HELP:DIY Strobe arm's

HI !

This is for a P&S set up..with focus on minimalisem..meaning small and light(if possible)..no compromises regarding strenghts and flexebility..(Sea&sea YS30/ Iklite 50)..mostly for Macro stuff!

I'm currently in the pre-face of a DIY..but I'm not really shure wich material to choose:

1. is marine grade stainless steel--expensive/heavy/stronger

2. is Alu. just ordenary stuff--------cheap/light/semi strong

One of my concerns is IF I choose the Aloy..How saltwater & sun resistened is it?

+shuld I go for solid rods ore the hollow one's??(heavy vs. light)..

-The thing is I really don't whant to make one and then it breaks after the 2. dive- <_<

Any help is greatly appriciated...

The top arms on the market right now are annodized aluminum. Steel is too heavy and will corrode, even marine grade. You should mill them to have 1" balls on the end as that is the industry standard.

Stainless is way too expensive and heavy. Also very difficult to mill and lathe. Too hard a material. Aluminum is the best; but what country are you in? The aluminum coming out of china is questionable in quality. The aluminum 6061 out of the USA is good quality.

Terry

Hi,

Curreent Sea&Sea arms are made out of plastic & is durable & easy to turn off with lathe & no corrosion problem.

Sam

Hi Guy's and thanks for the quick respons...

I'm from Denmark and the Aluminium is from a local Hardwearshop...so I have no clue what grade it is..but it's realatively cheap(app. 10 US$ for 0.50 meter, 8mm diameter)

...would love to use plastic but I'm lazy and the Alu. comes in roundbar's in all sorts of diameter...so no milling just a bit of cutting & bending etc. Plus plastic isen't that easy to come buy..

I'll post my design when I'm finnished as I haven't seen my idear anywhere(it's probertly been don before byt hey !)...light/compact and flexible...for a P&S set up with one strobe(so far..he he)

-Happy shooting to ALL-

Hi Guy's and thanks for the quick respons...

I'm from Denmark and the Aluminium is from a local Hardwearshop...so I have no clue what grade it is..but it's realatively cheap(app. 10 US$ for 0.50 meter, 8mm diameter)

...would love to use plastic but I'm lazy and the Alu. comes in roundbar's in all sorts of diameter...so no milling just a bit of cutting & bending etc. Plus plastic isen't that easy to come buy..

I'll post my design when I'm finnished as I haven't seen my idear anywhere(it's probertly been don before byt hey !)...light/compact and flexible...for a P&S set up with one strobe(so far..he he)

-Happy shooting to ALL-

Good Luck! Happy DIY-ing! Please post details & results when done! Thank you! Hopefully I will be inspired to finally go buy that strobe.

Have you tried that miracle paste stuff? You know the stuff that they used to make a coffee mug handle out of?

Good Luck! Happy DIY-ing! Please post details & results when done! Thank you! Hopefully I will be inspired to finally go buy that strobe.

HI There..

Well...NO I have no clue where to get that stuff!!?? and would it be tough enough ?

-But sounds fun..

I was actually kidding about the mighty putty stuff. I bought a fantasea arm for around $15 on ebay and modded it for a ikelite 50. Has flexibility and strength for a light weight strobe.

Hi!

I use the ULCS arm system, and I am quite happy with it. Earlier I thought I would make some arms myself, but I ended up buying them. What I made myself is a second grip for my P&S camera. Not tested yet but feels great . For the handle I used a POM rod of 25mm diameter. I bought it for 5Euro, 1m. This thing would also be handy for your project I would assume. Here is the link to the grip: WetPixel DIY Link

Here how I would do DIY arms:

Get some 1inch (=2.54cm) spheres in either aluminium or plastic (POM=Delrin is a very good material) and drill a hole through it. Get a aluminium rod of suitable diameter (e.g. your 8mm one) and cut to desired length. Drill a centric hole (best on a lathe) and cut threads in. Mount the spheres with a bolt onto the rod ... finished. If the rod turns out to be too long/short, just make one that fits. Maybe sink in the head of the bolt, so that it does not get in the way of the clamp.

Cheers, Wolfgang

Yeah, I've always thought that what they call here in the states UHMW or Ultra High Molecular Weight plastic (some sort of polyethylene?) would be a good material for the balls. Its very slick but tough, and would work well with a good smooth clamping system for ease of movement underwater. Not sure if it would provide enough friction for holding arms rigid abovewater though, nor do I know much about it's actual density compared to aluminum, although I'd bet it is lighter by about a factor of 2 to 3.

