anyone know a good fabrication machinist?? GEARHEAD WANTED!!

[ericMartinJarvies]

hello,

has anyone on this board worked with anyone that has a mill, lathe, etc. to custom fabricate aluminum parts and such? i would like ot find someone that i can work with remotely, over the internet via email and chat. both the beaulieu r16 and the 4008 have their beamsplitters/45 degree mirror's located in such a position that it would be very easy to make a video tap directly off the side of the camera next to the other controls, instead of using the viewfinder/dioptre eyepiece. additionally, for the r16 with some modifications and a few machined parts, the camera could easily converted into a s16 camera. so imagine having an rS16 with plug and play cmos video tap(or the larger ccd as well).

also, i would like to make my own gearhead, or if anyone knows of anyone who has a nice gearhead they would be wiling to sell for a good price, i am interested!! or, does anyone know of some other machines or devices that could be cannibilized for parts, wherein a gearhead could eventually be made?

[MovieStuff]

I recommend that you buy your own shop equipment! This is what I am currently looking at:

http://www.sherline.com/

These are perfect for small jobs like you are talking about and I hear they have good customer support.

Roger

[Herb Montes]

I have worked as a machinist for the R&D department of a medical electronics manufacturer many years ago. I have recently begun acquiring equipment to setup my own machine shop. I have a lathe as a beginning and I am looking into a milling machine next. But a couple of hurricanes late last year damaged some of the space I would have used for a machine shop so I am limited in space right now. I do plan on finally setting up shop later this summer. I can see a need for custom machined accessories for small gauge filmmakers. At the moment spool adapters for the H-8 camera is one of several projects I am planning.

My sources for precision machine components include:

http://www.taigtools.com/index.html

http://www.grizzly.com/

http://www.micromark.com/

[ericMartinJarvies]

thanks guys. yes, i looked at the sherline last month, and actually made the order(but my credit card was maxed out, so i figured i would get to it once i sent a payment off). well, i never got to it. but it seems like it would simply be the logicol thing to do. a good lathe and a good mill. but what i do not understnad is where does one purchase the aluminum and materials?

for example, for some of the parts i would like to make, i would need solid tubes/pipes. other other things require hollow tubes. also, how does not make threads, like m42 threads for example. then, little plates, thin thin metal plates ... be they aluminum, copper, chrome(or does the part need ot be cut, then dipped in chrome?) to make things like a shutter plate. then, how does one make a rectangle hole in a piece of metal, using a beaulieu film gate for example? what makes those types of holes/cuts? another issue is how do you conenct these small pieces together? is it a weld or a glu or both?

have you guys messed around with casting your own parts? using alloy's of sorts? casting and then using a dremal to or mill to gring or cut grooves, holes, patterns, etc.?

[S8 Booster]

Haven´t read all the previous posts in detail but here is a way to get what you want with precission engineering at reasonable costs.

It works this way: You establish contact with a creative (usually not too big and maybe not too distand) company with suitable CNC gear.

You work out all your stuff an a compatible CAD/CAM program on your PC - send it by e-mail to your coop and get the part by snail mail.

This method works very well when you have established a reliable contact.

You basically feed your design data into their CNC machine and voila´.
You may need some evaluation efforts in advance to confim that the communication is 100%.

This is a common method used for advanced machining in small numbers - custom products.

Just throwing out a few linx: (Check Your Yellow Pages too - maybe there is one right in your neighbourhood?)

http://www.protomarket.com/#
http://www.starro.com/links/technicaldirectory.html


R

[ericMartinJarvies]

as usual, plenty of answers, and all of them good, useful, applicable, and a step in the right drection towards something fruitful. thanks all.

[jessh]

for the r16 with some modifications and a few machined parts, the camera could easily converted into a s16 camera.

I have read that this is not feasible because the mirrored shutter is too small for the s16 frame. of course you could always record it and just not be able to see it all in the viewfinder.

~Jess

[paulcotto]

The small machines by this company are superior to many others in there class.

http://www.taigtools.com

I have the mill and the lathe and I recommend them both but the mill is the better of the two. I converted mine to CNC of my own design with servo motors and gecko servo drives. I run turbocnc as the CNC control software. A bargain at $20.00 USD!

