The Vest

Behold the plan for the metal (aluminium) parts for the steadicam vest. Every part is based on the smooth shooter vest. It's measured preciseley to 0,01 cm. The T-part is the top-chest part, the vertical part connects everything to each other. The horizontal part will support the lower arm and the 8-corner shaped piece will rest on the hip-bone. The straps and cushions will of course follow once I have the metal parts.

The Bottomplate

I just finished cutting out and drilling the bottomplate for my steadicam. I made it from a plate of black plastic I found in my dad's darkroom (photography darkroom). For improved rigidity I glued two "ribs" on the bottom of the plate. At first I was considering creating this thin out of aluminium to make it strong enough. But after the nightmare of filing the rails for the monitor and battery, I think I'll pass for making it myself in aluminium. So far, so good, gonna wait till the glue hardens, glue the edges shut with TEK-7 just to be shure. Next step, hopefully the gimble or the vest, but we'll see. in the meantime I'm gonna try to draw a plan for the metal part of the vest.

The Small Arm

The closest I want my steadicam to look like is the glidecam smooth shooter (hopefully it will shoot just as smooth, probably not). Because it also has only one spring arm i'm going to try to recreate the small arm connecting the spring arm to the vest. It should be fairly easy (i hope). I'm going to attach one half of a doorhinge to the vest and the other half to the small arm, making it easier to deattach.

The Sled

For the basis of my sled I'm going to use the center pole of a small tripod i have laying around. The hardest part here is going to be the gimbal. I'm looking for a bearing with an inner diameter of 2,05 cm (0,80 inch). At the bottom of the sled there will be a 4 inch monitor on one side and a battery on the other side. the bottom plate will be one of the parts that has to be made from scratch. Here are photo's of the center pole and a sketch of how I want the bottom plate to be.

The Spring Arm

The first steps towards my own steadicam have already been made. The hardest art was finding a spring-arm that could support the camera (Canon XL1s). This monstrosity came from an old enlarger. maybe i'll replace the spring with an adjustable one, but so far I'm pleased with this arm. It's not loud like i was expecting. It can carry my camera. now i just have to find a way to succesfully attach the gimbal (which I also still have to make) to the arm. In total the steadicam will have 3 parts: 1. The Vest, 2: The Sled, 3. The Arm