Camera Crane Dimensions

I have had a few requests for plans to make my Go-Pro Camera Crane.  So here are a few images with simple dimensions:

The thicknesses are determined by what plywood you can source and the thicknesses of the Aluminium tubes. Thickness is also determined by the type of bearing you source.  I've used inline skate bearings bought from Amazon for a very reasonable price.  They are countersunk into the plywood and accept an 8mm dia steel rod well.  To anyone hoping to build one of these, I wish you success. PT

Camera stabiliser for GoPro Camera

I've just completed a DIY tutorial on how to make a camera stabiliser for a GoPro camera for free, using lego, selotape, elastic bands and a sheet of paper.  The idea was that anyone could make this without the use of any tools.  If you want to watch the video, please click - HERE

sketching tutorial

I have completed a video tutorial on product design sketching and rendering by hand and photoshop.

If you want to watch the video, click -  here 

Product design is in me

I've just finished and uploaded my youtube channel trailer, that shows via plasticine model (so its not conclusive) that once cut in half, product design is in me.  Funnily enough it was almost curtains for me whilst making this trailer, because the red paint I'd mixed up to replicate blood sprayed everywhere, miraculously missing the brand new carpet that had just been laid.  Had it hit the carpet, I might not be here to blog again, or would definitely have seen if my innards spelt product design.  Fortunately, no guts need to be spilled, it was a remarkable escape.

I haven't posted for a while, because I've had bad computer problems that I am pleased to say (touch wood) have now been fixed.  So I'd like to say a lot more stuff is on it's way, but as I've posted before, good things take time and even then, they may not be that good.  

beer labels

I've been doing a bit more graphic design work for a friend who brews his own beer - The wonky shed is, as the name suggests, a shed at the bottom of his garden, that although a little lopsided, is a good place to brew beer.  The white band is so that he can write the type of brew and date on the label, so one label can be used for all sorts of beers.  It's still a work in progress, as is his beer, but hopefully both will come together soon.

split cane

I've been building a splitcane fishing rod or rather restoring an old rod I bought from Ebay (the handle is made from recycled cork salvaged from some rather enjoyable bottles of wine I have consumed over the last twelve months) it's been an interesting little project.  These days there is a clamour for new, lighter materials - carbon fibre IM6 etc, but there is something magical about six pieces of bamboo, flamed, split and shaped into triangular sections that are glued and bound so they are heaxagonal in section.  I find the material fantastic to use and look at.  We are constantly striving to make better materials with improved properties, which I'm in favour of, but there is something about many man made materials and I can't explain why, but they lack warmth. 

pond filter continued

We are officially in summer and with the warm weather, the perennial problem of pond filtration has once again come to the fore.  Last year I posted a piece on my blog about a prototype I was working on to clear the pea soup pond in my garden to a gin clear beauty.  Following what I learn't last year, I have once again been working on a prototype to solve the problem, so far with limited results.   As I have said before, good things take time, but I wish everything would happen faster.  I guess the older you get the less patience you have and when it comes to having a clear pond my patience is waining but I'm not giving up yet.  More to follow.

Camera stabilizer

I've been working on new camera stabilizer, having watched Youtube videos of many DIY versions, I have made my own version of a gimbal (to understand the problem and what many think is the best solution and because it's important to walk a mile in another mans shoes) but I have an idea for a different version, so I've been back to the Lego box to create a quick prototype.  May times people have read my blog and thought it to be quite engineering based, but unless you are taking something that already exists and making it look different, this is how all product design begins.  You have to try things and keep experimenting, playing with ideas until something new suggests itself and in this instance, I find the best way to quickly prototype is with Lego. More to follow.

logo

I haven't posted for a while, but I would hate you to think that I have been idle.  I have been working on a few youtube videos with a friend whom I occasionally go fishing with and have created the logo for the opening sequence, from a sketch that I then traced in my old version of Freehand.  There's a few things that need tweaking, but the basics are there.

