I was suprised to see side “D” of this Explosions In The Sky album:

Click to get a closer look.

You can purchase the CD version from Amazon:

During the filming of the first couple of episodes of Sixty Second Shop we used a regular film camera tripod to hold our (tiny) Handycam. It quickly became apparent that the tripod was slowing us down. We do a lot of quick shots —  at eye level, another overhead, then at the floor, and everywhere in between. For each shot Evelyn had to adjust the height of the tripod, lift the whole thing around, etc. Plus, the darn thing has a habit of creaking, which is okay for a photo camera, but no good for video.

One project I’ve been working on is a “steadicam” setup. This is a gimbaled hand-held camera setup which, long story short, stabilizes the camera so you don’t get that hand-held jitter. Unfortunately, I don’t have any bearings on hand, so I haven’t been able to make one. (I need to do some second-hand store searches. Roller blade wheels are great sources for inexpensive bearings, and they are easy to work with.)

Either way, most of our work is short fixed shots, not much “follow Ron around” filming. So a tripod makes more sense. While looking around the shop I saw something — and then I remembered: Booms. I could make a camera boom — something that would put the camera on a long articulated arm, and have a movable base. That would be perfect.

The “something” that I had laying around was part of spring-loaded lamp — something that would become the heart of my Cheap Camera Boom.

The unit is in four parts:

• The “head” where the camera gets mounted.
• The articulated arm. This was from an old lamp.
• The upright and base support, made out of scrap lumber.
• The rolling base.

If you have watched my video on rolling tool buckets, you may recognize the rolling base:

It’s the 12″ x 12″ rolling cart that I use for my 5 gallon tool bucket. It has big smooth 4″ casters, so it rolls very cleanly across the concrete floor.

For the foundation, I used a piece of scrap 2 x 8. To this I screwed a 20″ long 2 x 2 post using two 2″ “L” brackets. I then clamped this foundation assembly to my cart boards. I did this because this is not going to be the permanent use of this cart — we’ll only use this setup when filming. If you are making a more permanent boom, make a dedicated cart.

At the top of the 2 x 2 post I mounted (with two long screws) the original arm’s mounting (a piece of plastic with some 1/2″ holes in it). If I didn’t have that bracket, I would have just drilled a 1/2″ x 2″ hole into the top of the post. I then slid the arm into its bracket:

This is a standard, lightweight, spring-loaded arm that you see with some work lights, or magnifying lights. I had a ‘junk’ one in the shop, so used it. Look in second-hand stores for a cheap one. I used this arm, instead of making my own, because it did exactly what I needed without having to build something. The huge benefit of this pre-built version is that the mechanics have been worked out for me. The arm will always keep its “head” at the same angle — so you can move it up and down and the camera will stay level. This is critical.

Important Note: Most of these arms are NOT very strong. This one is able to hold a SMALL HandyCam, but it will not hold anything very big. Our camera weighs about 14 ounces. The entire head assembly and camera can’t weigh more than a pound. If yours does, you’ll need to find a heavy duty version of the arm, or build your own.

Now that I had the arm mounted to the upright and base, it was time to figure out how to attach the camera to the arm. This is where the “head” assembly comes in:

First, I bolted another 2″ “L” bracket to the arm. Note that you MUST have a spacer in between the two metal pieces of the arm, otherwise you’ll crush metal and it won’t move smoothly. If you look closely, you can see a small black spacer toward the bottom center of the above photo.

Initially I was going to mount a small piece of wood to the “L” bracket (I originally had two brackets). The trouble was that the wood, with a wooden handle, plus the camera, were too heavy. When you mounted all that on the end, it wouldn’t stay in place. So I needed something lighter.

My solution? Pieces from an Erector set. (I have to give Evelyn credit here: She picked up a bag of pieces at a second-hand shop, just in case we’d need them. This was that day.)

Luckily, most consumer cameras use standard 1/4″  mounting. This means you can get yourself a simple 1/4-20 (coarse thread) bolt, and make a mount. That’s what I did. Those two black pads on the top are rubber “feet” that help protect the camera, and give it a nice tight fit.

