One Hour Steampunk'd Mono-Pod Camera Mount

While getting ready for the upcoming Dragon boat races (I take a lot of pics), last year was great however I found myself constantly folding the tripod to move to a better position. I missed some great shots due to this little problem. A mono-pod would be great for fast moving steady tripod quality shots. When the Steam Punk weekly challenge came up it occurred to me I could use copper for this project lightweight plenty of fittings and relatively low cost.

Mono-Pod Camera Mount "Steam Punk Style"

Materials:

Copper pipe
Copper fittings
Dremel w/cutting disc's
Gas torch
Soldering Flux
Solder
Various pliers
Flat head screw driver
Work gloves
Ball peen hammer
Drill and bit
Bolt that fits the tripod mount
Wire brush
Pipe cutter

Trying to make this a simple quick instructable, Let's get started!

First using a pipe cutter and cut a piece of 8 foot copper pipe down to 4 or 5; 12 inch cuts (depending on your height). The clean the cuts with a wire brush to prep them for flux and solder and dry fit them for the exact height you need for the camera to be eye level.
Next cut the ends off of a 50 inch bungee cord

Soldering copper pipe is one of the easiest thing in the world to do. Just coat the cleaned off outer edge of the pipe with flux, then slip on your fitting and add heat with a propane torch. once the flux start bubbling heat a second or two more remove the flame and touch the solder to the edge of the copper fitting on the pipe. The heated pipe will instantly melt the solder and the flux will suck the solder up into the seam making a seal. Finally clean up the fittings with a wire brush, keep in mind your only solder one side of the fitting not both!

WARNING: For this project I was out of typical plumbing solder, and I used rosin core lead solder. If you are doing any type of plumbing use plumbing lead free solder, in most states lead solder is banned from water supply lines. Not to mention it can be dangerous to your health to have lead leaching into your drinking water. Because this pipe will no longer be used for drinking water, I made a judgement call, however I felt it was necessary to point out the soldering faux pas just in case someone might have thought this would be ok for other purposes.

 

Next start feeding the bungee cord through the three center pipes, then using a wedge of some kind in this case I used a L bracket and drove the creased bunge into each end the remaining end pipes. Cut the brackets with a dremel, and drove the remaing part as deep as possible with a flat head screw driver and hammer.

Every mono-pod has a point in the bottom of the pole. This can be achieved easily with a large Phillips head screwdriver, two pieces of wood to create a channel (I used a step down drill to create the same effect),  and an end cap. Rest the cap over the gap center the screw driver in the cap and give it a tap with your hammer a few times till a point forms, then flux, solder, and clean the end of the bottom leg!

The last step is to add a little design and make it your own, also I needed a way to mount the camera.

Make a T shape cut into the end  of a scrap piece of copper pipe, heat it till its red, and work it till it's flat.
Trace out your design and with a little creative dremel cutting finish your design (I was going for an old world gear look).
Drill a hole the size of your camera mount bolt and solder in the bolt (I also used a nut to secure the bolt).
Finally cut off your finished mount and solder to your pole.
Do a little clean up and your all done .

I hope to find my metal polish and really shine this up some more, however right now it grew legs and walked away, so I guess the old used look will have to work for now.