Homebuilt Arm and Vest
 

I am so excited! Ive been working on refining my arm for the past 3 weeks, it's finally welded and setup how i like. Tomorrow I should finish the vest and this weekend paint with auto black. I cannot wait! Stay tuned for pics and vid.

bah i give up, im just going to save for a smooth shooter

Ha! Ha! I'm sorry, I had to laugh. This was very short lived. Not as easy as it seems uh??? It's good you're saving up for the smooth shooter. Now you know why these things don't come cheap. ;) Good luck with your purchase.

no no no that was sarcasm, i am painting it as we speak, im uploading some pics of unpainted

edit:

Its too dark to shoot footage, i will do it in the morning

www.rileyharmon.com/temp/steady-002.jpg

www.rileyharmon.com/temp/steady-004.jpg

www.rileyharmon.com/temp/steady-006.jpg

Ahh, good old sarcasam. It never fails to be lost on the internet.

Nice looking vest and arm. Give it a few nice coats of paint, and that thing will be looking sharp!

okay heres my problem, the vest and arm are good, they take the weight, the glidecam is good and balanced, but when flying, it has a tendancy to rotates on the horizontal axis, this causes it to sway side to side, how tight a grip should i have on the post?
sorry for the crappy compression i did it quick and gritty
www.rileyharmon.com/temp/steadytest1.mov

www.rileyharmon.com/temp/steadytest2.mov

Lets hear good and bad comments and how to improve. Need more practice walking.

That is a nice looking rig! Now I have to look into making one of those...dang it.

Very nice
 

Will you be sharing your design in some fashion?

Yeah, I will try and get a design out sometime soon. I'm trying to practice more, because it has a tendancy to sail.

Riley, you've obviously put a lot of work into this,
 

and I don't mean to demean your enthusiasm. However, since you've invited comments, here's mine: from the photos, and not being able to see the back of your rig, it appears the belt is very snug and may be carrying the brunt of the weight of the unit. (Without seeing the back, it's hard to gauge weight distribution).

I've done a few week-long backpacking trips, sometimes carrying 50 lbs +/-, including tent, bag, food, water, still camera, etc. Backpacks meant to carry such serious loads use 2 padded shoulder straps, a padded belt at the waist, and often a belt around the upper torso. It's clear you've included those in some way, shape, or form. In large backpacks, those combine to spread weight between the shoulders, and the hips below the lower back, making for less overall fatigue. Something even the DVRig Pro with it's belt and single shoulder support doesn't appear to do. (Granted, I'm describing BACK packs, where yours' is more of a FRONT pack, adding difficulty to weight distribution).

It's necessary for the belt to be snug in order to properly support and spread the load. However, the photos hint that the upper portion of your rig seems to place the weight more towards the neck and/or even the collar bone rather than the shoulders. If weight is being supported by the neck rather than being spread between the shoulders and the waist, you may find fatigue - or worse, back pain - setting in after long-term wear, i.e. upwards of an hour.

Best wishes for success.

yeah, the straps cross in the back so it does put weight on shoulders and collar. but the great thing is. i can also wear it on my back same as front. i'll try both ways and let you know

Thank you.

Bill

Great job, Riley! I applaud your sense of engineering adventurism! I think a lot of the folks here would love to have a crack at working with your design to make a few improvements. Cheers.

Stabilizer research
 

The research I did on stabilizers gave me an idea for a video short where the main subject is attached to the camera as well. I bought all the aluminum in a scrap yard. The bearings weigh more than the arms unless I order special, light alternatives.
For interviewing government officials etc. or a sensitive doc, I am looking for a slick, slim profile stabilizer.
I found that a "Swifer" broom only needs a bracket and a bearing to be a stabilizer.
I recommend spending time checking out home made stabilizers.
Wayne