3. Re-designing the Base

After ordering the new quick-release plate I realised that if would position the camera way too high in the steadicam and it would make it impossible for the user to wrap their hand around the grip. So I decided to also re-design the base that the camera sits on so I could drop the QR plate lower down.

I stated off my just making a pipe in sketchup that was the same geometry as the pvc pipe. I then placed a square inside the pipe and extruded everything to the same height as the current pipe length in the steadicam. I then deleted two of the 4 round edges so I got a the round piece where the pipe can go into the T-joints and a flat piece for the plates to sit on.

However I quickly took into consideration that a 3D printer may not be able to print that high so I decided to break the piece into two halfs.

I did this by making a Z-style of line in the base piece and deleted the top half. I then created two holes for bolts that were the exact same distances from the top and the bottom of where two of these pieces would meet.

I then checked in the software if two of these identical parts would meet up and they did perfectly. The last thing I did was make the half pieces a less hollow at the bottom and a little bit longer as a safety measure in case warping happens when 3D printing.