GoPro Camera crane

I have been working on a camera crane for a GoPro camera to improve the quality of my video's.  So this video shows the outcome of a 2 day design and build.  If you can't see the video, please either click on the Tank TV widget on the side of my website or go here: Ultimate DIY GoPro Camera Crane

Wheel Barrow video

My wheelbarrow video is finished  If you can't see this video on your tablet, please click here WheelBarrow video:

sneak peek - wheel barrow

It's almost finished, except for a few more images and a short video to edit and upload.

dishwasher trolley

Recently I have been having thoughts about making dishwashers easier to empty - not that dishwashers are hard to empty, but the problem, if you are old, is that you cannot carry as much and so, if the dishwasher is full, to unload it you have to make several trips.  Then of course the problem is that if you are old, you do not want to make several trips.  Why not make a small dishwasher with the baskets on a trolley, so that you can wheel all the items around your kitchen to unload them. 

fence panels

The weather in the Uk has been terrible of late with strong winds causing a lot of damage.  A lot of UK properties are fenced with wooden panel fencing for privacy.  This is a problem with the current gusts of wind, as even the strongest fence posts and panels are being severely tested.  

So I've been thinking about solutions for fence designs that keep privacy, but in strong gusts, can adapt to let air through.  The first idea was too similar to a hit and miss panel already in existence.  Idea number 2 has panels mounted on pivots, so in strong gusts they will lift up, but this would require metal work, which would be a more expensive solution.  Idea number 3 is a normal slatted fence with holes drilled in the panels and strips of poly propylene or other suitable plastic covering the holes like cat flaps. When strong winds blow, they will lift allowing air to pass through, but when the wind speed is low, the flaps will remain down. The strips could be offered in a variety of colours and would hopefully be a lowcost and interesting aesthetic solution to an increasing problem. With development, the slats could be replaced with wooden bars to which the strips are attached, allowing even more air movement and cutting down on manufacturing times. 

Bike Lock

A while ago I had a request to design a bike lock, which I have been musing about for a while and now I've reached a point where I'm willing to admit defeat.  It's not that I can't design a good bike lock, but what I can't really do is improve upon existing designs.  So, I started thinking about making the bike become the lock, something that I also think has been done, by turning the frame into a carribena.  But again, maybe I'm asking the wrong question.  All too often people approach designers and ask them to design them an object, not a solution to a problem.  It should not be about designing another bike lock or anything else that already exists, but addressing a problem, which in this instance is stopping a bike from being stolen. Maybe the idea would be to design a bike so light and foldable or compact, that you wouldn't need to lock it up.  You could just carry it into the office and store in under the desk, or put it in your bag and carry it in to the classroom.  Can it currently be done in a staisfactory way? Who knows, but asking different questions and addressing problems, not redesigning current solutions, is the best way to innovate and come up with something (hopefully) better - time to start musing again. 

Konsept Projeler (Concept projects)

My work has been featured in the Turkish Design Magazine Konsept Projeler.

Summer is just around the corner - cool trousers

With the terrible weather we're experiencing in the UK at the moment, you may feel that this post is a little too early, but summer will be here before we know it and that means unbearable trouser clinging to your thighs heat in the office where I work.  For the purposes of professional appearance, I have to wear trousers, shorts are not allowed and wow do things get uncomfortable.  So I've been thinking of ways to maintain appearances, but keep things a little cooler in the leg line.  Is it possible to install laptop cooling fans that can be sewn into trouser legs or pockets to allow the movement of air, or tubing woven through the legs that carrys coolant?  Its time to start thinking about this now, before the heat arrives!

graphics

Occasionally I do a little graphic design for friends. Recently I have been helping out a mate (the wine badger) with a few labels for a little side project he has been working on.  They won't win any awards, but they'll do the job.

Pike lures

Over Christmas I had a go at making a pike lure or two, as its a bit of wood whittling you can do in front of the fire on a cold winter evening whilst with friends and family (it beats being out on your own in a cold shed!).   The ones I made are each about four inches long.  Fishermen use them to immitate bait fish or annoy the pike into lunging at them.  After the first, I got into the shaping and hand painting so made several more. They probably won't catch any fish (the images show them without their hooks fitted which I have yet to do), but it did make me think a lot about future design projects and surface decoration.

design should feel like an adventure