So, Im trying to work out camera rail system, or rather the building blocks of one that would be suitable for DIY'ers like myself and others. As rail systems have a few critical tolerances, squareness, 15mm holes on 60mm centers, etc, there is some real machining required. As this is beyond me and most others, What Im doing is working up a design for a rail support "blank."
Im trying to keep the cost to less than $10 each.
My current design is dead simple. It makes several key assumption about skill level though.
The blank will be inexpensive to machine, based on standard dimensional materials.. i.e. stock size that are readily available, it will be a rectangle with some holes pre drilled. None of the holes will be tapped, and there will be some sawing required. A few pulls of the hacksaw should be enough
One thing though, I may dump the 15mm hole, there seems to be a conspiracy of denying 15mm rods of ANY material for reasonable prices. I swear on one web site I saw.. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17 ... rods (note the missing 15mm!)
From other folks DIY efforts to find 15mm rod (DVInfo, etc), it seems the cheapest solution is to buy 3/4" rod and have it machined down to 15mm by your local automotive machine shop.. typical cost is about a 6 pack or so. The 3/4" rod is about $1 a foot.. compare that to $50 for a pair of 15mm Photo Rods on ebay!
What do you think, worth the bother?
Im trying to keep the cost to less than $10 each.
My current design is dead simple. It makes several key assumption about skill level though.
- You can work a tap in a pre drilled hole
- You can work a hand drill to make a hole a little bigger
- You can work a hack saw to cut the gap for the clamp
The blank will be inexpensive to machine, based on standard dimensional materials.. i.e. stock size that are readily available, it will be a rectangle with some holes pre drilled. None of the holes will be tapped, and there will be some sawing required. A few pulls of the hacksaw should be enough
One thing though, I may dump the 15mm hole, there seems to be a conspiracy of denying 15mm rods of ANY material for reasonable prices. I swear on one web site I saw.. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17 ... rods (note the missing 15mm!)
From other folks DIY efforts to find 15mm rod (DVInfo, etc), it seems the cheapest solution is to buy 3/4" rod and have it machined down to 15mm by your local automotive machine shop.. typical cost is about a 6 pack or so. The 3/4" rod is about $1 a foot.. compare that to $50 for a pair of 15mm Photo Rods on ebay!
What do you think, worth the bother?
