Overthinking it

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I have been working on a simple method of mounting my GoPro on the lathe. I made a sleeve that fits the unused hole for the coolant system. A hole was threaded 3/8-16 to accept a length of 3/8 Al rod. A made a place with a set screw that could slide up and down that rod. Mounted to the plate was a cylinder with a hole to accept another 3/8 rod. Plan was to mount the camera on the end of the second rod. Plenty of adjustment to get the camera where I wanted. Problem was that it was prone to vibration and overly complex. That bugged me.

Then the light bulb went on. Had an idea and the whole was completed in under 15 minutes.

IMG_2684.JPG

Turn some steel to 3/8 with a 1/4" on the end turned to .250. Using a die I threaded it 1/4-20. Camera mount screws on the end. Other end fits in the hole for a 3/8 indicator on my Noga magnetic mount indicator holder.

Yep, never pays to over think it. This took far less time and costs under a buck to make.
 

Ian

Notorious member
$100 for a camera mount ain't bad :rolleyes:. I need to get one of those Nogas for indicating and use my POS Chinesium mag base for a camera mount.....that's a dang good idea you had there.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
The Noga is so easy to adjust. The mag base is positive and easy to remove when off.
I need another one.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
wait a minute..
how do you take a picture,,,,,,,,,, of your camera,,,,,,,, taking a picture,,,, of something else?

quick question.
is the NOGA used when stretching NAUGA?
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
I've always had to fight a tendency to over-engineer things. 99+% of the time, the simplest and most straight forward design is the best.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
wait a minute..
how do you take a picture,,,,,,,,,, of your camera,,,,,,,, taking a picture,,,, of something else?

quick question.
is the NOGA used when stretching NAUGA?
Mirrors Lamar, mirrors.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Take a picture of a go-pro with an iphone, sounds like an endless loop to infinity.

SW: Reminds me of a signature line on some obscure forum.."The best engineering solutions are sublimely simple and elegant".
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I will try and get some video with the new setup soon. Far better than holding my phone while running the lathe.
I want to mount a small flat steel plate under the shelf above my casting pot. That will let me use the same setup for any casting videos.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
IMG_2688.JPG
You can see how easy it is to adjust the setup to get the camera where you want it. By mounting it on the carriage I also can keep the camera location relative to the cutting tool constant.

Sorry it isn't the best video, I didn't turn on the extra overhead lights.

 
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Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Works. Yes, holding a camera while the spindle is running is a bit scary.
And mounted on the carriage, it will move with the tool.

Bill
 

Intheshop

Banned
Watching paint dry.....always a dangerous situation?

I don't know?if "over thinking" is apropos here.Thinking and doing aren't mutually exclusive.

"I can name that tune in ? notes",comes to mind.As a shop manager your job is to produce a part with a laundry list of criteria.How many ops?Tooling wear?Ease of fabrication?Repeatability?etc,etc.

That takes a focused brain effort.Pareing down the ops and potential screw-ups are what's needed.If that takes two days of "thinking",so be it.
 

KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
The older I get, the more I use my brain before I use my hands on my jobs. I am a big believer in visualization and planning before doing, saves a lot of time, energy, and blood.
 

Intheshop

Banned
Exactly Keith.....it's either that or,get someone else to do it?

Thread drift warning,stop reading now...

Cleaning $$$ spraying equipment is so close to cleaning firearms it ain't funny.Just sayin,get a routine,and stick with it.It's taken me,ohhh the last 20 years?(been at it way longer) to where I can gut a deer in Sunday clothes,and be able to make the prayer meeting later....same with shooting paint.Got to take cleaning up seriously.