Iphone camera video stabiliser. Diy project. 2013

This project grew out of my dissatisfaction with the results I was getting from videoing my other projects. I use an iPhone to film and I found that unless you have it mounted on a tripod the results are in the main unwatchable, and of course if you use a tripod then your movement is very restricted. I had seen steady cams online and on ebay but most were bulky and nearly all were expensive. I decided to make one that was small, easy to set up and cheap to make.

So was born the RetroSteady. It's handle is made from bakelite, all the fittings and gimble are stainless steel and the body is made from anodised aluminium. The iphone holder is a standard tripod mount available off ebay for a couple of pounds.

 I have a main site where I hope to sell them eventually .... www.retrosteady.com. I called them the retrosteady because I think the design and black and silver colouring looks very similar to the old film cameras of the 50's and 60's.

Check out the video on this page or search RetroSteady on YouTube for a look at how the stabilizer performs.

The screw knobs on the stabiliser as seen in these photos were all I could get hold of at first but since then I have found a company that supplies very neat thumb screws that will replace them and look less bulky.
 All in all the materials cost me about £20 ..... $30. I created a wooden form to bend the shape of the main support arm and since then have made about twenty of them.

I am currently selling this item on eBay for £39.00 in the uk. You can check it out here ....

RetroSteady on eBay     Just £39 !

Workmate Mountain !

Following on from my earlier B&D Workmate post: Iv'e just come across this great site! Rupert Blanchard's 'Styling and Salvage'

Rupert searches the boot sales and auction houses of the South East to find second hand furniture, storage items and general materials that he can 'hack' and turn in to really useful pieces of furniture. He uses old doors, delapidated cabinets and drawers to create some briliant results. Check out his site by clicking the image above.

What really caught my eye was his collection of B&D Workmates. He collects these second hand benches and currently has a pile of 13, nainly 625's but a couple of very early silver framed models as well.

Check out some of the recycling Rupert has done especially his fashion store refits. His work has a distinct style ...... well worth a look.

New Garden Gate Urgently Required

Follow me to see how I go on remaking the garden gate. Wet rot has set in and it really is beyond repair.

We have had it for about 12yrs now but its starting to look way past its best.

I'm going to be making a new one and upload the photos and the video on YouTube.

 

Thanks for looking in.

Black & Decker Workmate refit

First made in the early seventies, the Black & Decker workmate now has worldwide sales topping 35 million.
 Invented by Ron Hickman, the workmate was rejected by many companies as being not commercial enough. It was famously rejected by Stanley tools as 'Sales possibly being in the dozens'. Ron had that rejection letter framed and mounted in his office.

The workmate is superb, well, I say the workmate, I mean the original aluminium framed WM625 workmates, that were manufactured in Ireland in the 70's. They are robust, adjustable, great looking benches, something I feel the later models lack.
Originally in powder blue these workbenches sold in their millions all over the world and made Ron a multi millionaire. I own two 625's an early alluminium model and a more recent steel framed one. I use them all the time, they really are a versatile tool and I would reccommend every DIYer to get one (or two)

An early WM625 (right) and the latter all steel version.

I bought the latter at a car boot sale for a fiver. The wooden bench tops were shot so i replaced them with solid oak jaws.

One of the damaged jaws.

The solid american light oak jaw replacement.

Oak WM625 bench top

Having a pair of workmates allows you to work really long pieces of timber and also they're great as a portable working platform. Clamp a couple of planks across them and you can do indoor decorating, easily make repairs to garage gutters, tall fences and hedges etc.