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Step 6The Steady Cam arm
The arm mechanism is constructed from the five (5) strap hinges. Four(4) hinges form the basic parallelagram and the 5th hinge is used as reinforcement at the camera sled end. The color diagram below shows the placement of the hinges.
Red hinge - this is the outside end for attachment to the handlebar mounted angle bracket.
Green hinge - outside end which will attach to the camera sled bracket.
The light blue upper hinge and the dark blue lower hinge (inner hinges) attached to the outer ones, which complete the parallelagram.
The Gray piece is cut from the fifth hinge and is attached between the Green hinge and the pulley shaft bolt on the camera sled.
1) Use your hacksaw to cut one end (of two hinges - inner ones) to ~1-1/8" in length. Also cut the entire strap of the 5th hinge as close to the hinge joint as you can, it will be used to reinforce the end of the arm that will be attached to the camera sled.
2) Once that's complete the short ends will be connected to the two outer hinges with brass washers separating the hinge straps (see notes in the picture). I used the countersunk bolts for this step as it helped to self center the bolts and prevented bolt heads from colliding when the arm moves through it's entire range of motion. Once this is done you should have two sets of hinges joined; the light blue and green pair with the "gray" reinforcement strap and the dark blue and red hinge pair.
3) Next align one set (either the upper or lower hinges) of the long hinge straps (inner and outer) and secure with the short 1/4" bolts and nuts.
4) Now if you fold the straps around to form the rectange you will notice the holes don't line up, because it's offset in the wrong direction for these hinges. But there's plenty of room to drill the required 2 hole, just mark and drill them out with a 1/4" drill bit. Then fold them back around and secure as you did with the other straps.
5) Use the 10 - 32 x 1/2" bolts as the retainers for the ends of the springs (see picture) one of the bolts is in the upper left corner (here I used the existing 1/4" hole in the hinge strap). The other one is in the lower right corner (for this one I drilled a 5/32" hole, close to the hinge joint, to get the necessary spring tension). For now, just use a temporary spring or you can skip that step for now, until you put it all together.
6) In the end of the reinforced straps (green and gray in the diagram) the 1/4" hole needs to be drilled out to 3/8" for the later installation of the camera sled.
7) For an initial calibration/alignment check, measure the distance (on both sides) between the center of the hinge pivot points. The distance between light blue and green hinges should equal the distance between the red and blue hinges. Likewise the distance between light blue and red hinges should equal the distance between the dark blue and green hinges. To adjust these distances just loosen the appropriate bolts and move the hinges and re-tighten, till the distances are correct.
Red hinge - this is the outside end for attachment to the handlebar mounted angle bracket.
Green hinge - outside end which will attach to the camera sled bracket.
The light blue upper hinge and the dark blue lower hinge (inner hinges) attached to the outer ones, which complete the parallelagram.
The Gray piece is cut from the fifth hinge and is attached between the Green hinge and the pulley shaft bolt on the camera sled.
1) Use your hacksaw to cut one end (of two hinges - inner ones) to ~1-1/8" in length. Also cut the entire strap of the 5th hinge as close to the hinge joint as you can, it will be used to reinforce the end of the arm that will be attached to the camera sled.
2) Once that's complete the short ends will be connected to the two outer hinges with brass washers separating the hinge straps (see notes in the picture). I used the countersunk bolts for this step as it helped to self center the bolts and prevented bolt heads from colliding when the arm moves through it's entire range of motion. Once this is done you should have two sets of hinges joined; the light blue and green pair with the "gray" reinforcement strap and the dark blue and red hinge pair.
3) Next align one set (either the upper or lower hinges) of the long hinge straps (inner and outer) and secure with the short 1/4" bolts and nuts.
4) Now if you fold the straps around to form the rectange you will notice the holes don't line up, because it's offset in the wrong direction for these hinges. But there's plenty of room to drill the required 2 hole, just mark and drill them out with a 1/4" drill bit. Then fold them back around and secure as you did with the other straps.
5) Use the 10 - 32 x 1/2" bolts as the retainers for the ends of the springs (see picture) one of the bolts is in the upper left corner (here I used the existing 1/4" hole in the hinge strap). The other one is in the lower right corner (for this one I drilled a 5/32" hole, close to the hinge joint, to get the necessary spring tension). For now, just use a temporary spring or you can skip that step for now, until you put it all together.
6) In the end of the reinforced straps (green and gray in the diagram) the 1/4" hole needs to be drilled out to 3/8" for the later installation of the camera sled.
7) For an initial calibration/alignment check, measure the distance (on both sides) between the center of the hinge pivot points. The distance between light blue and green hinges should equal the distance between the red and blue hinges. Likewise the distance between light blue and red hinges should equal the distance between the dark blue and green hinges. To adjust these distances just loosen the appropriate bolts and move the hinges and re-tighten, till the distances are correct.
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