Pendulum assembly

The reinforced PVC tubing provides a flexible, damping connection between the flying line and the pendulum shaft.
The reinforced PVC tubing provides a flexible, damping connection between the flying line and the pendulum shaft.

Tools needed

  • pliers or Vise-grips
  • electric drill (5/64 in. bit),
  • glue (epoxy or super glue)
  • ruler

Make the damper

  1. Drill several holes through the flexible PVC tubing with a 5/64 in. bit.
    1. Drill one hole 1.5 cm from the top end (for line attachment wire).
    2. Drill one hole 1.5 cm from the lower end (for cotter pin to attach carbon shaft).
    3. Drill additional holes several mm farther from the lower end at different angles. These allow the shaft to be rotated so the camera points in different directions. Drill 3 or 4 holes at even increments around the circumference to allow 6 or 8 camera angles.  Do not drill all the holes at the same distance from the end.
  2. Pass the vinyl coated wire through the hole in the top of the PVC tube.
  3. Wrap the coated wire with thick cloth to protect the vinyl, and use strong pliers to bend the ends into a hook.
  4. Glue the vinyl caps onto the ends of the wire.

Make the shaft

The Pendulum now comes with the 38 cm shaft assembled, glued, and drilled. So the following will be done.

Drill or grind two holes near the now solid lower end of the shaft.
Drill or grind two holes near the now solid lower end of the shaft.
The lower end of the Picavet and pendulum shafts have two holes for cotter pins. Both are important to secure the rig.
The lower end of the Picavet and pendulum shafts have two holes for cotter pins. Both are important to secure the rig.
  1. Mix two part epoxy and glue 3 cm pieces of carbon tube into the ends of the long carbon tube. Fill the space between the tubes with epoxy to make a carbon laminate tube. Fill the ends of the inside tubes with epoxy and insert a 3 cm piece of ABS filament into the center to make solid 3 cm long sections at each end.
  2. When epoxy has dried, drill three holes through the shaft with a 5/64 in. or smaller bit. A better tool for this is a small abrasive bit on a Dremel tool.  Drill exactly through the center of the tube.
    1. One hole should be 1.5 cm from one end of the tube (for the large cotter pin at the top of the shaft).
    2. One hole should be 2 cm from the other end (for the smaller cotter pin through the plastic tube atop the rig upper frame).
    3. One hole should be 0.8 cm from the end in (2) (for the redundant cotter pin underneath the upper frame).

Attaching the flying line

  • To attach the pendulum to a flying line, wrap the line several times around both ends of the vinyl coated wire. Make the spiral on one half of the wire in the opposite direction from the spiral on the other. 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.