the aj blog

A plain copper board toner transferred, touched up with marker and labeled.

Toner Transfer

As part of the process for home printed circuit board etching, you need to somehow get a resist where you want there to be copper. After the transfer, you can then apply any of many different etching chemicals which then dissolve the unprotected metal. In my opinion, this step, good toner transfer, is the hardest and biggest roadblock to anyone trying to make a quick board. The concept is relatively simple, iron a laser printed piece of paper onto the copper, fusing the plastic toner to the copper. Commercial products are sold that achieve this much easier, but who wants to have to spend money, pay shipping, then wait for it to arrive? So, trying as many different tutorials I could find on the Internet, I set out to meld plastic to metal. I used a cheap old LaserJet 5P for this purpose, and printed a schematic out on magazine paper first. I ironed it on, and it partially held, as visible in the lower left corner of the photo. I then used Office Depot Presentation Paper to try and get a better stick. It was a bit better, as seen in the upper right. I also tried different combinations of scrubbing preparations and such on the back. None fully worked. I got a bubble tank ready, a bubbler, all the chemicals, and even a glove box, and the only conclusion I can come to is this: toner transfer is no fun!

Shipment Arrived!

Yes!

Finally, the climax of all that shipment tracking has come! Delivery! My OnlineMetals aluminum arrived today. The plate looks great (no rhyme intended) and although the pipe is a tad thicker than imagined, it’ll work fine most likely. Sadly, I can’t get to my workbench, tools, or anything at the moment, so any actual work will have to wait for about a week. I can merely think about what I’ll do with the pipe and plate before then. Although, I do have some ideas in mind…

Drill Pattern

For the plate, there will be three or so holes right in the center, all aligned. Or perhaps a channel cut through for ultimate positioning? Anyways, my 1/4 coarse bolt will go through it, permitting me to mount a camera. This is the top of the thing. I will drill 2 holes, also aligned, on the ends of the plate, for my balance bolt system. I might even have to add weight on the other side to compensate for the weight added by them. I might drill other stuff, for things like a level or whatever.

Tubing Bend

I have found an instructable on how to bend tubing without it kinking and such. It looks prominent. I plan to make the form the next chance I have, hopefully it’ll work and the powers of the Internet would have succeeded! If I’m not too sleepy from my next experiment, that is. Oh, we’ll find out about that later…

Steadicam Sketch

The Steadicam

Ah, the Steadicam. A miracle for the video industry. A horror for the no-budget hobbyist. Sure, this has probably been done before, but I have found (almost) nothing as beautiful as the original versions, such as those made by Tiffen. Who says that making it pretty has to be expensive?

Why?

The stability of professional stabilizers is unmatched in either software or camera internal stabilizers. Who wouldn’t want something that works that good? Oh, and professional models do all kinds of crazy things with little motors, but balancing the weight is the best easy method of stabilization. So I decided to try and recreate one of the lower-end basic no-trick steadicam models.

How?

One day when I was bored, I sketched out a DIY version in my journal. You can click on the thumbnail for a bigger picture. I estimated the cost to be around $40. Around 20 in random assorted hardware (think washers, nuts, and bolts) and like 20 in essential structural components (think aluminum tubing and plate). There’s also a lot of other random junk on the scan, so take it with a grain of salt.

The Disclaimer

I have plans to perform this and produce a video or something on it. Since I have documented and published these rough plans, I retain the copyright until further notice. Please, if you do anything involving this article or its assets, provide attribution and a link. There will be more updates as I progress further. Thanks for cooperating!

Yep, you’ve probably seen the commercials for them. And yes, they seem cool, that is, if they actually work. And if they do, how well? Honestly, have you ever seen anyone using one? Anyways, I seek to prove the practical usability on the stains they claim it works on, and even the ones they claim it doesn’t! It’s meager list of things it specifically says it doesn’t work on are ink, blood, and grease. Who knew it would be my top three shirt-killers? None the less, a review with lots of pretty photos is up soon!