Here is the link>

http://www.dakeng.com/turbocnc.html

Gecko drives>

http://www.geckodrive.com

Here is where I buy my metal online>

http://www.auctionworks.com/store/defau ... sfid=12065

It's a fascinating hobby to get into if you have the mechanical ability, and I am sure you do...

I will be using the gecko drives to power my perfing machine if you didn't guess that already.

Regards,
Paul Cotto

[paulcotto]

These guys make a stepper drive for the Z axis of the Sherline and Taig lathes. They work great for making metric and SAE threads. I have one on my Taig lathe an it works as advertised and you don't need to learn G codes or CNC!

http://www.emachineshop.com/frog/index.htm

Regards,
Paul Cotto

thanks guys. yes, i looked at the sherline last month, and actually made the order(but my credit card was maxed out, so i figured i would get to it once i sent a payment off). well, i never got to it. but it seems like it would simply be the logicol thing to do. a good lathe and a good mill. but what i do not understnad is where does one purchase the aluminum and materials?

for example, for some of the parts i would like to make, i would need solid tubes/pipes. other other things require hollow tubes. also, how does not make threads, like m42 threads for example. then, little plates, thin thin metal plates ... be they aluminum, copper, chrome(or does the part need ot be cut, then dipped in chrome?) to make things like a shutter plate. then, how does one make a rectangle hole in a piece of metal, using a beaulieu film gate for example? what makes those types of holes/cuts? another issue is how do you conenct these small pieces together? is it a weld or a glu or both?

have you guys messed around with casting your own parts? using alloy's of sorts? casting and then using a dremal to or mill to gring or cut grooves, holes, patterns, etc.?

[paulcotto]

Hey Eric,

This is exactly what you are looking for.

1. Download free the software.

2. Use it to layout your part.

3. Get a free quote for him.

4. Pay the man and wait for your part in the mail!

Link>

http://www.emachineshop.com/

http://www.emachineshop.com/download/index.htm

Cool stuff.... I just found out about it myself so I have not used it yet, but it looks very strait forward.

Regards,
Paul Cotto

hello,

has anyone on this board worked with anyone that has a mill, lathe, etc. to custom fabricate aluminum parts and such? i would like ot find someone that i can work with remotely, over the internet via email and chat. both the beaulieu r16 and the 4008 have their beamsplitters/45 degree mirror's located in such a position that it would be very easy to make a video tap directly off the side of the camera next to the other controls, instead of using the viewfinder/dioptre eyepiece. additionally, for the r16 with some modifications and a few machined parts, the camera could easily converted into a s16 camera. so imagine having an rS16 with plug and play cmos video tap(or the larger ccd as well).

also, i would like to make my own gearhead, or if anyone knows of anyone who has a nice gearhead they would be wiling to sell for a good price, i am interested!! or, does anyone know of some other machines or devices that could be cannibilized for parts, wherein a gearhead could eventually be made?

[Herb Montes]

Eric, those rectangular holes in film gates are usually "milled" out using a milling machine with a very small bit. The Taig and Sherline mills have the precision to mill to very tight tolerances.

Paul, I have owned and used both a Sherline and Taig lathes and liked them for very small work. Recently I acquired a much larger lathe like the one Grizzly sells for more robust metal turning. This is important when working with harder metals like stainless steel. The smaller lathes are good for softer metals like aluminum and brass.

[ericMartinJarvies]

I have read that this is not feasible because the mirrored shutter is too small for the s16 frame. of course you could always record it and just not be able to see it all in the viewfinder.
~Jess

hello, i have spent the last two as carefully going over the entire system. it 'is' feasable ONCE created. the first one will be the most difficult and time consuming. once all the parts are figured out, and items like the beamsplitters and groundglass are located for purchase, then it will simply be a question of indexing the parts and building a kit with instructions. the most difficult part of the conversion will be locating a replacement beamsplitter and groundglass)as well as the little optic glass directly in front of the fogged/ground glass. regarding the viewing tube that takes the image from the beamsplitter to the viewfinder, that is one piece(an assembly with parts/optics inside), i am not certain if that will allow one to see the entire s16 frame. i am not familier enough with optics in that regard to know for certain. it may very well require a new viewfinder tube/assembly in addition to the beamsplitter and ground glass.

