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Handle
These directions will show you in a descriptive way on how to make a handle like on the Sony DCR VX-2100 ect. This handle is especially helpful when filming skateboarding or any other action sports that require you to hold the camcorder close to the ground and keep it steadier than even holding it in the traditional way.
To make the handle you will need the following:
- flat iron(steel or aluminum)
- 1/4 bolt (the kind without the head)
- wing nut
- bike/scooter grip, or any rubber grip you would like (optional)
- cotton/stuffing ect (optional)
- paint or a steel coating (optional)
- duct tape or electrical tape (optional)
- drill with 1/4 drill bit
- hack saw
- hot glue gun
- file or grinder
- hammer (optional)
The flat iron can be bought at any local Home Depot or home improvement store it is best to take the measurements of your camcorder before you buy it incase you don’t get enough, if you want to make a handle for as cheap as possible get aluminum, but if u want something stronger get steel, it will cost a bit more but it's worth it. The bolt and wing nuts can be bought also at a home improvement store for a dollar or less. For rubber grip you can get from princess auto or a store that sells parts for go karts (Note: the grip is optional but is a lot easier to hold when filming). The stuffing you can just rip apart an old stuffed toy, or you can get quality stuff from an arts & crafts store (Note: the stuffing is optional but helps a lot). To make this Handle it takes about an hour to make it look professional and only about 5-10 dollars.
1. Hold up the angle iron to the bottom of your video camera hold the part where you want to bend it, then step on it and bend the iron, repeat for each side until you get it to look like the letter U. This can also be done by finding a jar to the aprox size you want and bending the iron around it.
2. Most of the time your handle will go over your viewfinder, to be able to use the viewfinder with the handle equipped put the iron in a clamp and bend it with either man power or a hammer
3. Once your iron is bent the way you want it cut off the excess parts remembering that you have to have room on the top and bottom for the bolt and for the handle
4. Now, match up the iron to your camcorder and mark where to drill the whole for where to mount it onto your tripod mount (the silver hole with the threads in the bottom of your camcorder.
5. Once you got your hole drilled take a file or a grinder and take off all the jagged edges ect from cutting, after that is done you may paint the handle with any paint that will work with metals (Note: this is optional, but for the steel flat iron this will help a lot because after a while it may start to rust) once the paint ect is dry you may want to wrap all the parts of the handle that touch the camcorder with duct tape or electrical tape to avoid scratching the camcorder up
6. Now take the grip and slide it onto the iron to the spot that you feel comfortable with, once that is done fill in the grip with the cotton filling to keep get a better holding shape so it is more comfortable to hold (Note: the whole grip is optional but is much easier on the hands and more comfortable when you are filming for long periods because the edges can dig into your hand)
7. Once you've got all of the cotton filling stuffed as much as you want in the grip to the firmness you want glue it all in place so that the cotton doesn’t come out (Note: if you want to move the grip sometimes you may not want to glue it, but if you don't glue it you should use less cotton so it doesn't fall out all over the place)
Well hopefully from all that you have made yourself a nice handle for your camcorder, if you don't understand how to make it or what it is supposed to end up looking like, look at the following pictures to help you out.
i copied this from skateperception.com - its helping me, im planning on using this
