Gary Sconce
Veteran
In our next feature THE PARK, we will be wanting a lot of camera movement on numerous shots. The solution?
A simple camera crane that to be mounted on any sturdy tripod that will later be put on a ride-on dolly on tracks.
Goals:
Easy to build
Lightweight
Simple but smooth function
Easy to transport
Adjustable for any camera
Start with a heavy duty caster wheel with dual bearings and a zerk grease fitting. I bought this one at Lowes. Take off the wheel and cut down the ends with a cut off wheel leaving the axle in place.
Cut two identical 14" long pieces of 1/8" x 2" steel stock for the sides of the gimbal. Then weld them evenly to the pieces removed from the caster. These will make the top of the gimbal and the Y axis movement of the camera.
Then mount the two sides of the gimbal tower to the remaining part of the caster. Make sure the unit is directly vertical and even. Weld it on. This will allow for the X axis movement of the crane.
I chose 1 1/4" EMT conduit for the crane arm. The piece I bought was a 10' section, again from Lowes. At 7' centered from the end, mark and cut a hole to fit the axle tube that came with the caster.
Here you see the axle tube where it will go ultimately.
Rather than just drilling the hole, I opted to use a small wheel cut off saw and then just filed out the remainder to get the hole perfect. I then welded in the axle tube evenly in the EMT.
Here is the unbraced completed gimbal for the crane. Notice it is very tall (16") as it will need to lower down to the floor directly in front of the tripod and must clear the head easily.
I then cut holes for 5/8" EMT tubing that will be the mounting for counter weights at 1.5" centered from the back of the crane arm. I will be mounting a small weight slider that will be the final weight to perfect a 'zero G' fly of the camera.
First day build complete (actually around 1.5 hours). I will be camping for the next three days but hope to get to it soon. The crane will still need the counterweight tube mounted, the control tube and head mounted, and the base plate to go on the tripod. I will probably truss the arm for completely perfect stability.
More later. --Gary
A simple camera crane that to be mounted on any sturdy tripod that will later be put on a ride-on dolly on tracks.
Goals:
Easy to build
Lightweight
Simple but smooth function
Easy to transport
Adjustable for any camera
Start with a heavy duty caster wheel with dual bearings and a zerk grease fitting. I bought this one at Lowes. Take off the wheel and cut down the ends with a cut off wheel leaving the axle in place.
Cut two identical 14" long pieces of 1/8" x 2" steel stock for the sides of the gimbal. Then weld them evenly to the pieces removed from the caster. These will make the top of the gimbal and the Y axis movement of the camera.
Then mount the two sides of the gimbal tower to the remaining part of the caster. Make sure the unit is directly vertical and even. Weld it on. This will allow for the X axis movement of the crane.
I chose 1 1/4" EMT conduit for the crane arm. The piece I bought was a 10' section, again from Lowes. At 7' centered from the end, mark and cut a hole to fit the axle tube that came with the caster.
Here you see the axle tube where it will go ultimately.
Rather than just drilling the hole, I opted to use a small wheel cut off saw and then just filed out the remainder to get the hole perfect. I then welded in the axle tube evenly in the EMT.
Here is the unbraced completed gimbal for the crane. Notice it is very tall (16") as it will need to lower down to the floor directly in front of the tripod and must clear the head easily.
I then cut holes for 5/8" EMT tubing that will be the mounting for counter weights at 1.5" centered from the back of the crane arm. I will be mounting a small weight slider that will be the final weight to perfect a 'zero G' fly of the camera.
First day build complete (actually around 1.5 hours). I will be camping for the next three days but hope to get to it soon. The crane will still need the counterweight tube mounted, the control tube and head mounted, and the base plate to go on the tripod. I will probably truss the arm for completely perfect stability.
More later. --Gary