How to make your own Gimble

Hi Guys
what you need 4ft long 1"3/8" wide 3/8" thick steel bar and a bit of strenth ,and a good strong vice, im not much of a techy guy so hope the photos give an ider of how to do it, the total cost was under £10 the ajustment nob is from an old ajustable computer chair a nut and bolt was found so as to fix it. i heated the bar up to help with the bending, the bar bends almost to the right shape as it does not want to bend at a right angle,
i then cut to size
a hammer does the rest.
the long bend ends up 11" and the short bend is 8" aprox.
double AA baterie is for scale.
a quick relese can be added
Note you need 4ft so you can get the leverage to help with the bending befor cutting.
edit a fabric/ruber type washer can be used for friction so it runs up and down nice as im using it on a monopod i dont need it to turn left to right but it would be easy to make something up.
Rob.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

mono pod not here so vice to show it edit yes i am going to paint it .

That's a great idea! I'll have to give that a try.

Is it just me or is the larger of the two bars bending the bolt? 3/8" is really thick, wouldn't 1/4" work as well.

The bolt in the vice was just to show the setup it wasn't tight so thats why it looks like it bending IT isn't.
by the way a slightly thiner bar will do for a lighter camera lens combo and it would be easyier to work with.
Rob

gyrob wrote:
The bolt in the vice was just to show the setup it wasn't tight so thats why it looks like it bending IT isn't.
by the way a slightly thiner bar will do for a lighter camera lens combo and it would be easyier to work with.
Rob

Gotcha, thanks Rob.

That is a cracking idea, you know, you could market that (once painted) and make, oh I dunno, about 200 quid on each one!!

Regards

Looks good. The lower piece should be drilled and tapped for a 1/4-20 bolt to mount directly to tripod.

Nice work Rob! Engrave a POTN logo and can start selling it HERE.

after painting i found that an cutting a strip of old pushbike iner tube fits over the metal giving a warmer feel and protection againt's knocking the lens .
as its a very tight fit washing up liqued helps to get it on.
Rob.

Sounds like a nice additional touch. Can we have some photos of the finished product please.

finshed i put a teflon washer between the moveing plates so the parts move smothely seems ok but untill my monopod comes carn't test the fricion with the camera and lens on.
i will field test it when it comes .
edit the weight of it is 3LB and it feels very sturdy
Rob

Have you thought of using that liquid grip type stuff? kind of what they use for brush on truck bed liners, but designed to dip tool handles and whatnot to add grip and cushioning. Your peice looks very good.

This'll work:

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

Awesome solution

Put a QR set up on it and your golden