Playsport Bar Mount

After the success of the wand mount, I wanted to make a mount I could attach to any kind of round bar (e.g. handlebars) and record video. Here's how I did it.

Once again the design started in SolidWorks. The idea was to have this clamp to any 1" bar and have a way to level and change the angle of the camera. A few "feel good" calculations and the design was complete.

I started with some aluminum stock I had leftover from the handlebar risers I did earlier this year. 

I needed a way to mark a line directly down the center of the piece so I used a very expensive line drawing machine...lathes can do anything!

This would be my first attempt milling on the South Bend. It turned out OK for something like this. The biggest negative was being limited to 0.5" thick piece since I'm using the tool holder for a work holder.

Another milling and drilling operation on the lathe. Not the best way of doing it but I made lemonade.

Then I got a chance to use some large twist drill bits I bought some months back. Working my way up to 1" with 3 or 4 pilot holes made the job easy.

This is where the precise line was necessary. I used it to guide the cut that split the piece exactly in half.

Next job was to machine the top piece used to angle and level the camera. Again using the versatility of the lathe to turn, mill, drill, and tap this piece.

And finally all the pieces together.

Here it is in action, ready for the first test.

And the first video...worked great!