paul, do you know? ok, it works like this; the shutter mirror is sized for 16mm. a wider mirror would need to be installed. now then, the mirror passes light to/thru a groundglass(thin frosted/fogged glass, not optic). directly after that is an actual concaved optic, the same size, and these two elements are seated against one another in a little bracket. then, the light passes to a beamsplitter, wherein it splits the light to feed a light sensos, and the other to the actual viewfinder tube. at the entrance of the viewfinder tube, there is an actual optic. towards the viewfinder, there is another optic, space inbetween the two. then, there is more space between the final optic i nthe viewfinder and the actual adjustable dioptre. and the dioptre is the final destination for the light. now my question is this, using the same viewfinder/dioptre, is it possible to take a larger shutter mirror and ground glass, and using a beamsplitter, take the larger incoming image, and properly scale it so it is all visable in the existing viewfinder?

this is where the leg work is going to be difficult and take lots of time. i would almost need to send the existing parts to an optical specialist, with schematics and description of the proposed modifications, so these specialists could determine for themselves what is required. paul, do you think someone that makes regular eyeglasses would understand what would be required? or do you think this would need to be worked out by a scientific optical person? do you know of anyplace that sells custom glass and mirrors(for the shutter and frosted glass, small, thin pieces cut t special ordr)? and do you know any place that can take and make custom cut of optical glass, for the optics invoved here? it would seem to me that if you cna go and get seeing eye glases made in an hour, there would have to be a company out there that can make special prescription orders of glass like for the camera .. you think?

an alternative would be to forgit about the viewfinder, and instead, replace the beamsplitter with another piece that would allow a cmos or ccd to be hooked up directly to it, and thereby use an lcd monitor instead. this would prevent the use of an eye piece, which has its draw backs, but would most likely be an easier fix. i remember you had given me a link to a place that sells beamsplitter, perhaps they have somethign that would work nicely.

also, finding a cmos or ccd that is small, and has a direct s-video or composit out, that would be easy to place in front of the glass and focus accordingly.

[paulcotto]

Sorry Eric.

I have tough time visualizing the arrangement. Edmunds Scientific employs design engineers that are there to answer questions like the one you are asking. Go to the web site and email your question along with a diagram and a picture of the optics. I think it's a free service to get you to buy products from them. Here is the link>

http://www.edmundoptics.com/

You really need to work on making your questions to them very technical, direct and professional sounding.

It wouldn’t hurt to let them know you are going to buy the needed parts from them when you get your project going.

Regards,
Paul Cotto

I have read that this is not feasible because the mirrored shutter is too small for the s16 frame. of course you could always record it and just not be able to see it all in the viewfinder.
~Jess

[peterjcf]

hello,
also, i would like to make my own gearhead, or if anyone knows of anyone who has a nice gearhead they would be wiling to sell for a good price, i am interested!!

Dear Eric,

Are you absolutely sure that you want to use gearhead?

I highly recommend that you try it first.

When camera models were 3-strip technicolor and mitchell, there was no other way than The Union-Head. But that was some time ago...

Have you ever had an opportunity to use really good fluid head? Like Ronford, Sachtler etc.
They work like a dream. And they are much easier to use.
You can get one as low as 250 USD in good condition, from ebay.
Also, R-16 doesn't weigh much, so you don't need to buy heavy-duty head for that.

And now - something completely different...
If you are looking for something fancy, look for Technocrane. Fully robotic crane with 3d servo camera head. Can be thrown together from regular backyard/barn corner stuff and some aluminium profile. Remember to stick astronomical price tag. That gives credibility.

If you want my advice, i suggest that you buy Robert McKee's book "Story" instead.
Though a bit overrated, it shouldn't blow fuses - and doesn't rust. Yet could more likely improve your forthcoming breakthrough indie short.

price/performance ratio better on that is.
Dark Machinery aspiring filmmaker beware should.
Seduces, distracts and robs, me thinks.
Trust your... heaven knows.

With kind regards

peterjcf