To mount the camera, you tilt the head up, and screw from underneath.

I put a couple of nuts on that 1/4″ bolt for two reason: (a) My bolt was too long, and (b) it give me more space to finger tighten the bolt to the camera.

In the above photo, here are the bolts: On the far left bottom, that’s the bolt/nut that holds the knob. Then there is a bolt that holds this Erector assembly to the “L” bracket. On the top piece, there is a long bolt/nuts that I used as a “stop”. This keeps the head level in a “rest” position. Next to it is the 1/4″ bolt that mounts the camera itself. There are two nuts up to its head, to make it easier to turn. In the background is the long bolt/washer/nut assembly which holds the top and bottom pieces of Erector together. I originally had two of these (front and back), but Evelyn needs to tilt the camera down a lot, so I kept only the front one. It should be tight enough so that things don’t fall apart, but loose enough so you can tilt.

Here’s the camera mounted to the head:

As a final touch, I bolted a spare Router knob to the head area. This allows Evelyn to move the whole unit up/down easily. You can forgo the knob, or use whatever you have on hand. For tilting, you use your thumb to push the camera rear up, so that the camera tilts down. The camera is very small and light, so this operation isn’t a big pain. However, I’m planning an upgrade to the head which would allow you to lock the tilt. For our shots, of about 10-15 seconds tops, it’s workable for now.

The whole unit seems to work pretty well. It will dive down to about 20″ off the ground, and extend up to about 62″ high. If I mount the base a little differently, I could probably get down to about 12″ off the ground. For our use, the range is right where we need it (from eye level to workbench). Having the camera on wheels is also nice, since it’s easier to move the whole unit around the shop.

Now that I’ve built this scavenged version, I’m thinking of making a “proper” boom, with a steady head assembly, and more range. Time to go hunting for cheap bearings.

If you are interesting in learning more shop tips and techniques, check out our other site: Sixty Second Shop

Where here at Austin Antics we talk about our ongoing projects, at Sixty Second Shop we focus exclusively on how-to videos.

Why do “yet another” how-to shop video? Because many of them take a long time to get their point across. We wanted something that you can quickly view, get the gist of the concept, and then go and search for more in-depth information. We consider the videos the be starting points, not definitive guides. Easily digestible bits of knowledge.

We hope that you find the videos helpful, and welcome suggestions and feedback.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I used the page count in Wired magazine to judge the relative health of the U.S. economy. It’s been pretty darn accurate.

Some previous readings:

September 2008 : 218 pages
Feburary 2009 : 116 pages
August 2009  : 132 pages

The current reading?

October 2009 : 148 pages

Things look to be on the way up. Here’s hoping that 2010 will be a blockbuster year. I think it will be.

Update:

November 2009: 174 pages

My niece, Arianna, just turned two. In one of “her” blog entries I noticed that she likes building towers. Hmm. Maybe I could build her some sort of tower puzzle of some sort?

After looking on the web a bit, I saw an old toy called “Bill Ding”. It’s basically a clown-like figure, cut of wood, which can interlock together. This allows you to create stacking figures, which you can then watch topple over (the part Arianna likes the most).

The original toy, which has recently been re-manufactured, has figures of about 4 inches tall. I thought that these would be (a) too difficult for a small child and (b) too difficult for a big child (me) to cut out on the scroll saw. I’m not know for my patience, after all.

So, I fired up the computer, opened the 3-D modeling tools, and began the painstaking process of resizing the figures. NOT! This is a prime example of a process that takes longer on computer than on paper.

I pulled out my Old School Graph Paper and sketched out a double-sized version of the figures. Then I spray glued the paper template to a thin (5mm) panel. This I cut out on the Dremel Scroll Saw. Once I had my little wood template, I used him to trace out the outlines on the lumber I would be using (1×12 pine boards). The figures are about 9 inches tall.

Here’s the original photo, with me working on templates and samples:

I had cut out about 6 of the figures and was playing around with them them when — oops — I dropped one. The tip of his head broke off! Then I noticed my mistake — I hadn’t paid attention to the grain of the wood when I sketched them for cutting. I was going in the wrong direction of the grain, thereby causing weakness in the part. (I can’t take all the blame–I was trying to re-use leftover lumber.)

