how to make DIY rails (15mm)

honey

honey

Active member
I used the search engine and couldn't find a lot on this. I just ordered an sgpro and I didn't want to pay 100pounds for the rail supports, so I figure I can make some myself.

How do I do make rail supports?
 
You really would be better of shelling out for the rail support. The rail support is the chassis of your camera setup, its what holds everything together. Its hard to make this kind of stuff, as your rods need to be held firmly and they need to be EXACTLY parralel (or nothing will fit) and they need to be exactly 60mm apart. Also, your rods need to be about 14.8mm in diameter to allow for 15mm rod accessories to clamp (no 15mm rods are 15.0mm OD, they are abit less to allow the clamp to slide).

You will also need a way to mount your cmaera to the rods and a tripod to the plate. It really is a real engineering challenge.

Its fine to build these things for DIY adapters, but if your using an expensive adapter like the SGpro, you really shoudl use a propper rail system that is capeable of supporting your adapter. Unless you own your own CNC machine shop and have a lot of aluminium sitting around, it will cost you as much to make a wobbly system as buying a proper one.

Id just bite the bullet, email wayne and see if you can add the rail support on, you will be glad youd did.
 
I'm always amazed at how much people pay for rods. If you can find a mandrill, making your own fiberglass or carbon fiber rods is easy. A cardboard tube or wood dowel would work.

To give you an idea check out http://www.giantleaprocketry.com/Products_Airframe_standard.asp#easyglas

There used to be a company called aerosleeves that made CF socks too. They're out of buisness, but there are still places to find them online.

I'm in the process of making a DIY glidecam that is going to be mostly fiberglass.
 
Well if you want professional gear you'll need to pay for it. However if you're looking for something to get by, here's a method that I've used way before I got into machinery.

- Drill
- 1/2 or larger drill chuck/adapter
- Drill stand or of some holster
- Digital Caliper
- Sand paper (60, 120, 200, 400, 600, 1000, 2000,)


Throw the aluminum, stainless steel, etc.. in the drill and sand down until you've reached 15mm. Use the digital caliper to measure the rod. ** Trick ** Lock the DC at 15mm and run it down the rod after you're finished to check for a perfect fit.



As for the rest of the system, you can figure that out.
 
Been there, done that.

http://emrl.com/j/projects/rods/

Unless you have a metal shop and fabricate all the time, it's just not worth it. You can get indian rod support that will be far more pro and stable than whatever you can come up with for ~$99 USD.

I'm a big supporter of DIY but for this, it's just not worth it.
 
j said:
Been there, done that.

http://emrl.com/j/projects/rods/

Unless you have a metal shop and fabricate all the time, it's just not worth it. You can get indian rod support that will be far more pro and stable than whatever you can come up with for ~$99 USD.

I'm a big supporter of DIY but for this, it's just not worth it.
Click to expand...

Okay that sounds better, SGPro rails are about $180 which seemed a little expensive (though the adapter looks like a great buy). So these $99 rails should work?

I'll only be using them for a personal project.
 
"Been there, done that.

http://emrl.com/j/projects/rods/

Unless you have a metal shop and fabricate all the time, it's just not worth it. You can get indian rod support that will be far more pro and stable than whatever you can come up with for ~$99 USD.

I'm a big supporter of DIY but for this, it's just not worth it."




It's really not as hard as it sounds. Just make sure you buy the rod at the closest measurement. 15 mm converts to 0.590 So the closest to 15mm would be a 5/8 Rod which 0.625. Sand to 0.035 and you're good togo.





1. Stainless **416** 12" x 2 = $18.61 not including shipping. :)
2. Wet sand paper 400, 600, 800, 2000 = $7.00
3. A Drill which I'm sure you already own attempting any kind of DIY project


SUM

2 x 12" Stainless 416 Rods at $25.61 (plus shipping, probably $5.00) + a little elbow grease. = $30.00




ME

http://www.metalexpress.net/cgi-bin...=0&max=0&sid=87ea7fffdb0953206c48bebee0bfbf3b
 
I agree that its not really worth it to build your own. I did.
The cheapest rods I found that I thought were suitable cost $100 alone.

Good rails have to be solid, and accuracy is key for that.
Even though I have a lathe and a mill, and some decent machining skills, I still had a little trouble. I cooked it up in a hurry for the twilightfest but probably would've better spent the time working on the script, but I did come up with a kind of frankenstein creation that is a MONSTER of stability- I don't even want to think about how many hours I put into this...

rails.JPG
 
twocik23-

Yes, it might be fairly easy to make 15mm rails, but the more difficult part is to make the plate that holds them. They have to be solid AND straight, not an easy combination.
 
"Yes, it might be fairly easy to make 15mm rails, but the more difficult part is to make the plate that holds them. They have to be solid AND straight, not an easy combination."



Are we talking about rails or a whole system ?


In a rush yes you're going to run into all kinds of problems, but if you simply take your time and plan every move you'll end up with a great piece to be proud of. I start with caveman tools and I'm now running CNC. It doesn't really take much to cut a straight line in something with the right tools, you just need to take your time. Now if you're starting out with nothing, then yes go buy a system. :)




"the plate that holds them"

The rail clamp or the base ?



.
 
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twocik23 said:
Are we talking about rails or a whole system ?

"the plate that holds them"

The rail clamp or the base ?
.
Click to expand...

I guess I assumed that the OP needed the whole system, not just the rods.

I am talking about the rail clamp. The base wouldn't be so hard to make, but that clamp would. I agree that if you have the right tools and experience, and take your time, you can cut something straight, but to bore a 15mm hole (with allowance for sliding fit) that is straight and 60mm on center with the other one can't exactly be done with a hand drill.
 
The Cavision is a good design, and a good product. It's a good design to rip off, however the Indian build quality is infamous.

The Cavision is around $200. If you can afford it, you would be buying from a known good company and also helping to keep down piracy.
 
eBay - dude

eBay - dude

honey said:
Anyone know where I can get this indian rod support?

http://www.alibaba.com/product-tp/12228170/Universal_Rod_Support_For_Matte_Box.html

^Is this it?
Click to expand...

eBay - dvshop23 is one of the vendors.
do a search for rod or matte box and you will find them.

I also got the quick release from them..... but they do NOT match the Bogen
quick release that looks exactly the same. - darn!
And Kesler sells some quick releases that would work for me -
and cheeper!
 
flyingdisc said:
eBay - dvshop23 is one of the vendors.
do a search for rod or matte box and you will find them.

I also got the quick release from them..... but they do NOT match the Bogen
quick release that looks exactly the same. - darn!
And Kesler sells some quick releases that would work for me -
and cheeper!
Click to expand...

Thanks, I checked out dv-shop23 (or is it dvshop-23?) on ebay and found some support rods made specifically for the xl1s (my camera) for $99.

I'd rather have universal support rods, but I couldn't find any for less than $200.
 
hoarp001 said:
Also, your rods need to be about 14.8mm in diameter to allow for 15mm rod accessories to clamp (no 15mm rods are 15.0mm OD, they are abit less to allow the clamp to slide).
Click to expand...


..actually this is incorrect. the spec is 15mm OD. our stainless rods run 15mm OD exact, and right now my cam setup has mounts and accessories from Cavision, RedRock Micro, Letus, and Noga all mounted and sliding on and off as needed perfectly. of course you can use 14.9mm OD rods but the spec is 15mm OD.

..and yeehaanow. we have 24" stainless rod pairs for 80.00. the 18" are only 55.00, and both includes shipping in price. so nice rods themselves can be had for well under 100.00.
 
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