Review homebuilt Stabilizer - finally ahead

[Robert Hofmann]

Hey there,
this will be a review of the pdf book of Charles.
First I have to mention, that I really like that book. It gives you a good understanding how Charles built his rig. And it is just that. The description how he built his rig and why he did the things the way he did.  As I understood it, that's what he wanted. A book that gives you some hints and ideas for your own design. There is a whole bunch of good pictures of which you can get ideas. He also includes the different alternatives he did or he tried for the different components. There are no drawings with measurements in there. I like that approach.
He also included parts of rigs from other users of HBS. So you can take a look what they did. Nice

Constructive Feedback:
I would have liked it if that idea, to give you some guidelines and an understanding, would have been enlarged. For example to tell what different kinds of arm mechanism there are and what their pro and con are. This book focuses just on Charles rig. Seldom there is something explained that he didn't include in his rig.

At some point I got a bit confused, the Information that I wanted to read did not come. Later I discovered that it did come (most of the time) but way later. For example the drawings of the internal wiring. Some things were missing which I would have liked to her. Example here is „Pro® style spring arm design“ Page 46. As I am new to this topic, I did not know what is different at that design and so on. If You mention it, it would have been nice to explain it for newbies.
Another example are the rod brackets. It is said that the ones he made first had some tolerance issues and were wrongly designed. But why? What was wrong with them? Which mistake should I avoid?
Also I would have liked to see the "post plug" Page 66. I still think I didn't get what this peace is for, but I can be mistaken on that one and it is in there-I just didn't get it.
Sometimes pics are not labled with a number. Small stuff, that makes it easier to crossread. Not necessary at all but nice.
I also would have liked to have links to all the purchased parts and maybe a price so I have a guideline for my parts (although I could  understand totally that the price might be confidential)

There are two more things I did miss or not get:
1. Page 134-135 is a cage, why do you need this?
2. Your rig has 2 independent rod systems at the lower end of the post. Is 1 not enough? Is it helpful for dynamic balance?

There are also no equations like the math for the arm in his book. Which is ok, since it is some difficult stuff. I would have liked it tough. From my point of view (I will be an engineer when my rig is done - next year) I would have liked to understand the principles behind the stuff. How to dimension things, what to take into consideration, tables for stuff like drill diameter for threads or how to insert bearings the right way. In other words: the essence of all the posts on HBS.

[Charles King]

Thanks for your candid review. You are right, I did write the book with the thought of those reading it would already know what I am talking about. I would considered that all the information, already on this forum would have been unnecessary to repeat in my book. On top of that, this was not a 'show-you-how-to' book. It was simply to journal what I did or casually show what I did to achieve my rig. I can understand that certain areas of what I was talking about might have confused you; For that I do apologies. But if you go through the HBS 101 forum you will understand areas that made you confused in my book. Again, I do understand some of your criticism but to make a book as you described would deter from the fact of what the book was intended for in the first place. My rig and solely my rig. I have written and started many topics with explanations on this forum for those not sure about certain things. Adding too much information would have made it not just about my rig but a general subjective topic.

Thanks for your review, I do appreciate it very much but if you need more info on certain aspects related to stabilizers then this board will do you justice. I take it you have not gone through the important areas yet...

[Robert Hofmann]

You're right, I still need to read a lot 
I probably already forgot half I read so far.