Here is when I was playing with them a bit. A 4 foot fall onto a concrete floor illustrated my manufacturing error:

So, instead of giving out some toys that might break too easily, I cut out 7 more figures with my handy Bosch Jigsaw. This time I made sure that the grain was in the right direction. (As an added safety measure, I used my handy electric staple gun to shoot a 5/8″ brad into the shoulders and head of each of the figures, to give them a little metal support at the weak points. We’ll see how that works out in real-world testing.)

Here is a line of figures primed with white spraypaint:

And here they are getting painted in nice bright colors (blue, red, and green):

To make spraypainting easier, I made some painting jigs out of coat hangers. They made the process a LOT easier — how I did this will be in an upcoming Sixty Second Shop episode.

It was a lot of fun making these figures. All of those cuts was made by hand with a Jigsaw, with some of the close-in work being finished on a Scroll saw. I then rounded over all of the edges with a hand orbital sander, before priming and painting. It gave me a LOT of practice on the Jigsaw.

I also made a small base that (might) make stacking them easier. I had mixed results using it, but I’m sure Arianna will do better!

If you would like to create your own version of “Bill Ding”, do a Google search on the term, and you should find some templates. I designed my own version, a little more blocky (because I was going for a robot motif instead of clown), and it works pretty well.

Download this image and print it out full size and you’ll have the template I used. The figure should be 9 inches tall (though feel free to scale up or down). Nine inches was a reasonable size to do with a Jigsaw — any small and you’ll probably have to use a (slower) Scroll saw for all of it. (I tried a couple of 4.5″ versions, and they are hard to cut out right–that’s why I went with the bigger, blockier, version.)

My template:

We recently received our new Amateur Radio plates, so we had two old license plates in the shop. I was thinking of hanging them on the wall, but I wanted to do something more creative with them.

Their size (6″ x 12″) is a pretty good one for boxes. At first I was going to make a little toolbox for myself, but figured it would be too small for my purposes. But — a-ha! — it would be a perfect toy toolbox for a young nephew!

Glenn loves his Matchbox cars, and I thought–perfect! I would make a little toolbox-like unit, using the license plates as sides. Here is the end result:

It is made out of 1×2 pine (the red pieces), some 1×12 pine (the blue ends), a piece of 5mm panel (for the bottom), and the two old license plates. (Yep, those are from our car.)

When I was originally sketching it out, I had the 1×2 pine butting against the end pieces. After looking at it, I determined that putting screws into the endgrain wouldn’t be good (not strong enough). So, I took some time with the jigsaw and made cutouts for the four red cross pieces. This technique worked out well, because I was going to use a hole and a dowel for the handle, but used the same cutout technique for the handle instead.

Here’s a photo of the frame, so you can get a better idea of how it is made. Pretty simple design. I just made sure that the frame was bigger than the plate (to “hide” any possible sharp edges). I also put some rubber feet on the bottom, which (might) help prevent scratching of Tiff’s floor.

After all the pieces were cut, I spray painted them in bright colors (red and blue) — which happen to match the Texas plate really well.  The assembled unit it 6″ wide, 6″ tall (to top of plate), and 13.5″ long. The handle part goes about another 6″ or so above the plate, giving it a total height of about 12 inches.

Here I am, putting the plates on the side (the last step):

So now Glenn has a little “car box” for carrying all of his matchbox cars. I hope that he enjoys it, reading off the numbers, looking at the cowboy on the license plate, and so on.

A number of people have commented about the cuteness of this bench, so I thought I’d do a brief write-up on how to build your own. The limited material count and easy cuts make it a nice afternoon project. Plus, it’s built like a tank (and weighs like one), so it will last a long time.

The seat is 28″ wide and 12″ off the ground.

