# Lathe-mounted cameras



## Kludge (Oct 5, 2008)

I've noticed a few videos are from the POV of the cross slide or (apparently) the headstock which implies lathe mounts. Presuming this is true, what kind of cameras are being used and how are they being mounted?

BEst regards,

Kludge


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## kustomkb (Oct 5, 2008)

Mine mount with a mag base,
most cameras have a 1/4-20 thread for mounting,
take a 3/8 piece of drill rod drill and tap it 1/4-20,
thread in a long 1/4-20 set screw . fit it with a jam nut,
and you can mount your camera anywhere a dial indicator can go.

-Kevin


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## Kludge (Oct 6, 2008)

kustomkb  said:
			
		

> Mine mount with a mag base,



Cool. I don't have any drill rod but I do have some 12L14 (scrap from a friend on the mainland) and I think there's 3/8" rod in it. Since this isn't a "critical application", I can turn down one end to thread 1/4"-20 to do the same thing.

Now I have to go get a camera, too. I own a camcorder but I loaned it out a few years ago and haven't bothered to retrieve it (Actually, it might be in Iraq now.), and I don't want to use my 16mm cameras in this application. What I had planned was a small video camera taking C or CS-mount lenses (I have spare C-mounts handy due to re-equipping a couple of the 16mm cameras and a C to CS adapter's pretty easy.) or a webcam but I'm open to suggestions.

Many thanks for the idea.

Best regards,

Kludge


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## CrewCab (Oct 6, 2008)

Kludge,

Ralph (Divided He ad) built a camera stand a few months back *Here's* the thread.

hth

CC


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## Kludge (Oct 6, 2008)

CrewCab  said:
			
		

> Ralph (Divided He ad) built a camera stand a few months back



Hmmm ... neat and simple. Nice. I'll have to dust off the Taig for some of it (It's kind of buried at the moment, though not completely inaccessable) but that shouldn't be a major issue.

Someone in the other thread raised the question of using webcams for this. Has anyone tried this?

Best regards,

Kludge


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## Lew Hartswick (Oct 6, 2008)

I'll take a pix or two tomorrow that shows how I do it at school. If both cameras have batteries charged.
 Guess I only need the one taking the pix not the one mounted on the fixture. 
  ...lew...


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## Lew Hartswick (Oct 7, 2008)

OK here is the rig I built to do the pix for the class projects. The teacher then put the pix on a page with 
text using some program and built a book to make it easy to follow the step by step to make the object.

hope this works. 
  ...lew...


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## Divided He ad (Oct 7, 2008)

CC, you beat me to it! ;D Not suprising the amount I've not been on line recently : 

kustomkb, will the magnet not interfere with the camera? screen etc.... Just thinking of all the warnings I used to get at school.... Then still had to try the magnet near the TV, nice colours!  

Lew, I like your devise, does it move with the saddle? and does it vibrate if/when you use it for movies? (just wondered with it being supported by the rear shield)

Kludge, well you are certainly getting your moneys worth on this topic.... all sorts to try out 



Ralph.


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## Kludge (Oct 8, 2008)

Divided He ad  said:
			
		

> kustomkb, will the magnet not interfere with the camera? screen etc.... Just thinking of all the warnings I used to get at school.... Then still had to try the magnet near the TV, nice colours!



Electric clocks next to computer monitors - easy service call to fix, not so easy to explain why I'll be a bit irate if they put it back.



> Lew, I like your devise, does it move with the saddle? and does it vibrate if/when you use it for movies? (just wondered with it being supported by the rear shield)



It is nice ... It looks more like a saddle over the bed which would, I think, mean it's aimed at the headstock as set so it can show the carriage movement as well. On the other hand, I'm good at being wrong about things. Just ask my ex-wives. ;D 



> Kludge, well you are certainly getting your moneys worth on this topic.... all sorts to try out



Ralph, you're to blame! I loved your videos and want to make some of my own someday. Of course, the music will be by people no one's heard of before and I may inject some of my horrid sense of humor but I'm not worried. I'm assured that it won't be cause to ban me from the forum ... for any extended period of time. 

BUT ... has anyone tried a webcam yet? 640x480 at 30fpm (actually 29.97fpm) seems about right for the usual video and that's easy using them now.

Best regards,

Kludge


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## John S (Oct 8, 2008)

Not used a webcam for actually taking pictures but we use them for lining up on the CNC mill and also for showing what's going on at shows inside the cabinets.

