Remote Controlled Pan and Tilt Head

Step 3 Bend the metal

Now you can bend the metal. If you have a metal brake, now's the time to impress everyone, if not you can use the following method. Clamp the sheet metal in a bench vice with the bend line along the top of the vice jaws. Be sure it is as straight as possible and the vice is firmly clamped. Now holding the top of the bracket, gently bend it towards you as you tap along the backside of the metal with a hammer. Start tapping at one end and move across to the other end. You are not trying to bend the metal sharply but rather gently so that you only move a few degrees in each pass. When the metal is finally flush against the top of the vice you are done and you should have a nice 90-degree bend.

Flip the metal 180 degrees and repeat. You are making a U shaped bracket so position it in the vice accordingly.

Repeat the above bending for the short bracket.

At this point you can mount a top plate onto the short bracket. I chose to mount a piece of wood because I can then easily attach almost anything with screws to the pan and tilt head. If you are going to mount a camera, you can drill a hole through the bracket and mount a ¼-20 x ½" machine screw to the bracket. Be sure to secure it with a ¼-20 nut as your camera only wants about 3/16" of the threads.