DIY Tips - General Discussion & "Request Jar"

Hey all..

Figured this would be a good thread to start so that we have a place within this forum for general DIY discussion and so that people can place requests for particular DIY solutions they would like to read about.

There is already a lot of good stuff here, so if you've not yet had the chance, browse through some of the previous threads for some great DIY tips & projects.

Coming soon (next week probably): I will begin a short series on building a high end workstation for editing & visual effects work. Of course there are many many variables and options in that area, so this will be one solution, not necessarily the "best" solution. Though, to give you an idea of the kind of machine that I'll be building and talking about -- it will comfortably handle editing of 4k RED footage.
 
I can't find my original Thread for this, but I had asked a few months ago about how to make a turntable large enough to hold a person and music equipment. This would be so that I could have the person (or other object) slowly spin so that I can get a 360 shot. Any ideas on what size motor or whatever I would need for this? I've seen a tutorial on how to make a small table top turntable, but I'm interested in building one larger. Of course, one might ask, "Why not just walk around the person"? Well, A) that's too easy and no fun; B) I need to have the same background as the person turns and I don't have a circular building.
 
Lazy Susan Bearing is what you're looking for at your local hardware store...

as for the motor... don't know... 12v battery and a windshield wiper motor or something connected somehow to something... that's the bits you'll have to figure out :) The bearings should provide a nice stable, friction light platform to turn.
 
Yes, for small objects, I've found a tutorial on that, but I'm looking for something that can hold a person (maybe up to 200lbs.). I don't think a Lazy Susan bearing would be able to withstand the weight of a person, I'm thinking something like ball bearings in rotors or something, I don't know. I'm not very mechanically inclined.
 
Holy cow! never thought a lazy susan could hold 500lbs. Thanks man! Now, if only I had Pinky and the Brain to figure out how it all goes together. There's no way in hell I'll figure out how to hook up a motor to a battery. Do you have the number to McGyver? But at least I know where to start with. Much appreciated.
 
motor has 2 wires, battery has 2 posts... hook it up backwards and it goes backwards :)

You can add a potentiometer (radio shack - ask for specifics, learn to solder) to the circuit (literally a "circle" of electricity flow from the positive (+) post on the battery to the negative (-). So the circuit would go:

(+)-----------(post 1 of the potentiometer),(post 2 of the potentiometer)--------------(post 1 of motor),(post 2 of motor)------------(-)

Long cables where ever you need them... so you could put the control box farther away if you want to make the controls be off set a bit... probably the 2 leads of the motor.

get a soldering iron and some solder and ask practice, it'll serve you well.

Then figure out where you're pushing on the platform you build, that's where the motor needs to push, then you just need to get a wheel of some sort to add friction to it to turn it. Just work it backwards and learn to love the people at the hardware store... they may have some ideas for how you can put it together :)

DIY is really a mindset of just figuring out what needs to happen and having a bag of tricks to pull from to serve that need... then chaining them together to get the preferred dohicky built :)
 
Yeah I love tinkering around with stuff, that's how I did half of my studio equipment (dolly track, green screen, etc). Soldering isn't a problem, I've done that plenty of times, I think the issue I'll have is finding a strong enough motor and gear or something.
 
if you pull apart a car door at a wrecking yard, you can yank the automatic seatbelt motor (on the kinds of cars that have that track built into the door for the shoulder belt) and use that, should be strong enough... and it's only 12v so you can make it portable :)
 
The bearings might be strong enough but there's still the issue of the motor being able to pull the weight of a person, but I'll do a little more research on this, this is starting to sound like a feasible DIY thing. Just what my wife wants to hear...... LOL!
 
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