New vest connect

[Cody Deegan]

Hi everybody

I'm slowly getting my rig all put back together.  I just bartered some work with a guy who made me a new vest connect bar out of stainless steel.  It is made to fit the new arm and wrap around the waist rather than at the back of the hip.

[Jason Weaver]

Nice, nice, nice. I was wondering. how does the arm connect. I keep looking but still just don't get it. 
Good looking piece.

Jason Weaver

[phil]

  Indeed--very nice.  It appears to connect to the back of the vest by way of the 2 bolts in the pic.  Bartering is a good idea.  What is the rough weight since it is steel?

[Jason Weaver]

Sorry bout that, I wasn't clear. I was talking about how the arm connects to the vest part. I see the fitting there and the adjusters but was not sure how the connector actually stays in place on the bar... I don't think I'm making much sense here... hmmm.... the kind of "socket block" part.

Jason Weaver

[Tom Wills]

From what I can tell, it's all about the arm having pretty much a pipe with a 1/4" ID and having the bolt be pulled out, the arm goes in, and the bolt goes through the pipe to be secured with nuts. Make sense now?

Very very nice Cody. I'm trying to get a machinist in my area to help me with my arm and vest, and luckily it seems that it should all come together soon. How much did getting that part machined cost you, if you don't mind telling?

[Ben Chiu]

Hi Cody:

That looks slick!

I converted my back vest mount to a similar design. However, on the downside what I've discovered is the load on my back makes the rig feel more like the front mount position. My guess is where the mount attaches to the vest isn't the key to comfort (e.g. front or back). It must have to do with were the mass is located in relation to your C.G. (Center of Gravity) or spine (pivot point). So I'm re-thinking the design to get a better balance (pardon the pun!) between comfort and usability, but I'm waiting for our socket blocks to show up first because it may introduce some other considerations.

Best!
Ben

[Jason Weaver]

Tom,

From what I can tell, it's all about the arm having pretty much a pipe with a 1/4" ID and having the bolt be pulled out, the arm goes in, and the bolt goes through the pipe to be secured with nuts. Make sense now?

Now I got it. I saw the adjuster for the up and down on the top and the adjusters for side to side, but just didn't get the attachment part. thanks for clearing that up.

Jason Weaver

[Cody Deegan]

Nice job, Ben.  I like the multiple bends in the bar - very good idea.

Mine weighs in at 3 pounds, I have not tested it yet to see how it all feels on my back .  Here's another picture demonstrating how the arm actually connects.

The guy said he worked on it 15 minutes a day for 7 days at his work on breaks.  So it didn't take him more than 2 hours.  There was no machining involved - he bent the steel and welded in a couple spots, then drilled and tapped some holes.  I am doing a large sessional tattoo piece on his arm so I knocked $100 off what he owes for the work and he was perfectly happy.

[Ben Chiu]

Nice job, Ben.  I like the multiple bends in the bar - very good idea.

Thanks, Cody!

It's actually come in handy. The bends allow for more options when walking through doorways, and other tight places. Two months ago I was shooting in a small room and in order to get a wide shot, I had to stand in a closet. I feel the bends allowed me to manuever better without hitting anything. We're only talking about a couple of inches, but when the space is really tight like that situation, it came in really handy. But then again, I'd never try something like that again unless I really had to. It's was a real pain (in more than one way!).

Another thing I'm considering is doing away with the shoulder link to reduce the mass offset rather than shorten the connecting mount. (It really makes mounting the arm much easier having the connection point in view.) From what I can tell, having the connection that far in front, the shoulder link doesn't really need to be there. And I think that perhaps the our socket blocks would replace at least one of those pivot points. Again, until our socket blocks show up it's only speculation.

That's nice craftsmanship on your mount. And from the small amount of time he spent on it, your buddy is very skilled.

Best!
Ben

[Cody Deegan]

I suppose doing away with the shoulder would not be that big a deal.  I have never operated without one so I am not sure how it would affect performance.  All the pro models I have seen always had one, but that may be more for the ability to remove the connector and turn it over so that the arm could be used right or left handed.

About the new position of the connection point on my vest, I have since donned the rig and have not noticed any major difference with the feel of the weight.  I can still vividly remember my experiences with a front-mount vest and this back-mount feels nothing like it.

Ben, I did notice your bar protrudes out about 5 inches further than mine in front so perhaps you are experiencing the effects of increased leverage, which might be putting more strain on you while operating.

I just realized you already addressed that in your previous post....duh, sorry.

[Cody Deegan]

For anyone who's interested, these are the plans I gave to the guy who built the bar.  He added a small piece to the front underneath to box up the enclosure for strength purposes - but other than that I think all these specs are correct.

The 10" measurement should be tailored to fit your build.

[Ben Chiu]

I suppose doing away with the shoulder would not be that big a deal.  I have never operated without one so I am not sure how it would affect performance.  All the pro models I have seen always had one, but that may be more for the ability to remove the connector and turn it over so that the arm could be used right or left handed.

About the new position of the connection point on my vest, I have since donned the rig and have not noticed any major difference with the feel of the weight.  I can still vividly remember my experiences with a front-mount vest and this back-mount feels nothing like it.

Ben, I did notice your bar protrudes out about 5 inches further than mine in front so perhaps you are experiencing the effects of increased leverage, which might be putting more strain on you while operating.

Hi Cody:

I have to say that you really have amazing powers of observation and a thorough grasp of your design. My compliments to you!

Because the socket block deal looks like it's going to fall through (very disappointing after waiting all of this time), I decided to cut down my vest mount now. And wouldn't you know it, I came up with the same 5.25" figure.

Shorting the mount by that figure made a huge difference on my back strain. What's really funny is as I came back to this thread to reply to your message, I saw you posted a picture with dims, and the length of the my new modified mount works out to 6" as you have depicted. My reasoning for that figure was based on minimum space between the last bend that would allow the fork to pivot fully. Coincidence perhaps, but it works.

Thanks once again, Cody!

Ben

[Mauro Zenoniani]

hi cody,
i'm very impressed.

but i have a question: why does the torsion spring is necessary?

And do you think that it would work without it ?

[Cody Deegan]

The arm works fine without the torsion spring.  It will drift sometimes pivoting on the rear axis.  The spring adds an extra force to help keep the rear of the arm facing in the right direction.

[Mauro Zenoniani]

clear...as always.

thanks cody.