Totally Home-Made Oscillating Mechanism at DVinfo.net

Gev Babit · February 25th, 2005, 03:43 AM

Brett Erskine · February 25th, 2005, 04:12 AM

Let me be the first to say congratulations! Its incredible you were able to make some of thoughs parts with that level of precision with a simple drill press and vise! I would have never been able to do that. It much have been a pain in the ass and taken a long time to do. So the big question....How well does it work in the end? Give us the details.

Is it quiet enough to still use the on camera mic or at the very least a boom mic close by?

I noticed that the GG mounting plate is pretty hefty. Is the extra mass creating a problem where it vibrates the whole camera slightly?

How did you find or create thoughs off set shafts that make the oscillating movement and what tools did you use to make three that were exactly the same?

How do you find the range of oscillating movement? Too big or not big enough or perfect to create a grainless image?

What the type of Battery? Motor?

Lastly can we see a short clip of some video shot with it?

Gev - great work!

Les Dit · February 25th, 2005, 04:49 AM

Looks cool so far!
Here is a good test to see if it will work : Run it and look at the side of the ground glass that is shiny(smooth). Use that surface as if it was a mirror, and look at something else in the room using that mirror with it running. Does the reflected image look perfectly still? Or does the image shake around a bit? If it's perfectly still, as if the motor was off, you are done ! If not, well, that's a show stopper.

-Les

Gev Babit · February 25th, 2005, 05:23 AM

Brett:
Hey thanks this thing took a long time I had to mill it with the drill. The piece that moves and with the ground glass has most of the aluminum cut out to keep it light. The shafts are made from regular stainless screws and they are soldiered together. To do this I made a template which sets one screw .7 millimeter off and then the two are tightened on the template and soldiered together. The template is very important because it makes everything precise and to ensure all the shafts are the same. The motor if I remember is from a vcr and is pretty quiet, there is very little noise but in the low mid range area so there is no annoying high pitch electric razor sound. There is some small vibration when you hold it in your hand but on a surface the vibration is almost fully gone. Its uses a 9v battery. I'll add some pics of the template and shafts.

Les: There is no movment on the z-axis as far as I can tell and this has been the main concern from building it in the beginning.

I have no footage shot cause there is no foundation and enclosure yet, I'm trying to make it so the whole mechanism moves to get the flange focal distance for various lenses. I'll try to get footage shot as soon as possible to post.

Gev Babit · February 25th, 2005, 06:19 AM

Here is the template used for making the shafts!

http://www.papalico.com/ShafttemplteCU.jpg
http://www.papalico.com/Templateoffset.jpg
http://www.papalico.com/screwsintempcu.jpg
http://www.papalico.com/mostparts.jpg

Leo Mandy · February 25th, 2005, 07:52 AM

Hats off to you Gav,

Utterly astounding. I could not do that if I tried, well made, it almost looks like it was factor machined! It looks like it works too - which is a huge step for use here because it opens up alot of doors! Keep us updated!

Sarena Valilis · February 25th, 2005, 11:32 PM

wow.... for the tools you had to work with DOUBLE WOW>>>>!!!

very nice job... your creativity on a budget is remarkable....
ive been finishing plans to do what you did and i have 4 mill and 2 lathes.... just havent gotten around to this project for myself...
but i must take my hat of to you and your creativity too...

only one or two suggestions to anyone who might follow in your footsteps.... harbor freight has cheap digital calipers on sale from time to time for around 15 dollars... might help those that dont have any mic's floating around... the second might be to try a TINY end mill instead of the drill bit... it might do the cut outs a little easier, but then again, you did a fantastic job without it....

im going to make my motor mount a little heavier duty. i am going to try and find some aluminum extrusion to use as a housing and just machine a lip around the edges of front and back plates to block light... (much less machining than tryin to machine a solid block....) hope some of this babble helps....
good luck and keep up the good work....

Gev Babit · February 26th, 2005, 04:24 AM

Thank you and I could not have done it without the help and influence of the people here that have contributed to this.

I didn't use a drill bit, hehe...It was a rotozip bit and dremel carbon cutter. If you look in the pictures you can see that its not a drill bit, that would have been very hard and would take a long time. Its very dangerous doing it this way so people who want to try it be careful, the secret is in the weight of the vice. To do milling you dont fix the vice on the drill press table, it moves freely, because of the weight the cutter doesn't move the metal. You move the vice very slowly toward the cutter and little by little milling it out. People who want to make the plates should use Duraluminum, it is very light and strong, don't use soft aluminum because it wears down.

Dan Diaconu · February 26th, 2005, 07:06 AM

So, ....... the madness is spreading faster than I thought!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!
You are there.

Les Dit · February 26th, 2005, 11:24 AM

So Gev, when are you going to shine a video camera through it instead of at it ;)

On my first version, I just hot melt glued the thing to a board with a lens rigged up in front of it. Works good for testing it out!

-Les

Gev Babit · February 27th, 2005, 04:12 PM

Thanks Dan but really thanks to the "Mini35 Oscillating Ground Glass Idea" thread.

Les I am working on it.......

Hey Brett what was the dust paint you were talking about in another thread?
I need to paint the mechanism and don't know what to use. I need something not shiny. Is it possible to find the paint they use for cameras?

Thanks,
Gev

Les Dit · February 27th, 2005, 04:28 PM

Gev, I recommend Krylon 'Ultra flat black' It's pretty much the least reflective paint that is still out there. The telescope people seem to love it for their construction projects.
-Les

Brett Erskine · February 27th, 2005, 06:40 PM

For most jobs I would go the easy and cheap route and do a ultra flat black paint like Les mentions but definately not with yours. You made yours out of smooth aluminum and paint doesnt like to stick to it even with a aluminum primer. The last thing you want is flakey paint in a device that normally needs to stay absolutely clean inside.

I plan on getting mine powder coated flat black when Im done. It looks real pro but more importantly it wont come off and ruin your shots. Check in your local directory for a shop that does it by you. Its more expensive than paint but you should be able to do all your parts for easily under $100.

Les Dit · February 27th, 2005, 09:16 PM

Interesting Brett. I've only used simple auto grey primer as a surface prep, and then the flat black. never had it come off. Maybe you got a bad can of Krylon ? I always clean the parts with acetone before paint. I've painted camera movements like this, and it seems to stick, even after getting oily.
How flat is powder coated flat black, when compared to the Krylon ?
-Les

Brett Erskine · February 28th, 2005, 12:53 AM

You can have powder coating done in multiple levels of non reflective black finish and various textures as well.

It's not so much that Krylon (or other flat black paints) wont stick, because they will...It's just that this kind of paint on smooth aluminum surfaces creates a thin shell-like layer that very much like the shell of an egg. Bump it and it will crack and large pieces will come off. If you rough up the surface of aluminum it will help a lot but still its not as good as powder coating. Think about all the other professionally made cameras and parts we have seen on the market. Do they paint the aluminum will black spray paint or do they have a unique texture to them...That texture is powder coating and there is a good reason why they have gone thru the extra effort and expense to use it.

February 25th, 2005, 03:43 AM	#1
Gev Babit Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 40	NEW Home-Made Oscillating Mechanism This was all made at home with a $70 drill press and a home made lathe using a Wall-Greens $10 electric screwdriver. Here is some pictures and a video of the device in action. http://www.papalico.com/rotoDrill1.JPG http://www.papalico.com/rotoDrill3.JPG http://www.papalico.com/Spinningplate.JPG http://www.papalico.com/washers1.JPG http://www.papalico.com/washers2.JPG http://www.papalico.com/scale1.JPG http://www.papalico.com/scale2.JPG http://www.papalico.com/scale3.JPG http://www.papalico.com/completedmech.JPG http://www.papalico.com/completedmech2.JPG http://www.papalico.com/completedmech3.JPG Here is a video of the mechanism in action! Small Version 11mb http://www.papalico.com/Oscillatingsmall.mov Large Version 24mb http://www.papalico.com/Oscillating.mov