For light strobes I recommend Loc-line type arms. See

http://reefphoto.com/index.php?main_page=i...c4e72f2eeadfc86

and

http://modularhose.com/

I'm thinking about going back to these for macro from my current Aquatica & ULCS arms.

I'm thinking about going back to these for macro from my current Aquatica & ULCS arms.

Herb, I'm with you! I have MANY times been underwater thinking to myself that I would like to get arms like these and wondered why they are only seen on P&S setups (like on the Pioneer stobes) and video light. I have been thinking that they probably would look "uncool" but I would be willing to look like a doof if it mean that I could bend my strobes into pretty much any position without the restrictions of having to adjust up to 6 different "elbow clamps".

I would really want to try out some modular hose arms, not just for macro but also WA of it was "doable".

- Do you know if there is any system out there that would bear the weight (in water) of the Ike Ds-125?

- How would you attach this to the housing (I have the Ikelite quick release handles)and the strobes (Ds-125)?

Doable????

Happy Bubbles!

Marjo

I also use the Loc-line system on my housed camera. Started with a commercial set made to fit my then Subal housing, adapted it to fit an Ikalite and now on a Nexus housing. They came with a machined plastic channel that slips over the "T" top on the Subal handles. With the other housing might do things differently if starting from scratch as had to duplicate the "T" in some way.

Also made up a system to fit the Nikonos telescopic tray and arm with Loc-line parts from a local engineering supply (much cheaper than from diving supply). On this used a 3/4 inch female threaded pipe stop end drilled and taped to take a bolt through the top hole in the above telescopic arm then a small second hole through both (tapped into the stop end) to prevent rotation. Loc-line has a standard 3/4 inch male adapter that simply screws into this. On the strobe end bought an adapter for a S&S strobe (no time to make one). This whole thing gives great flexibility and is used on a point and shoot housing.

Loc-line advantages: Cheap. Easy to position. Stays positioned underwater even with a S&S YS120. Light. Reasonably robust (has to withstand use on a RIB without ceremony).

Disadvantages: Squeaks sometime underwater (scares fish). Realisticly length limited to 12 inches or so (might be able to extend further using a fixed segment as in the Nikonos arm). Does not support any flash out of water.

Charles

Yeah, I've always thought that what they call here in the states UHMW or Ultra High Molecular Weight plastic (some sort of polyethylene?) would be a good material for the balls. Its very slick but tough, and would work well with a good smooth clamping system for ease of movement underwater. Not sure if it would provide enough friction for holding arms rigid abovewater though, nor do I know much about it's actual density compared to aluminum, although I'd bet it is lighter by about a factor of 2 to 3.

Hi ... the material is "Polyoxymethylene - Delrin® (POM)", the density is 1.41 to 1.43 (complared to aluminnium which has about 2.7) and it is very easy to machine. You get a very nice smooth surface, so an o-ring would be a good idea to keep the arms in place with the clamps not completely tighened (similar to ULCS).

Cheers, Wolfgang

I want to make a custom made try for my Ikelite D200 housing.

Does the Derlin will fit it?

I wanted marine aluminum but its seems hard to get it where I leave.

I want to make a custom made try for my Ikelite D200 housing.

Does the Derlin will fit it?

I wanted marine aluminum but its seems hard to get it where I leave.

Delrin is a good choice I think. If you use aluminium, you will have to andoize it. I made a tank lamp out of aluminium, and it worked fine as long as I lived in Austria, never had any problems with it (diving only in freshwater). Now I live in Norway (diving only in seawater) and I got problems with corrosion. It is not anodized though. So my plan is to replace the tank with one made from Delrin, and redesign the light head so that no steel/aluminium contact (screws) is necessary and make parts of it form Delrin (aluminium to aluminium threads are not good, the material is too soft and threads tend to block as soon as some aluminium is grinded up).

I would assume that 10mm of Delrin would do fine as a tray, maybe with some "weight saving grooves milled in). I bought my material on Ebay.at, I think it was a piece of 20mm thickness, 200mm wide and 400mm lone. I made quite some parts out of it, and it was 26Euro including shipping. Also I made myself a handle for the point and shoot Canon A620, as mentioned above. The rod was 25mm in diameter and 1m lone, 5Euro at a local dealer in Austria.

Cheers, Wolfgang

PS: Aquatica housing arrived yesterday ... test dives will follow on the weekend!