Shopping List

(2) 2×8 x 8′ pieces of cedar, redwood, pressure treated, (pine is okay — see note below)
(18) 2 1/2″ deck screws (buy a one pound box for about $8)
Construction adhesive or exterior grade wood glue (Titebond II)

Note: Pine is okay. It’s cheap — about $5 a piece. However, you MUST carefully stain or paint the unit with exterior grade stain or paint. Cedar and redwood do not have to be stained (and should NOT be painted), but can be sealed using something like Olympic WaterGuard.

Tools

Drill with 1/8″ bit
Screwdriver (manual or electric)
Speed square (a protractor will work)
Circular, jig, or hand saw (a 7 1/4″ circular is easiest)

Cuts

(1) 31″ for the Back — straight cut
(1) 28″ for the Seat — straight cut
(2) 24″  for the uprights — 22 degree angle cut
(2) 11 1/2″ for the rear supports — 22 degree angle cut

Straight Cuts (2 pieces total)

Start with one piece of lumber and cut the two straight pieces. One is 31″ and the other is 28″. Make sure that your cuts are straight — use a Speed Square to help. (More on this below.)

Angled Cuts (4 pieces total)

The legs (uprights and rear) are cut at a 22 degree angle. The easiest way to to this is with a Speed Square. Pick a small (6″) one at your local supply store for about $5-10 (depending on size). Get the bright plastic one, it’s cheaper and you don’t lose it as easily.

Using a Speed Square is easier done than described. Let’s look at this photo:

In the above example, I have set it to cut a 22 degree angle. How is this done? Here’s the annotated version:

You first slide the Lipped Edge of the Speed Square against the edge of the wood. This would make a 90 degree cut. Then you pivot the square down at the Pivot Point until the Angle reading shows 22 degrees. Then you mark/cut along the Cut line.

Big Speed Squares are very handy for cutting bigger boards with circular saws. You basically use the square as a guide for your saw. It allows you to make nice straight lines without the setup time of clamping down a straight edge.

I used the remaining 37″ piece of lumber from the straight cuts to cut the (2) 11 1/2″ angled pieces. It’s better to have a little scrap and “room to work” than to cut too close to the edge and screw something up. (There’s enough lumber to screw up a piece and make another one.)

Hint: Since the Speed Square measures the angle on the hypotenuse, you have to have enough scrap material on the end to line up the angle reading. See the photo above? I couldn’t make the cut much further to the left because the angle reading would “fall off” the edge of the wood. This is why I have two sizes of Speed Squares. I used my bigger 12″ one for most of this project, since it keeps my fingers away from the saw. But when I got toward the edge I had to switch to a smaller Square. This project has enough material that you shouldn’t have to worry about this, unless you are using leftover lumber.

When you are measuring the length of angled cuts it can be a little confusing. This photo shows how the pieces should end up.

This project is pretty forgiving, but you need to try and make these angled cuts as accurately as possible. A little taller or shorter won’t ruin anything, but try and make sure that the uprights are the same height and the rear supports are the same height. Within 1/4″ and you should be fine.

If you would like to learn more about using a Speed Square, check out our videos at Sixty Second Shop.

Assembly

Unfortunately, I didn’t take photos of the assembly process. Hopefully this will make some sense. Here’s a photo of the original article that might help:

The Legs

You first put the legs together. A leg is an assembly of an upright (24″ angled) and a rear support (11 1/2″ angled). It’s important that the legs are matching mirrors of each other.

Lay the two uprights on a large flat work surface, with the bottoms against a straight edge (you can use the seat and backrest parts as a guide to butt the wood up to). They should be making a big triangle-like shape, with the bottoms of the legs flat against the guide/wall/straightedge. You are building the legs on their sides, to make it easier.

Now put the shorter 11 1/2″ pieces on top of the uprights. This will be easier if you slip a piece of scrap under the ends (where the guys wrist is at — dont’ try to hold it up like he is doing).

See where the Rear Support and the Upright overlap? It’s a triangle-like shape. You want to put a little wood glue or construction adhesive where they overlap. Don’t overdo the glue or the pieces won’t come together nicely! I learned this the hard way. Go easy on the adhesive! (Plus construction adhesive does NOT stain, so you don’t want it getting on the face of your wood.)

