Anybody ever make A D Box?

[StevePhelps 0]

Anybody ever had success in making a D Box?

[vdschoor 0]

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Anybody ever had success in making a D Box?

I heard Bonehead has had some successes

Seriously, I wouldn't even bother starting it, if you take the amount of time into consideration your home made D Box is going to cost you a lot more than ordering one from Bonehead.

Iwan

[psw097 0]

I've made various fiberglass contraptions for my camera helmet. Never a box in the shape of a "D" - But have made: wide angle protection, audible port protection, Cam-eye protection, 3 different still boxes (dog ate one). Working with fiberglass is not that bad - carbon-fiber or more exotic materials is different.

[pd190 0]

Yep!! I've made four so far. Working with fiberglass and some foam stuff for a mold. Not hard at all.

I wouldn't really call them D-box....just camera protection boxes.

I've made three top mounts for various JVC and Sony products and one side mount for a Canon something or other.

There is a good discussion on this in this forum.
(I don't remember where....)

PS...total project cost minus my time was under $25 for materials.

[psw097 0]

Yes, the cost is a very good point. Fiberglass is very cheap - $25 per project or less is fair. I've used the cameras for the mold - a layer of gaff, layer of plastic wrap, layer of tinfoil and layer of wax paper keeps the electronics safe. Make sure to protect well - I messed up my protrack screen on one job.

A bondo repair kit from an autoparts store is enough to do a couple projects and is around $15 (cannot remember exactly). Knives, scissors, drill motor, dremmel and sandpaper round out most of the tools needed.

Wet fiberglass and the fiberglass dust smell like crap and is hard to clean up so I use my basement.

[davelepka 4]

I'm pretty sure the 'D' in D box stands for digital, and is not a reference to the shape of the box.

[diablopilot 2]

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I'm pretty sure the 'D' in D box stands for digital, and is not a reference to the shape of the box.

Or "deployment"?

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[kallend 2,106]

Quote

Quote

Anybody ever had success in making a D Box?

I heard Bonehead has had some successes

Seriously, I wouldn't even bother starting it, if you take the amount of time into consideration your home made D Box is going to cost you a lot more than ordering one from Bonehead.

Iwan

That depends on whether you consider it work, in which case you're correct, or whether you think of it as an interesting project for a couple of evenings, in which case the time is just part of the hobby.

I have done a lot of glassfiber projects (not much with carbon fiber), it's not difficult and quite rewarding, especially as you can customize the product exactly to your needs.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[vdschoor 0]

Quote

Quote

I heard Bonehead has had some successes

Seriously, I wouldn't even bother starting it, if you take the amount of time into consideration your home made D Box is going to cost you a lot more than ordering one from Bonehead.

Iwan

That depends on whether you consider it work, in which case you're correct, or whether you think of it as an interesting project for a couple of evenings, in which case the time is just part of the hobby.

I have done a lot of glassfiber projects (not much with carbon fiber), it's not difficult and quite rewarding, especially as you can customize the product exactly to your needs.

In that case, I would do it too. I've never worked with the stuff and almost had to (lost the top of my helmet ) but Bonehead came to the rescue, they still had a mold for it.

If you see it as a fun challenging project and you've done stuff with glassfiber before it should not be too hard. Share some pics once you are done!

Iwan

[Deuce 1]

You guys have got to see Iwan's helmet. It looks dead-on exactly like the airship hangar at Moffet Field.

No. Really.

[vdschoor 0]

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You guys have got to see Iwan's helmet. It looks dead-on exactly like the airship hangar at Moffet Field.

No. Really.

Deuce, you are cracking me up!! It's true though, but one thing.. doors don't hurt my camera
And there are no snagpoints...

Iwan

[jmfreefly 0]

Like Paul, I have done several fiberglass projects, some of which turned out well, others needed a second try.

To date, I have made:

Belly mount (a body mold, some webbing, fastex clips, and a R.A.M. Mount)

two foot mounts (first had to go back to the drawing board).. again, with a R.A.M. mount, and two 2-ring releases

A camera box for pc120 to mount on the belly /foot arm. Had to do some hacking in retrospect..

Tried making a nice hinged clamshell model early on, but that proved more difficult, so I scrapped that project.

If anyone is interested, I can try to dig up pics.. Paul has lots of pics of his projects.. except for the flying Barn that was his first still camera box that the dog ate. ha!

[psw097 0]

"Paul has lots of pics of his projects.. except for the flying Barn that was his first still camera box that the dog ate. ha!"

Nice avitar Jonathan - heard you got poster size made of one from that jump. I think I shot those at ISO 400, how grainy was the big print?

I tend to document everything, its the engineer thinking I'm surprised I don't have ACAD drawings. Actually, the puppy ate the 2nd still box I made. I still have the barn - it turned out to be overkill, but very protective. Rev. 3 - the one I'm jumping now came out the best anyway. Next, is a fill flash mount after I find out if the new cutaway system I made holds together - I'm running out of realestate on that helmet.