info on cody's plans

[cody carson]

hello, i just have a few questions to those who have made this steadicam.  i am taking an advanced machining course that is about 45 minutes long for three months.  i was wondering if you think this would be adaquate time to build a stabilizer.  also, i would to know an estimate on how much this device would cost, if i could get most of the metal for free?  like, broad, as in, over 1000, 100-200,  any broad guess, because i have absolutely no clue.  thanks alot.

-cody

[Justin Snodgrass]

I'm not sure about how long to build, but I do remember seeing somewhere (maybe on Cody's website?) that the cost to build was around $300. I just ordered the monopod yesterday to get started building mine. I can't wait!

[Jake Danilchik]

It just occurred to me that you might be talking about the simpler Cody Deegan plans rather than the Cody Phase II arm.  Below I estimated what I paid for the various materials for the ** phase II arm **.  ( basically I think you should do the more challenging Phase II arm but I would show the plans to your instructor in advance to see if this is overly ambitious.  )  45 minutes times 60 ( 5 days x 4 weeks x 3 months  = 60 )  2700 minutes.   hmmm.  Personally, I would give it a shot !  it is a fun project even if you don't finish.

Although I did not keep proper records of what I have spent , I can give a guestimate that I have spent around $400.  As it turns out a significant portion of the cost ( other than the aluminum )  was the bearings.  Here on HBS someone supplied a link to some ( NON ABEC rated bearings  ) that I would have tried before purchasing some that cost over $125 in total ( for 32 of them ).  Here is the link to the inexpensive ones on ebay ( bulk pack of 50 of them $20 ).

http://cgi.ebay.com/R4-2RS-ELECTRIC-MOTOR-HOBBY-ROUTER-BEARINGS-50-PCS_W0QQitemZ7539970697QQcategoryZ67033QQcmdZViewItem.

The monopod was around $45 and the pan bearing was around $20.  The aluminum I bought from onlinemetals.com was around $200 , maybe a bit more ?  I stopped counting as I had to purchase some more due to a few blunders.  The first of which was that I trusted them to cut the pieces to good tolerances.  They weren't necessarily square cuts but the biggest flaw was that they cut 3/8 inch thick aluminum with some sort of shear that crimped the perimeter.  If you request the stock is cut from extruded aluminum that is exact to your specifications in one dimension and add at least 1/8 to the other dimension (so you can square up your material on the mill using the extruded edge as your basis ) you should be fine.     Some other things that start to add up is foam for the vest, and buckles should you decide to alter the design of the vest a bit.    Also consider the aluminum welding as you might need to pay someone to do this for you ( I decided to machine the gimbal " U " bracket instead of having it welded ).    The nuts and bolts add up too... so maybe that was $50 - $75 ?  sorry if I am grossly off but I thought I would give a general estimate off the top of my head.

p.s.  I would see if Cody Deegan will let you use an advance copy of his new arm plans rather than going forward with the current phase II arm plans.

cheers,

Jake

hello, i just have a few questions to those who have made this steadicam.  i am taking an advanced machining course that is about 45 minutes long for three months.  i was wondering if you think this would be adaquate time to build a stabilizer.  also, i would to know an estimate on how much this device would cost, if i could get most of the metal for free?  like, broad, as in, over 1000, 100-200,  any broad guess, because i have absolutely no clue.  thanks alot.

-cody

[cody carson]

hey thanks for the info everyone.  i think i'm going to give it a shot, as i don't think i have to pay too much for the metal.  and i can do all my own welding, cuz we have arc, wirefeed, and um... iforgot wat the one w/ just a torch and wire filler.  but we have tons of machining equipment and metal routers and carving devices and everything.  so it should be a good project just hope i can afford it in the end.  also, does anyone know of a good link to order cody's plans?  and does the advanced arm come in the same book as the easier arm?  thanks a ton.

[Jake Danilchik]

The advanced arm ( phase II ) is one set of plans that details machining the arm only.  The easier plans have instruction for the easier arm as well and includes  plans for the vest and sled ( gimbal, stage, monopod... etc ) ( so basically you have to buy both ) .

Buy his plans here :  http://www.codydeegan.com/

Jake

hey thanks for the info everyone.  i think i'm going to give it a shot, as i don't think i have to pay too much for the metal.  and i can do all my own welding, cuz we have arc, wirefeed, and um... iforgot wat the one w/ just a torch and wire filler.  but we have tons of machining equipment and metal routers and carving devices and everything.  so it should be a good project just hope i can afford it in the end.  also, does anyone know of a good link to order cody's plans?  and does the advanced arm come in the same book as the easier arm?  thanks a ton.

[Tom Wills]

Cody also has an advanced sled book, which I think is much better than his original one. His vest is either the simple one from his first book or his back-mount vest which he actually has detailed on a PDF which you can get for free. (I'm at my cousin's house so I don't quite have the time to search right now.)

[Brett A. Noe]

The link to Cody's books is at the top right of the page. The new vest book is a redesign including the female socket block.