Camera Mounts and Assorted 3D Printed Parts

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WheresWaldo
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by WheresWaldo

Over the past couple of months I was looking for easy ways to mount my newly aquired Sony HDR-AZ1VR Mini Action Cam to my bicycles. Sony like all other action cam manufacturers do not have a lot of options for mounting. The ones they do have have to be universal and adjustable so they tend to be big and heavy not to mention ugly.

With all the hoopla about 3D printing, I did a lot of research and found that 3D printed parts can be every bit as strong as injection molded parts and weight-weenie light. So I set about refreshing my mechanical drawing skills, took a look at what I needed and went about designing my own mounts.

Before you all say we don't need another mounting system, please note that I did not make up a new one. The GoPro is ubiquitous, there are more mounting options and cheaper mounts than any other brand. I based my designs on directly adapting the original manufacturers mounting system to the GoPro system. This opens up a world of possibilities as to where you can put your action cam.

I am not trying to duplicate existing mounts or adapters, just fill in a niche where things could be infinitely more weight conscious or where there are no alternatives. My intent was to have the parts I needed to get where I wanted with the least number of adapters, the sturdiest vibration free mounts and of course the least amount of weight. I thought that if I could use such items, maybe some of my weight-weenie aquintences could use them also. I am not trying to be the next big thing, just filling a space with one-off parts that no one else wants to make themselves. I do not make these items myself, that I leave to Shapeways. They take care of everything, shipping direct to whoever buys from them.

Here is a link to my Shapeways page and a few pictures of some of the items I have designed;
The Revolutionaries on Shapeways
Image Image Image
27.2 mm Seat Post Mount
31.6 mm Seat Post Mount
2009-12 Cannondale Synapse Seat Post Mount

Image Image Image
Contour T-Rail Direct to GoPro Mount
Sony HDR-AZ1 Direct to GoPro Mount
Sony HDR-AZ! Direct to Contour T-Rail Mount

Image Image Image
Sony Live-View Remote to Garmin Quarter-turn Mount
Ion Air Pro CamLOCK Direct to GoPro Mount
27.2 mm Race Number Plate Holder

This is just a small sample of stuff no one else makes. The images are in random colors to show what Shapeways can do. Like I said, I use them and some guys at MTBR have purchased some of the mounts too. I understand that DIY has an appeal, but why kludge some stuff together when you can just use a single mount conversion. I am constantly adding stuff that I feel I can use, but I am also open to suggestions. If you know what you want, and can describe it or draw it I can see if its something I want to tackle.

Just a couple of notes, this is weightweenies after all. As an example: If you wanted to mount a Contour Roam 3 on a 27.2 mm seatpost you could use the mount, direct ot GoPro T-Rail adapter and two M3 x 16 mm socket head cap screws with nylon insert lock nuts (hardware is not included with my mounts) and the total weight would be approximately 18 grams. And that is with Stainless Steel bolts and nuts! Contour does not make a seat post mount but you could use the Contour 2755 Flex Strap Mount at 36 grams provided it doesn't interfere with you pedal stroke. To front mount, if you have something like a K-Edge Garmin mount, the T-Rail adapter weighs just 3 grams.

With regard to strength, these parts are made out of nylon, it is a very strong material used by some F1 race teams on various parts. It is made using a process called Selective Laser Sintering (SLS for short). Each part is build up layer by layer in a block of nylon powder. A laser then melts selected areas of the nylon fusing it to the layer below. After the process is complete the cooled parts are removed from the block of nylon powder, cleaned, polished and dyed.

Some but not all of the stuff I have drawn up is available on Thingiverse for those adventurous to try 3D printing for themselves. Just be prepared for a lot of trial and error and reprints. There are also no support structures included with the Thingiverse files so there will be a lot of prep work before you have a perfectly usuable print.

AndreLM
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by AndreLM

Really nice! Would you consider doing mounts for Shimano Di2 Junction A?

Page I would like to move my J-A to the downtube, since I have a wiring hole and an additional "water boss" (actually it is there for the external battery Di2 battery).

It would a very simple square (edit: rectangular) piece, with a small hole and the standard clip for the Junction box. I understand getting this clip designed / printed could be hard: a flat surface and some electrical tape would be enough.

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WheresWaldo
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by WheresWaldo

Andre, I can't guarantee it, but I am a Di2 owner, so I might be able to design something that works. So to understand correctly you want to clip to have a hole for a waterbottle cage bolt, or you want it to go under an existing cage?

are
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by are

Super cool. An idea, but it might be too basic. I want to mount a lezyne carbon drive mini pump to a seatstay, sort of like how you could put some of the old frame pumps in the rear triangle. I think this is far more elegant than mounting on a bottle cage, but it'd get the pump out of a pocket. I think a simple, relatively thin plastic with a curve on either side would work - one side fits the pump, the other the stay. I have a cateye light w/ rubber bands on the same stay. I'd use longer bands to hold both the light and the pump, maybe.

