• Kobalt 1/4″ Universal joint socket driver – $5.97
• Kobalt 1/4″ 11mm socket (You can substitute this for any old 1/4″ socket that you have) – $2.47
• 6″ Roller Frame Whizz – $1.97
• Fender washers 1/4″ x 1-1/4″ pack – $6.58
• Stl Flathead 1/4″ x 3″ machined screws 2 pack – $.98
• Aluminum Flat 1/8″ x 3/4″ x 3″ – $4.38
• J-B Kwik epoxy – $4.98

Total: $27.33 if you purchase everything. Most people will have at least one of these lying around

I also purchased some 1/4″ x 1/2″ screws but ended up not using them.

First Step. Cut the shaft on the paint roller. This is what the universal joint will attach to and be the handle for our Steadicam. I chose to cut it fairly short but you may choose any length you wish.

Next step. Mix up some J-B Kwik and use it to attach the universal joint to the handle and also one of the 3″ screws inside of the 11mm socket. You might need to shave/sand the edge of the screw head to get it to fit. If you have an extra 1/4″ nut then you can have it inside of the socket to add additional strength and straightness to the screw. The handle will clip into the socket and the camera will also screw onto this same screw from the top.

I used my hands and curved the aluminum stock into this shape. Insert the socket/screw through the hole in the top and tighten a nut down onto it. Drill a hole on the bottom and use the second 3″ screw to attach several of the washers. This will act as a counter weight for your camera and keep the whole system level and upright.

After playing around with bending the metal and different holes/number of washers I found this configuration to be the best for my handheld camera. I cut the rest of the aluminum off  with a hacksaw. I still drilled multiple holes so that I may adjust the balance of the whole configuration later. Also you can see that you do not have to remove the nut in order to add/remove washers on the fly. Between the holes/washers and being able to bend the aluminum, this system is extremely adjustable.

Cut the screw sticking out of the socket. Remember that you can always cut off more later so don’t chop off to much to begin with. Also if you thread a nut past where you cut, when you make your cut and unscrew the nut then all of the threads will be realigned.

Here is a closeup of the universal joint, socket, and cut screw. I chose to put two nuts on top so that I can orient my camera and tighten the nut from below to hold it in that position. For a cheap  DIY 25 dollar steadicam I am extremely impressed with the results. I will try to record some comparison footage for you to be able to compare the differences.

Here is what a floppy drive looks with its shell off.

Here you can see the stepper motor that will rotate the camera. It is normally used to move the read/write head back and forth on the disk.

On the left you can see the back of the stepper motor and on the right is the ide cable port.

After tracing leads on the pcb board I figured that I could cut the majority of it off. After I chopped it i decided to work on the metal case also.

Here you can see what is left of the circuit board. I am using the metal case as the mount for the camera.

I added another bent piece of metal to make a hinge. The left piece is what the camera will be attached to and an arm will go to the read/write head to rotate the camera left and right.

Another angle of the hinge design.

Here is the circuit design to control the stepper motor. The computer will control the camera through its printer port. On the right is a spliced printer cable.

The usb webcam is taped to the metal hinge and a piece of coat hanger wire is used to push and pull on the side of the hinge causing it to turn.

The controller program was written in VB and connects via socket connection to this website. Eventually there will be a page dedicated to this webcam and the movement of it.

Video

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