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- Jan 4, 2021
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Copy Stand (To Make Photographing Tooling, etc. Easier)
Stage 1: Gather Parts
OK, I decided to "make" (actually, assemble) a copy stand, kinda/sorta like this:
Amazon has a number of similar stands, starting around $75, but the cheap ones are intended for phones (and I'll also be using mine for that), but this is about as cheap as you can go if you want to use an SLR and be able to easily raise & lower the camera.
Mine won't have a large base, just a mount for the column that can be clamped to worktables or benches. I already have an adjustable camera rail that gives me ~12" of travel:
And I have ~5' of Uni-Strut so I got a post base:
And ordered another 4-1/2" Kant-Twist Clamp:
I bought a regular 4-1/2" from MSC on eBay in March for $30, but they are now $50. The flat plates on this clamp will make it better for securing the base to a table/bench, it comes with the Weaver-Grips and I got 10% off.
Then things started going South. The clamp arrived Friday (ZORO, shipped from Industrial Magnetics [who now own Kant-Twist, but want $70 for the one I bought from ZORO] and with a Grainger packing list –no surprise there):
The flat plate is spot welded to the jaw (copper-plated steel) but there must have been something between the plate & jaw (the other plate weld is clean). You can see were they tried to fix this but they didn't get deep enough so the jaw/plate only swivels part way. ZORO has emailed me a label and will send a replacement. I offered to fix it myself for a partial refund, but it was either return for full refund or do the swap.
Once I get a good replacement, I'll document the build and add a post. I also need to finish editing a video of making this (which involved modifying the K-T clamp):
Stage 1: Gather Parts
OK, I decided to "make" (actually, assemble) a copy stand, kinda/sorta like this:
Amazon has a number of similar stands, starting around $75, but the cheap ones are intended for phones (and I'll also be using mine for that), but this is about as cheap as you can go if you want to use an SLR and be able to easily raise & lower the camera.
Mine won't have a large base, just a mount for the column that can be clamped to worktables or benches. I already have an adjustable camera rail that gives me ~12" of travel:
And I have ~5' of Uni-Strut so I got a post base:
And ordered another 4-1/2" Kant-Twist Clamp:
I bought a regular 4-1/2" from MSC on eBay in March for $30, but they are now $50. The flat plates on this clamp will make it better for securing the base to a table/bench, it comes with the Weaver-Grips and I got 10% off.
Then things started going South. The clamp arrived Friday (ZORO, shipped from Industrial Magnetics [who now own Kant-Twist, but want $70 for the one I bought from ZORO] and with a Grainger packing list –no surprise there):
The flat plate is spot welded to the jaw (copper-plated steel) but there must have been something between the plate & jaw (the other plate weld is clean). You can see were they tried to fix this but they didn't get deep enough so the jaw/plate only swivels part way. ZORO has emailed me a label and will send a replacement. I offered to fix it myself for a partial refund, but it was either return for full refund or do the swap.
Once I get a good replacement, I'll document the build and add a post. I also need to finish editing a video of making this (which involved modifying the K-T clamp):
Last edited: