Machining Camera Stabilizer Head Plates, One Hole at a Time.

Camera Stabilizer Head Plates hand crafted from raw material to finished product. Follow along as we build just one head plate


Whether you're interested in building your own DIY camera stabilizer, or just enjoy seeing the process behind the product, follow along the hand crafted journey as we go from raw material to finished product.
 



27 holes are hand drilled in the camera stabilizer head plate with the help of a laser guided drill press

 The process begins with the top plate of the camera stabilizer head.  A paper template is glued on to the surface, then 27 holes are hand drilled with the help of a laser guided drill press. If the head plate is intended for use with our Specter Stabilizer, the holes are also counter-sunk.

Alignment test of the camera stabilizer mounting holes, showing the high precision machining
7 years and an estimated 100,000+ holes drilled by none other than the owner himself, precision can be seen in the alignment test.

Slots are machined in the middle plate of the camera stabilizer head plate to allow for camera adjustment

Moving on to the middle plate, slots are machined with the help of our manual 3-axis mill.  These slots allow for the front-to-back adjustment of the camera.

Screw mounting holes are drilled in the middle plate of the camera stabilizer head plate
Holes are drilled for the mounting screws that connect the middle and bottom plates. 



Screw holes are counter-sunk on the middle plate of the camera stabilizer head plate
Then counter-sunk on the drill press.

Side holes are drilled on the camera stabilizer head plate to allow mounting inertial dampers for more stability while flying








 1/4"-20 mounting holes are drilled in the sides of the plate, allowing users to attach our inertial dampers for added stability. 



Mounting holes are threaded on the camera stabilizer head plate with the help of a 3-axis mill







With the help of the 3-axis mill for alignment, the holes are hand threaded to prevent damaging the threads.




Cut lines are marked on the middle plate of the camera stabilizer head plate
 A custom metal template is used to mark the cut lines for the next step.

Using a scroll saw to cut the final shape of the camera stabilizer head plate









Once marked, the final shape is cut via the scroll saw.



Using a metal template to mark the bottom plate of the camera stabilizer head plate.




Another custom metal template is used to mark the bottom plate on a longer strip of material, then cut to length using the scroll saw.



Slots are machined in the bottom plate of the camera stabilizer head plate using a 3-axis mill. These slots allow for side to side camera adjustment
Slots are then machined using the 3-axis mill.  These slots allow for the side-to-side adjustment of the camera.





The mounting hole is drilled and counter-sunk on the bottom plate of the camera stabilizer head plate
The mounting hole is drilled and counter-sunk in the plate, allowing it to attach to the main tube of the camera stabilizer.



Camera stabilizer head plate parts after machining, prior to sandingWith machining done, the parts are ready for sanding.



Two finishes are performed on the camera stabilizer head plate, matte and gloss. Requiring two grits of sandpaper for matte, and six for gloss.
A majority of the sanding is done by hand. The matte finish on the left is used for our MiniDV Stabilizer Pro V2 and requires two grits of sandpaper to complete.  The more time consuming gloss finish is used on our Specter Stabilizer and requires six different grits going all the way up to 2000 grit paper.  The gloss finish can take up to several hours to complete.   
Mounting hardware is added and the camera stabilizer head plates are finished.
Once sanding is done, mounting hardware is added, and the camera stabilizer head plates are complete.
Machining required
32 holes drilled
4 slots milled
6 holes threaded


Learn more about the MiniDV Stabilizer Pro V2 and Specter Stabilizer at the links below:

MiniDV Stabilizer Pro V2 - Camera Stabilizer
Specter Stabilizer - Camera Stabilizer

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