To get the glue in the right place, I first aligned the parts, then drew two lines. I removed the Rear Support, spread glue in the triangle area, then re-aligned the Rear Support, drilled, and screwed the pieces together. Then I repeated on the other leg.

There are (3) 2 1/2″ deck screws that hold the Rear Support to the Upright. You’ll need (6) screws in total to make the two leg assemblies. Here is what it looks like on mine (this is a fully assembled bench, so don’t be confused by the seat):

Hint: Make sure to do this on a big smooth surface (the floor is fine). It’s important the the two leg assemblies are mirrors of each other. The angles must be the same, the Rear Supports at the right height, etc. You really don’t have to measure during the assembly process, but you have to make sure the angles look right, that the “feet” of the legs are flat against your straight edge, etc. This will make a LOT more sense when you actually do it. You’ll see if things are straight pretty easily. Again, one of those things that’s easier to do than to explain.

The Seat

Now you need to stand the two ends up, 28″ apart. A helper is useful here, though if you built the legs well they will stand on their own. (This is acutually a good test. If the leg doesn’t stand up on it’s own, it might mean that you put it together wrong.)

While the legs are standing up, spread a little glue on the tops of the Rear Supports. Drill and screw the seat into place. The original plans only had screws into the tops of the seat, but I found that adding two screws on the outside makes things more solid.

Here are the screws holding the seat from the top:

The above photo shows how far forward you should bring the seat. You want it brought toward the front of the bench, so it overhangs a bit. (Again, this will become apparent when you are doing it.) The sharp corner should be sanded down when you are done with assembly.

Here are the screws holding the seat from the side. Measure the height from the ground to figure out where to drill. About 11 1/2″ from the ground or so.

You want to make sure that the seat is TIGHTLY screwed and FLUSH with the upright leg assembly. The board should be right up against the leg, and sitting completely on the Rear Support. A helper can assist in holding the piece tightly while you are drilling and screwing it together, and a level can help make sure everything is plumb and level. The legs should be straight (at a 90 degree angle to the floor).

The Back

You will notice that the bench is a little flexy right now. The Back will solve this problem.

Lay the bench on the ground or worktable and attach the Back. Drill and screw, using (4) deck screws total (two on each end). This photo from the original article helps illustrate this:

Final Touches

Break out the sander and soften all of the edges, especially the seat, back, and uprights. Anywhere you are likely to touch. Then wipe down the sawdust.

Since I made mine out of (cheap) pine, I had to stain the unit (otherwise it will start rotting after a season outside). I paid careful attention to making sure the top surfaces (where water can pool) were well stained. Plus, I made sure that the “feet” were well coated. (The top and bottom of the legs are end grain, so they really suck up the stain. This is good. Lay it on.)

If you made yours out of redwood, cedar, or treated, you can leave it natural and watch it age. Or apply a linseed oil based product.

How Strong Is It?

It weighs 28 pounds and can support me without a creak.

With 2x8s and short cuts, it’s a very solid unit. More solid than the adult version, which is saying something.

Have fun building this classic bench. Thanks, Leopold!

Update: We now offer the Adult and Child size versions of the Leopold Bench for sale. You can purchase either a fully assembled (and stained) unit, or a pre-cut kit. Check out our business site, Austin Kontore, for more details.

Update: You can download a free copy of our detailed Assembly Guide. The detailed instructions will help you to build your own Leopold. Click Here For Assembly Guide

I have a trouble with pants. I blow out knees in record time. They always fall down, even with a belt. My mom will attest to this.

So, I have thrown in the towel and become and Eccentric Old Man. I have bought suspenders.

I figure any guy who builds chicken coops for a living can get away with suspenders. And hey, this is Austin. I’m probably the least strange person around.

Plus, they make me feel like Clarence Darrow.

I built another version of the Simple Bench (based on the Aldo Leopold design). Here is a photo of it in the shop, sanded but not stained:

It’s the same design as the other, except with one difference:

That’s right: I made the Leopold in a child’s size! It’s 2/3rds of the adult model. The seat being about 13″ from the ground. To quote Evelyn: “It’s adorable.”

Once I have it stained, I’ll take a photo of it next to the big one.

What in the world could this be?