February 25th, 2005, 11:32 PM	#7
Sarena Valilis Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: hollywood , ca USA Posts: 38	nice work.... wow.... for the tools you had to work with DOUBLE WOW>>>>!!! very nice job... your creativity on a budget is remarkable.... ive been finishing plans to do what you did and i have 4 mill and 2 lathes.... just havent gotten around to this project for myself... but i must take my hat of to you and your creativity too... only one or two suggestions to anyone who might follow in your footsteps.... harbor freight has cheap digital calipers on sale from time to time for around 15 dollars... might help those that dont have any mic's floating around... the second might be to try a TINY end mill instead of the drill bit... it might do the cut outs a little easier, but then again, you did a fantastic job without it.... im going to make my motor mount a little heavier duty. i am going to try and find some aluminum extrusion to use as a housing and just machine a lip around the edges of front and back plates to block light... (much less machining than tryin to machine a solid block....) hope some of this babble helps.... good luck and keep up the good work....

February 25th, 2005, 04:12 AM	#2
Brett Erskine Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Anaheim, CA Posts: 445	Let me be the first to say congratulations! Its incredible you were able to make some of thoughs parts with that level of precision with a simple drill press and vise! I would have never been able to do that. It much have been a pain in the ass and taken a long time to do. So the big question....How well does it work in the end? Give us the details. Is it quiet enough to still use the on camera mic or at the very least a boom mic close by? I noticed that the GG mounting plate is pretty hefty. Is the extra mass creating a problem where it vibrates the whole camera slightly? How did you find or create thoughs off set shafts that make the oscillating movement and what tools did you use to make three that were exactly the same? How do you find the range of oscillating movement? Too big or not big enough or perfect to create a grainless image? What the type of Battery? Motor? Lastly can we see a short clip of some video shot with it? Gev - great work!

February 25th, 2005, 04:49 AM	#3
Les Dit Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Southern Cal-ee-for-Ni-ya Posts: 608	Looks cool so far! Here is a good test to see if it will work : Run it and look at the side of the ground glass that is shiny(smooth). Use that surface as if it was a mirror, and look at something else in the room using that mirror with it running. Does the reflected image look perfectly still? Or does the image shake around a bit? If it's perfectly still, as if the motor was off, you are done ! If not, well, that's a show stopper. -Les

February 25th, 2005, 05:23 AM	#4
Gev Babit Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 40	Brett: Hey thanks this thing took a long time I had to mill it with the drill. The piece that moves and with the ground glass has most of the aluminum cut out to keep it light. The shafts are made from regular stainless screws and they are soldiered together. To do this I made a template which sets one screw .7 millimeter off and then the two are tightened on the template and soldiered together. The template is very important because it makes everything precise and to ensure all the shafts are the same. The motor if I remember is from a vcr and is pretty quiet, there is very little noise but in the low mid range area so there is no annoying high pitch electric razor sound. There is some small vibration when you hold it in your hand but on a surface the vibration is almost fully gone. Its uses a 9v battery. I'll add some pics of the template and shafts. Les: There is no movment on the z-axis as far as I can tell and this has been the main concern from building it in the beginning. I have no footage shot cause there is no foundation and enclosure yet, I'm trying to make it so the whole mechanism moves to get the flange focal distance for various lenses. I'll try to get footage shot as soon as possible to post.

