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I wanted a nice tripod as a gun rest and for occasional camerawork. I settled on the big heavy studio type they are better for cameras as they dampen vibrations and for a gun rest it'll be great because of the same thing - - mass. I won't be hiking anywhere with this thing. The wood is Maple I harvested on the property. The steel is a plate I got in the fleabay, some extra heavy steel gas pipe and various A-36 grade crud steel from Hillman I got at the BORG. The knobs are blanks from Carr Lane that I drilled and tapped. Ii is only mostly done. The angle head and gun rest are not even designed yet. I have some fill work and paint to apply, Plus I need to create the locking clamp for the head and gun rest that will slide up and down in the steel pipe/tube. I'll use another Carr Lane knob for that. The sanding and applied coatings are yet to be done to the wood too. Also there is the feet to finish. I'm going to turn steel spikes for one end and put rubbers on the other. The inside leg parts will pull out and reverse to invoke the spikes or rubbers. So far I'm really happy with how it's turned out. The leg angle adjusters work flawlessly and are very robust. The action of the leg extensions is smooth as silk. And it is solid as the Rock of Gibraltar First I made these three little knuckles. They are part of how the leg angles are set and locked. The first pieces of 3/8" steel drilled with 1/2" and tapped for 5/16-18 one side and clearance through the other. I made them to be clamps by clamping them together for drilling, Then sanding 0.010" or so off the faces with the hole half then re clamping them on the 1/2" shafting and welding one end. This way when I engage the tapped hole on the end opposite the welds they would squeeze around one of the shafts locking the action. You'll see~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Then I welded up six of these below clamps for the sliding legs In the pic above you can see the one with the knob has a little flat piece of steel inside the box. That is to spread the pressure of the clamp screw across the wood to prevent damage. In the pictures of the tripod you only see three of these but there are six that will be on it in the final assembly. Then I turned three of these 2' maple shafts Of course this is not the final shape. I had to rip them and pop them in my planer to make them skinny. like so: The above is two halves re-glued together. I left a little lip at the end to fasten a block of wood. Here is the planer rig = pretty basic. It was necessary that they be very accurate in dimension and each be exactly the same as the other half. I would have to rip the glue up twice more so I glued them offset like so: And then mount little blocks to them to keep them stable and flat on my table saw To finally get this shape (see the piece in the center) Here are some of the tripod's leg angle locks From below looking up The leg height adjusts so smoothly

Still with the camera issues today. Waiting on a call back about a second Opinion on this knee. Plywood was rough cut to size. leaving quite a bit extra.. Took a few more cuts to get just the right fit. Even used a block plane to straighten out the saw cuts.....started grabbing clamps and a mallet. Found a couple spots needing trimmed up. Got more clamps down. 6 clamps, so far, and haven't glue things up, yet Had one square inside, to check a corner, or three.. Seemed to be square. Have most of the gaposis fixed. Decided to load the box up, to see how things would fit.. And to figure out where to put a few dividers. The thumbscrew may be a problem. The 12" bevel gauge, may be too long? Close ups? But, at least there might be room IF I find anymore of these? I'll work on this part, and then maybe a lid? Something like this lid? This little box? Is now serving at the Auburn Ave. Baptist Church......Pastor hides his stash of candy in it.....has a place of Honour in his office. I might have enough leftovers to build a lid like this....

I needed to order a battery for a camera my daughter gave me over ten years ago needed a battery so I got online and found a great buy much cheaper than the 35.50 for an exact replacement battery. After about ten pictures the battery needed recharging...It was a no name battery from ?? Same thing happened today only now you gotta watch for they now have the almost exact numbers and the picture of the battery is the original picture of a canon battery that came with the camera... The exact battery is still 35.46 from walmart... This is almost exactly what I went through ten years ago or longer and it is still going on today. Then I found the same battery picture with almost the same numbers for 7.99 and freight paid through the walmart site. This is what I ordered or something like this and when I got the battery it was not a canon battery and had to be recharged way too often.. And like then it was too big of a hassle to bring it up with someone and I still have that battery as a back up...The 7.99 battery is not being shipped from walmart and this is what I have run into going through Amazon . I think I order one thing and got something close so guys be aware....I quit using the fake battery for I was afraid it might start leaking acid inside the camera and cost a bundle to put back right. Even the serial numbers is close enough maybe most people stop reading the numbers before they get to the end ...The serial number is not showing on the battery but all the writing is exactly on both batteries. Just take your time when ordering on line and make sure everything is what you think you are getting...

