DIY Video Housing a success...

[diversteve]

Here is a design I am gonna try. It is going to be made out of lexan. It will have one end completely heat sealed, and the other is going to have a sort of plug with an oring (black shading) to make a seal with some latches to keep it on. Here are some pics if it works. What does anyone think? The schematic is in my gallery. Just a rough idea.

I see no advantage to grooving the inside surface to accept the o-ring. The clamps are applying downward pressure so although they might slightly force the outside tube inward, it's probably not as effective as simply sizing the inner diameter so that an o-ring fits precisely over it and is kept captive in the corner where the two surfaces mate by the force of the clamps. Clearcam does it this way. http://www.clearcam.co.uk/

Click on Design and scroll down, the third pic almost shows this in detail. Notice how clean the edge is on the tube also.

 

[jdvaughn]

well what my revised plan was to possibly place an o-ring or gasket on the flat surface between the container and the cap. all edges with be precise. this is being lased cut and then CNC machinced so that measurements can be very precise. I have tested the setup I have pictured and it seems to work pretty well. The notch in the top for the oring is kinda just to hold it there. I works pretty well since it is a tighe fit, but I was thinking a o-ring setup like you said and the other company had would be easier.

 

[diversteve]

well what my revised plan was to possibly place an o-ring or gasket on the flat surface between the container and the cap. all edges with be precise. this is being lased cut and then CNC machinced so that measurements can be very precise. I have tested the setup I have pictured and it seems to work pretty well. The notch in the top for the oring is kinda just to hold it there. I works pretty well since it is a tighe fit, but I was thinking a o-ring setup like you said and the other company had would be easier.

What you might want to do is move the groove closer into the corner. Just a few thousandths off the top edge. That way it will retain the o-ring and yet allow it to be fully compressed by the mating of the top plate against the tube edge.

If I had access to a CNC machine, I'd be milling a housing out of aluminum. Be a whole lot stronger and better for mounting handles, lights etc. You could even have mounts machined into the sides during the fab. process. fwiw, Gates uses 6061-T651 alloy and anodizing is pretty cheap. Big chunk of aluminum might cost you though. Custom wheel makers sometimes have scrap laying around.

 

[jdvaughn]

aluminum is nice, but I prefer lexan. It is incredibly strong. For what I want this for now it will work great. I have some Ideas for lights next. I have access to laser cutter for plastic, CNC machine, Water jet, lathe and a few other fun tools. Anybody need anything made?

 

[allegfede]

You are veeery lucky

With all this stuff it will be nice to make experimentation.

If you want, you could mold a pvc/lexan/plexyglass/policarmbonate (or other termoplastic material) to fit exactly your camera shape, and then machine a groove for the o-ring in the flat side of the tube (like this:
http://groups.msn.com/divelight/customshapedvideohousing.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=987)
and cut the front and back lid (that are the harder pieces to shape out in a precise way).

thake a look at groups.msn.com/divelight to the padipro or matkinz housings

http://groups.msn.com/divelight/newcamerahousing.msnw
http://groups.msn.com/divelight/customshapedvideohousing.msnw
http://groups.msn.com/divelight/jvceveriohousingandlightsys.msnw

some pictures of my new housing are coming soon

 

[426Scuba]

What you might want to do is move the groove closer into the corner. Just a few thousandths off the top edge. That way it will retain the o-ring and yet allow it to be fully compressed by the mating of the top plate against the tube edge.

If I had access to a CNC machine, I'd be milling a housing out of aluminum. Be a whole lot stronger and better for mounting handles, lights etc. You could even have mounts machined into the sides during the fab. process. fwiw, Gates uses 6061-T651 alloy and anodizing is pretty cheap. Big chunk of aluminum might cost you though. Custom wheel makers sometimes have scrap laying around.

Why not use an old tank. I wonder what the ID of an S19 is? And using something like this would be cheap and easy just have a machine shop lop off both ends and cut you an o-ring groove.

 

[diversteve]

Why not use an old tank. I wonder what the ID of an S19 is? And using something like this would be cheap and easy just have a machine shop lop off both ends and cut you an o-ring groove.

I think it's too thin walled to seal against an o-ring properly. Just speaking off the top of my head though as I have no idea how thick the walls are.

 

[426Scuba]

I think it's too thin walled to seal against an o-ring properly. Just speaking off the top of my head though as I have no idea how thick the walls are.

You could put the oring in the end plug. We had an old co2 cylinder cut up at my old work and I think the wall was around 3/8". Just a guess, but i would say an S19 would have a wall thickness of around 1/4 inch or more. Just remember they have to be hydroed to 5000 psi when tested so there is some beef there.

 

[426Scuba]

Anyone know if you can paint 3m 5200?

I'm doing a mad dash to get my housing done before a trip in December...

 

[allegfede]

Yes you can.
Sand surface to paint with very fine sand paper then wash the housing with liquid soap for dish washing (to clear it and remove dust and grease). Let it dry and then paint one or two times (get every layer of paint complete drying befor spry another time). That's the way I painted that one

http://groups.msn.com/divelight/jvceveriohousingandlightsys.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1073

http://groups.msn.com/divelight/jvceveriohousingandlightsys.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1078