoto

showthedifferentconceptsthatarepossiblewiththesetypesofsleds.Not

onlydothey lookgood theyevenenhancetheoperatorscontrolover the

systematagreateradvantagethenwhatthebasicunithadtooffer.

Sotakealookatsomeofthemodificationsandseewhattheownershave

doneto

improve

their

systems.

Who

knows?

They

might

even

inspire

you

todosomethingsimilar.

Browseandenjoy.

N.B.AllpicspostedarecourtesyofGlidecamownersandshouldnotbeusedin

anyotherpublicationswithouttheconsentoftheirconsent.

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JonathansmodifiedV20Glidecamsled(PicturescourtesyofJonathan)

Themonitorbracketisasimpleushapedclampthathepurchased

atahardwarestoretogetherwiththemountingsupportforthemonitor.

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Averysmartconceptbyembeddingtheinternalwiringwhichworksimilartothe

prostabilizersystems

Theallinonewiringconnector

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