Fixing a Tripod, or "yet Another Camera Stand Tutorial"

My brother has a camera stand, but he has lost the part that attaches it to the camera. So I made him a new one.

I have also read about DIY camera stands here and elsewhere so I made another type also while I was at it.

Parts:

1 x piece of scrap wood
1 x 1/4" bolt
1 x 1/4" nut

Step 1: Fitting the Wood

I found a discarded coat hanger in my parents basement so I decided to use that. It fit almost perfectly both width and thickness. Could have been any type of scrap wood, but this was handy.

First I removed the pegs, then I cut it roughly to the length of the fitting. You'll want to take to long rather than to short, though. If it gets to short it'll wobble with the camera's weight on.

Next I saw-and-filed one edge down to approx the angle of the fitting. And when I got it right I cut it to the right length. Now it can be put in the right place, but not locked there. Now just angle the other edge until it fits!

Step 2: Fixing the Bolt

My camera, and my brother's and most other cameras, have 1/4 inch bolt hole so that's the size of the bolt you'll want. In Sweden we, of course, use ISO metric so I had to ask the hardware store to get me inch-size bolts. Bring your camera and try gently.

Do not recalculate to metric and use metric size bolts, they have different threading and it might shred your camera fitting!

So I drilled a hole (yes, I thought I could use the existing hole, but I couldn't) and made room for the bolt head.

With the hardware store's limited supply of inch size bolts they din't have regular 1/4" bolts, so I had to get locknuts, and since the bolt's head was embedded in the wood I couldn't hold it still. Argh... But my father showed me how to do it :-)

Step 3: Finished!

Ready for some photo action!

Step 4: Other Options

I thought of doing this by using metal but I didn't have any, and no tools to bend it properly, so I used what was handy instead. But you could do it like this.

(quick Google SketchUp sketch)

Step 5: Pocket Sized Bonus!

When I bought the bolts I thought of an Idea I'd seen before somewhere (here it was). Just drill a hole in a bottle cap and screw a 1/4" bolt through.

Now you have an ultraportable stand that you can attach to any bottle of that cap size (0,5 - 1,5 litre). Just bring the cap in your camera bag and get a bottle at location. Fill it with sand or liquid.