AndreLM
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by AndreLM

It would clip into a "dedicated" hole (the downtube has 3 threaded holes)

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WheresWaldo
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by WheresWaldo

@are, something like this:
Image
This would use two O-Rings just like Garmin uses for their mounts to hold the fixture to the back of the seat tube. It is just a mock up of what could be done.

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WheresWaldo
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by WheresWaldo

@AndreLM

Here is a mock up. It has to be thicker than the original clip to accomodate the M5 water bottle cage bolt. This needs a bunch of clean up so it is only a close approximation of what it will look like. I based the measaurements on my own spare mounting clip and only one sample of the 5-port Junction A.
Image
Since this part has quite a few small walls I highly doubt it could be accurately home printed.

Picture changed to represent final part appearance.
Last edited by WheresWaldo on Thu Feb 26, 2015 12:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

AndreLM
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by AndreLM

Nice! This is better than what I was thinking. I don't have a 3D printer... Do you you Shapeways could do it?

bfno
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by bfno

Love your number holders! Do you think you would be able to make an 'under the brake' style number holder for direct mount brakes?
Thanks
Venge | Shiv TT | Langster | Dogma 60.1 | CruX | Aeroad CF SLX (WIP)

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WheresWaldo
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by WheresWaldo

AndreLM wrote:Nice! This is better than what I was thinking. I don't have a 3D printer... Do you you Shapeways could do it?

Yeah, I could put it up on Shapeways. I need to clean up the model a bit and reinforce it a few key locations. One thing I will say, the part will be cheap to make at Shapeways (under $10 in choice of color), but if you live in the EU I don't know what their shipping charges are. In the US they charge flat rates and you can have a lot of small parts shipped for $4.99. It does take about 10 days to make and ship. I usually search through their stuff and get minimum 5 - 10 items I need at once to minimize shipping per item. With regard to the bolt. I would go to Ace, Lowes or HomeDepot and see if they have a nylon M5 bolt or screw, then sand off some of the head to fit, otherwise you will need a M5 low profile socket head cap screw. Only way to build it without making it too tall.

Because of the very thin walls, even if you had a 3D printer I am not sure how it would turn out. Home printers deposit streams of melted plastic in specified areas, kind of like a hot glue gun. Shapeways builds it by melting nylon together with a laser. Their method is just more accurate with small parts.

Here it is Di2 Junction 'A' screw on mounting clip
Image
Approximate size is 28 mm x 13 mm x 7.5 mm, my guess is that it will weigh less than 2 grams, the screw will likely be heavier.
bfno wrote:Love your number holders! Do you think you would be able to make an 'under the brake' style number holder for direct mount brakes?
Thanks

Send me a picture of the brake mounting I don't have a bike with direct mount brakes and neither do any of my riding buddies. It would be even better is you could measure it and tell me what you need, such as how long an arm, where exactly will it mount, etc.

AndreLM
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by AndreLM

Thanks @WheresWaldo! I REALLY appreciate that! :thumbup:

I actually live in Brazil (and customs here suck even more than in EU). But since I have to travel regularly to US for work I can ask to have it shipped to a friend. I will also need the camera mount for 27.2 mm posts.

For the screw, this should work :mrgreen:

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WheresWaldo
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by WheresWaldo

Yeah, not really designed for those bolts, flat taper screw have a 10 mm diameter at the top of the head. The part would have to be made wider to work with it, that's why I designed it for socket head cap screws, which are only 9mm diameter at the top.
Image
This will work but it may be snug, and far cheaper than anything on ProBolt. I routinely use nylon screws where there is no stress on the mount, such as the case here.

AndreLM
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by AndreLM

Ok. Found it! Thanks.

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by WheresWaldo

@bfno

I found the spec for direct mount brakes, I am thinking that I would need to make something that goes over the rear of the mount. The mounting bosses are 78 mm center-to-center. But what I need to know is how much space there is between the fork blade and the actual brake boss.

Upon further investigation, I just don't think it is possible to mount a number plate behind the brakes on the Canyon Aeroad SLX with direct mount brakes. There simply isn't enough room. If you look at all the new Katusha riders, all with direct mount now use a seatpost mount to attache their race numbers.

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WheresWaldo
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by WheresWaldo

At the request of a couple of people on MTBR I updated the Sony Live-View remote clip to now have an option for using it on a GoPro style mount.
Image
Sony Live-View Remote to GoPro Mount Clip

Explanation of use:
This clip replaces the webbing and rubber wrist strap that comes with the Live-View Remote. Just remove the remote from its wrist strap, clip this into the two slots you took the strap from and then depending on which version you have mount onto either a Garmin quarter-turn mount or a GoPro style mount. The Garmin mount version works great with the K-EDGE Gravity Cap Computer Mount for Garmin or Stem Mounts for Garmin Computers. This gives you an easily removeable attachment to the Live-View Remote and gets is off your wrist.

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