February 25th, 2005, 06:19 AM	#5
Gev Babit Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 40	Here is the template used for making the shafts! http://www.papalico.com/ShafttemplteCU.jpg http://www.papalico.com/Templateoffset.jpg http://www.papalico.com/screwsintempcu.jpg http://www.papalico.com/mostparts.jpg

February 25th, 2005, 07:52 AM	#6
Leo Mandy Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 749	Hats off to you Gav, Utterly astounding. I could not do that if I tried, well made, it almost looks like it was factor machined! It looks like it works too - which is a huge step for use here because it opens up alot of doors! Keep us updated!

February 26th, 2005, 04:24 AM	#8
Gev Babit Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 40	Thank you and I could not have done it without the help and influence of the people here that have contributed to this. I didn't use a drill bit, hehe...It was a rotozip bit and dremel carbon cutter. If you look in the pictures you can see that its not a drill bit, that would have been very hard and would take a long time. Its very dangerous doing it this way so people who want to try it be careful, the secret is in the weight of the vice. To do milling you dont fix the vice on the drill press table, it moves freely, because of the weight the cutter doesn't move the metal. You move the vice very slowly toward the cutter and little by little milling it out. People who want to make the plates should use Duraluminum, it is very light and strong, don't use soft aluminum because it wears down.

February 26th, 2005, 07:06 AM	#9
Dan Diaconu Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 804	So, ....... the madness is spreading faster than I thought! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!! You are there.

February 26th, 2005, 11:24 AM	#10
Les Dit Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Southern Cal-ee-for-Ni-ya Posts: 608	So Gev, when are you going to shine a video camera through it instead of at it ;) On my first version, I just hot melt glued the thing to a board with a lens rigged up in front of it. Works good for testing it out! -Les

February 27th, 2005, 04:12 PM	#11
Gev Babit Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 40	Thanks Dan but really thanks to the "Mini35 Oscillating Ground Glass Idea" thread. Les I am working on it....... Hey Brett what was the dust paint you were talking about in another thread? I need to paint the mechanism and don't know what to use. I need something not shiny. Is it possible to find the paint they use for cameras? Thanks, Gev

February 27th, 2005, 04:28 PM	#12
Les Dit Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Southern Cal-ee-for-Ni-ya Posts: 608	Gev, I recommend Krylon 'Ultra flat black' It's pretty much the least reflective paint that is still out there. The telescope people seem to love it for their construction projects. -Les

February 27th, 2005, 06:40 PM	#13
Brett Erskine Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Anaheim, CA Posts: 445	For most jobs I would go the easy and cheap route and do a ultra flat black paint like Les mentions but definately not with yours. You made yours out of smooth aluminum and paint doesnt like to stick to it even with a aluminum primer. The last thing you want is flakey paint in a device that normally needs to stay absolutely clean inside. I plan on getting mine powder coated flat black when Im done. It looks real pro but more importantly it wont come off and ruin your shots. Check in your local directory for a shop that does it by you. Its more expensive than paint but you should be able to do all your parts for easily under $100.

February 27th, 2005, 09:16 PM	#14
Les Dit Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Southern Cal-ee-for-Ni-ya Posts: 608	Interesting Brett. I've only used simple auto grey primer as a surface prep, and then the flat black. never had it come off. Maybe you got a bad can of Krylon ? I always clean the parts with acetone before paint. I've painted camera movements like this, and it seems to stick, even after getting oily. How flat is powder coated flat black, when compared to the Krylon ? -Les

February 28th, 2005, 12:53 AM	#15
Brett Erskine Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Anaheim, CA Posts: 445	You can have powder coating done in multiple levels of non reflective black finish and various textures as well. It's not so much that Krylon (or other flat black paints) wont stick, because they will...It's just that this kind of paint on smooth aluminum surfaces creates a thin shell-like layer that very much like the shell of an egg. Bump it and it will crack and large pieces will come off. If you rough up the surface of aluminum it will help a lot but still its not as good as powder coating. Think about all the other professionally made cameras and parts we have seen on the market. Do they paint the aluminum will black spray paint or do they have a unique texture to them...That texture is powder coating and there is a good reason why they have gone thru the extra effort and expense to use it.