We use a spare klunker of a computer that has two video cards fitted and it takes the input from both camera's and outputs to two tft monitors on top.

Here's a few pics of one mounted on a router.
the strip at the side is a 12" rule






The camera






and what you see on the screen.






And the monitors with machines at a show, sorry you can't see the screen but it was more of an overview of the stand.






.


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## Kludge (Oct 8, 2008)

John Stevenson  said:
			
		

> Not used a webcam for actually taking pictures but we use them for lining up on the CNC mill and also for showing what's going on at shows inside the cabinets.



Okay, computer - easy to manage since I have a couple el cheapo tablets that have USB inuts. 

Use for alignment - cool idea! Actually, it kind of goes with wanting to use lasers for the same thing. (YEah, I kind of like optics.) 

So now ... watch what's happening and setup ... this is getting betterer and betterer. Thanks, John!

BEst regards,

Kludge


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## Circlip (Oct 8, 2008)

And for those who couldn't get to Harrogate this year, Johns' picture is what we got to look at and watch the machines running. Nice stand John.
 Regards Ian.


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## Lew Hartswick (Oct 8, 2008)

Ralph and Kludge,. It dosent move with the carriage. I dont do the "video" bit.  only stills. It does tilt 
far enough, (with the tilt-pan head) to get realy close ups of the head or the tool post area. I've taken 
probably hundreds of shots for the class projects over the past couple of years. 
  ...lew...


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## Kludge (Oct 9, 2008)

Lew Hartswick  said:
			
		

> Ralph and Kludge,. It dosent move with the carriage. I dont do the "video" bit.  only stills.



Kind of figured the first part. The second part ... videos would be nice for the educational process as well, you know. They would let the students see the set up in action which is even more so betterer. A dual mount - still and video - would be even cooler.

I've got a bunch of old (relatively) digital cameras (still and video) floating around in various states of operation. (Some won't power up, some won't power down, some don't recognize memory cards, etc.) With them are some mini-tripods and other things, not all of which I remember what are. I need to dig all that stuff out and see what's there.

BEst regards,

Kludge


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## kustomkb (Oct 9, 2008)

> kustomkb, will the magnet not interfere with the camera? screen etc.... Just thinking of all the warnings I used to get at school.... Then still had to try the magnet near the TV, nice colours!



that never occoured to me but it seems okay,

sample pics and vids here:

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=2684.0


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## Kludge (Oct 9, 2008)

kustomkb  said:
			
		

> sample pics and vids here:



Interesting. I especially like the way the camera remains stationary and the background moves in the first one. (It reminds me of a line from Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy. )

What kind of camera do you have on that mount?

I'm getting some ideas scaled to my machines (Remember, I'm itty bitty guy ... which can be misinterpreted in sooo many ways. :-\) using what of the cameras I mentioned previously that I can make work that can shoot video. (IIRC, there should be 2-3 of them.) I might even be able to light up the work area with some nice bright white LEDs I have buried here. 

*sigh* ... I really do need to get my shop back!

Thank you for the shots ... and for shooting your work. My equipment isn't as big but I hope to be able to make the same sort of videos myself.

Best regards,

Kludge


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## Twinsquirrel (Oct 9, 2008)

No input on the mount question but as an aside:



> kustomkb, will the magnet not interfere with the camera? screen etc.... Just thinking of all the warnings I used to get at school.... Then still had to try the magnet near the TV, nice colours! Cheesy



This phenomena only occurs with CRT displays as the electrons that are fired at the phosphor coating on the screen are "steered" with an electrical/magnetic field, the presence of a magnet interferes with that. Modern CRTs are not damaged EASILY by the presence of a magnetic field as they have a thing called an "Ion trap" which funnily enough traps Ions and stops them from hitting the screen and causing permanent damage, the image is still temporarily distorted by a magnet though.

The small screen on a digi camera is likely to be a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) LCD which has a matrix of transistors which energise polarising liquid crystals blocking the light coming through from a backlight which is always on. Even a quite strong magnetic field would have no effect.

David


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## Kludge (Oct 9, 2008)

Twinsquirrel  said:
			
		

> Even a quite strong magnetic field would have no effect.



Well, unless you want to get into Hall effect, but let's not go there. 

That was a wonderful explanation, David. BTW: some of the digital cameras use LEDs and some LCDs that aren't backlit. The end results the same, though; magnet fields aren't a serious problem.

BEst regards,

Kludge


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