Weight for table set-ups.

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GrayPlayer
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Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2009 5:44 pm

Weight for table set-ups.

Post by GrayPlayer »

Have used counter weights for telescopes as bases for stacking set ups successfully. Ones I have are little over 10 pounds each. Would not recommend for field work!
Fred H.

ray_parkhurst
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Post by ray_parkhurst »

A heavy weight tied to a cord and hung from the vertical mount between tripod legs is a classic way to stabilize a tripod. So it's not uncommon for heavy weights to be lugged around in the field. Looking at some of the member's field systems, I would bet 10lbs is not such a big adder...

Deanimator
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Post by Deanimator »

ray_parkhurst wrote:A heavy weight tied to a cord and hung from the vertical mount between tripod legs is a classic way to stabilize a tripod. So it's not uncommon for heavy weights to be lugged around in the field. Looking at some of the member's field systems, I would bet 10lbs is not such a big adder...
I used to work for a guy who imported metal forgings and castings from abroad.

When he went out of business, he gave me some of his samples. I just put them in a bag and hang them from the hook on the bottom of the center column of my tripod.

OioMik
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Post by OioMik »

i am trying using a heavy block of beech i spared from the construction of my workbench.

first results are good till now, but i am exploring only the 4x world till now.

i added another hole to put the newport directly onto the beech.

Image

Deanimator
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Post by Deanimator »

OioMik wrote:i am trying using a heavy block of beech i spared from the construction of my workbench.

first results are good till now, but i am exploring only the 4x world till now.

i added another hole to put the newport directly onto the beech.

Image
That looks like a good basic rig.

Assuming that you used some sort of threaded insert to mount the ballhead, you can use a pedestal of some sort (I used threaded furniture feet) onto which to mount the ballhead. Make it tall enough and you can shoot straight down.

I've been working ten hour days and have barely had time to do any photography at all, much less pictures of my rig. This weekend I'm going to try to take a few pictures of mine, which is a heavy cutting board mounted on sorbothane feet. I've had several furniture feet onto which I've mounted the ballhead. This week I switched to one tall enough to shoot straight down with enough lens to subject distance to use my Tokina 100mm macro with the camera pointed straight down.

GrayPlayer
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Post by GrayPlayer »

Friend is coming out of major surgery, will get an image later.
Fred H.

Deanimator
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Post by Deanimator »

Here are some pictures of my current configuration, which now allows vertical positioning:

Image
Image

Deanimator
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Post by Deanimator »

I'm almost ready to start building my vertical only rig.

This afternoon (after buying some better measuring and marking tools yesterday) I laid out the holes for mounting the Arca Swiss rail to hold the Wemacro vertically.

I'll be using the same type of furniture foot, but about twice as tall, allowing me a lot more working distance.

Instead of a ballhead, I'll be bolting an Arca Swiss clamp vertically to one of the long faces of the foot so the Wemacro can be mounted vertically. Between the travel of the Wemacro in the clamp and multiple sets of mounting holes, I should have an ample range of vertical movement.

Since all of these feet have the same threaded rod mounted in the bottom, they're easily interchanged, both for working distance and orientation.

I'm a history and political science person, so my shop skills are strictly self taught. I had to do a lot of research on laying out holes for drilling, etc. I'll probably spend a bunch of time tomorrow getting the drill press set up for accurate through holes.

I'm going to use 3/8" bolts, tightened in place with hand knobs. I'm debating whether I want to use some metal plates on both sides of the foot to avoid deformation when the clamp is tightened down.

I'll post pictures when the holes are drilled and the clamp mounted.

ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

Great to see a politician doing something constructive :smt047

I think the idea of a plate between the wooden parts is good. A builder's merchant would have a variety of construction plates, cheeseplates, nail plates, repair plates. Some are very thin but some are 1/8". You could double-up thin ones.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-20cmx10c ... 1192025579
Chris R

mawyatt
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Post by mawyatt »

ChrisR wrote:Great to see a politician doing something constructive :smt047

I think the idea of a plate between the wooden parts is good. A builder's merchant would have a variety of construction plates, cheeseplates, nail plates, repair plates. Some are very thin but some are 1/8". You could double-up thin ones.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-20cmx10c ... 1192025579
Chris,

That plate would make a perfect small base top!! It's an M5 which is almost the perfect diameter hole to tap a 1/4-20 thread :D

Now you could easily have a small base with many 1/4-20 tapped holes for just a few minutes work :lol: And only a few $$ :shock:

Get a thicker one for more thread engaged, or just glue a couple plates together then tap the pair for a thicker effective plate.

