DIY Mechanical 'wind-up' camera slider

A

arcane

A simple DIY camera slider that uses a wind-up music box salvaged from an old toy. This could be used as a backup option in case one runs out of power. The wind-up mechanism delivers constant speed and is strong enough to move most DSLRs mounted on a heavy ball-head. The operating noise is really negligible. (The vintage Canon in the video was attached only for demonstration). The limitations of the wind-up mechanism are lack of speed & direction control.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0giaRCjuHs
 
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Odd... those springs lose power pretty fast don't they? I can't imagine this can maintain a constant velocity over much distance. Can it actually go more than a foot or so without losing a lot of velocity?
 
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stef said:
Odd... those springs lose power pretty fast don't they? I can't imagine this can maintain a constant velocity over much distance. Can it actually go more than a foot or so without losing a lot of velocity?
Click to expand...

Hi, in-case of the music box, the power is dissipated rather slowly. Simply because the drum with the metal pins need to strike against the metal tines that produce the music. I have figured that the spring in the music box packs enough torque to pull a tripod mount and SLR camera that run on 4 bearings on a slider rail.
To ad to that, my rails are 24" long and the mechanism actually pulls it all the way.
Do let me know if you have any more questions and i would be happy to share my experiences.
 
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