Between using that Stanley 45 and learning this new camera's tricks. Made the lumber Run today....Cheapest 2 x 4 x8' was..$3.15....at Lowes.. Got three and a 2'x4' panel of 1/4" plywood. Good thing I get a 10% discount for my Mil. ID... Got the "Treasures" down to the shop, and let them sit awhile....had other things to do... had four more blanks to surface S4S.. Used a couple larger planes for that job ( and you'll what the camera is doing, too) That be a Stanley No.5-1/2, sitting in front of a stanley No. 6c Apparently, the "Macro" setting was still on? Or not.. Anyway, i got the four blanks looking decent enough.. seems to be a lot of glare off the overhead light, too. Decided to give the Stanley 45 a good run for it's money... Got going too fast and rough on one edge...and the depth stop came off the cutter. Got to checking the cutter....yuck, instead of a flat bevel, it has a rounded bevel...like a beer belly. Will take the time tomorrow to straight that out. Decided I could drill a hole into each end( tenons go there, anyway) and attach the blank to the side of the bench. Needed to counter sink the holes a bit, so the fence won't hit the screws.. Need to resize this one down, camera makes too big a picture. Brace is a 6" Keen Kutter, by Millers falls. Anyway, Once the blank was set up.. I could pound away with the 45. Once each blank was done, time to make some tenons on the ends. BTW: I cleaned the rebate with an older plane.. So,..tenons. I used the first blank to mark out where the tenons would be. Took the blank around to the mitre box and cut the shoulders... Has a stop cut set just about right. Once both ends were cut, I could walk back around to the bench, and do the cheek cut.. And let the waste drop off. Cleaned up with a chisel.. Kept trying to find out which setting worked the best, depending on how close I was....not always working out. I got two with both edges done, and one for the bottom of the side. The bottom and top blanks only have one molded edge. Legs started to get crampy....and even the ribs. Time to call it a day. Of the two blanks left to do ( out of five) both will be either a bottom or a top blank. Too many knots. New 2x4 should be able to give me a few knot-free blanks, I hope. Too tired and sore right now, maybe tomorrow,eh?

Here is a topic that may not come up often enough. I am not a professional and do tend to point and shoot, but there are some basics we can all benefit from. Lets start with equipment. A good camera helps, but there lots of them. I like SLR's and have been using them since the early 80's. Now using DSLR. There are plenty of compact cameras out there that will work also. Important is being able to change settings from A,to T to P,or portrait or macro and capability to adjust light balance. The camera does not have to break the bank and if you want a good SLR (film) I have one for reasonable. A tripod is essential to get a good shot and this too could be reasonable as it only needs to hold camera steady but can be difficult to set up so look at reviews before a purchase. A background for the picture helps to eliminate distracting background. Do not use wrinkled fabric. The background should be a neutral color such as gray or gradient gray to white. This can be paper on a roll or plastic in various sizes. You can google search and find many available. The background should go under the work piece. Lighting is essential and it will be very evasive. You will only need one or two light sources and they should be the same color temperature. Do not choose CFL unless you can find the color corrected type. LED's also work just not the white light ones. I use halogen work lights pointed toward the ceiling for reflected light to reduce shadows and glare. You can also use tents and diffusers to soften lights. These you can make from several different fabric types (Tshirt to sheets to shears from curtains) This covers the minimum for photographic equipment to get a good picture of your work. You could spend as much as $2000 or more or as little as 200 based on your budget and how you are bitten by the photography bug. I will be covering other areas in future installments.