Good find :wink:

Best,
Research is like a treasure hunt, you don't know where to look or what you'll find!
~Mike

Deanimator
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Post by Deanimator »

ChrisR wrote:Great to see a politician doing something constructive :smt047

I think the idea of a plate between the wooden parts is good. A builder's merchant would have a variety of construction plates, cheeseplates, nail plates, repair plates. Some are very thin but some are 1/8". You could double-up thin ones.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-20cmx10c ... 1192025579
That's definitely one of the things I was considering. And as was pointed out, some of them come pre-drilled. I was thinking about something like this:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-6-ft-x ... ar/3059257

The other option would be to get stiff aluminum strip, drill matching holes for the mounting bolts and small holes in the four corners. You'd then screw the plates to the wood with small wood screws so that they stay in place. Of course by that time, you've far exceeded the effort involved in using an extruded aluminum post... which I may yet do if I can find a way to integrate it into my existing base (cutting board).

Thanks for the ideas.

mawyatt
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Post by mawyatt »

Deanimator wrote:
ChrisR wrote:Great to see a politician doing something constructive :smt047

I think the idea of a plate between the wooden parts is good. A builder's merchant would have a variety of construction plates, cheeseplates, nail plates, repair plates. Some are very thin but some are 1/8". You could double-up thin ones.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-20cmx10c ... 1192025579
That's definitely one of the things I was considering. And as was pointed out, some of them come pre-drilled. I was thinking about something like this:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-6-ft-x ... ar/3059257

The other option would be to get stiff aluminum strip, drill matching holes for the mounting bolts and small holes in the four corners. You'd then screw the plates to the wood with small wood screws so that they stay in place. Of course by that time, you've far exceeded the effort involved in using an extruded aluminum post... which I may yet do if I can find a way to integrate it into my existing base (cutting board).

Thanks for the ideas.
Get William's WeMacro Vertical Stand and bolt the base to your wooden cutting board. That should produce a heavy, large base, stable and flexible vertical stand since he uses a 40mm by 40mm heavy rigid extruded vertical bar and is bolted with 3 heavy duty extruded right angle brackets attached to the base with M8 Allen head bolts.

Best,
Research is like a treasure hunt, you don't know where to look or what you'll find!
~Mike

Deanimator
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Post by Deanimator »

mawyatt wrote:Get William's WeMacro Vertical Stand and bolt the base to your wooden cutting board. That should produce a heavy, large base, stable and flexible vertical stand since he uses a 40mm by 40mm heavy rigid extruded vertical bar and is bolted with 3 heavy duty extruded right angle brackets attached to the base with M8 Allen head bolts.

Best,
That's certainly an option.

Two questions:
  1. Would that give me sufficient working distance for coin sized objects with a 100mm macro lens?
  2. I need to be able to shoot both vertically and horizontally. How hard would it be to switch? My current setup allows me to switch merely by exchanging posts.


Thanks.

ray_parkhurst
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Post by ray_parkhurst »

Deanimator wrote:
Two questions:
  1. Would that give me sufficient working distance for coin sized objects with a 100mm macro lens?
  2. I need to be able to shoot both vertically and horizontally. How hard would it be to switch? My current setup allows me to switch merely by exchanging posts.


Thanks.
For Dollars, you may need a bit taller stand than the WeMacro if you plan to use a 100mm lens. Of course, if you use your own upright you can make it any height you need.

For horizontal setups, the front support bracket can be removed, and the two side brackets rotated 90-deg and moved to the middle of the WeMacro rail. If you use a wood upright/now horizontal, you would just need to provide mounting holes on the sides of the wood in a convenient location.

mawyatt
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Post by mawyatt »

The WeMacro Vertical Stand has a 420mm maximum height from the base. I know it's quite sufficient for use with the Amscope 4X, Mitutoyo 5X, Canon 35mm Macro and even the Printing Nikkor 105mm F2.8A which has a working distance of 143mm at 1X :wink:

https://www.wemacro.com/?product=vertical-stand

As far as a horizontal setup, why not get another Vertical Stand and lay it down and bolt it to your wooden baseboard. I would ask William @ WeMacro if you could buy 6 additional Right angle brackets with M8 bolts & T nuts.

Assemble the stand and lay the 40mm square Vertical Bar down on the baseboard and mount to such at each end and middle with the 6 additional brackets & M8 bolts (use large washers on the wooden side). Since the brackets have the mounts such that they are ~40mm from the right angle surfaces, the 40mm square bar will sit above you baseboard allowing clearance for the ARCA clamp bolts that go thru the bar.

This should produce a really good horizontal setup since the Vertical Stand is very stable and the base is used to support the subject which means you have a common mode setup for low frequency vibration (both camera/lens and subject move in unison). You also get a nice XY positioning fixture as well :wink:

Hope this helps.

Best,
Research is like a treasure hunt, you don't know where to look or what you'll find!
~Mike

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