Go Pro Hero 3 Bottle steadicam stabiliser Robert Condon

I wanted a steadicam that was super cheap, had no batteries, and that I could use with only one hand (For snowboarding). I pretty much copied the design of a regular steadicam but without the centre rotation axis that most steadicams have.Also it has to be portable for shoving into a suitcase or rucksack, and fit onto the generic go pro extendable poles that everyone already has.

Then optimised that for 3D printing and low cost by doing the following:

Go pro screws directly onto the 3D printed part to avoid snap fittings, and only in a fixed place so you don't have to adjust it.

It uses 608 size skateboard bearings for the movement, these are £1-2 on eBay.

It uses 8mm Aluminium tube for the axles, also around £2 on eBay.

It uses an M8 caphead screw to hold the weight on - A coke bottle (or could be anything... use your imagination) with a hole drilled in the lid, and then add enough water to stabilise the camera.

Notes:

Print "rear inner" and "swing cam gyro" with the 22mm face down on the print bed, this makes the part strong enough to have the bearing pressed into the cutout. A bit of glue on the mating faces is also required otherwise the bearing falls out eventually.

Once printed, use an M8 tap on the bottom of "swing cam gyro" to allow you to bolt the weight on.

Shopping list

• 3 STL files above printed in PLA at 100um
  
• 1 x M8 Caphead screw 14mm long
  
• 150mm of 8mm O.D Aluminium tube or rod. Or you can use Carbon rod but it is more expensive.
  
• Some sort of bottle 
  
• Water (or other weighty fluid!)