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Tips to avoid DIY disasters
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DIY 50 “x 50″ collapsible soft box (with instructions to build)
Not long ago I was lucky enough a copy of the members of the href = “http://www.zarias.com/” Zackarias One Light Workshop DVD. Good resource lighting, beautifully illustrated, that I highly recommend seeing it and “buy” the current top of my list. I was mostly with the results of Zack with a monster href href = has Mtmid, “http:// www.fjwestcott.com / index.cfm “rel =” nofollow “> Westcott 50-inch soft box . Special soft box design that I still did not work quite like a giant umbrella. Wave of a roof-mounted screen of the softbox and light stand around the flash. Bottom plate was so flash zip arrangement had to go through the access to control flash velcro section by pulling were before Diffusor.Die details of the design not directly from the DVD, but a quick search online turned up a blog, a message that the internal working of a soft box It was his glory. Same search also turned up the price of a href = “http://www.fjwestcott.com/index.cfm” B & H Photo of the (considerable) US2.50 along with the shipping of US.75 Australia. Australian dollar conversion, which reached a total of about AU0.00. Anyone can sell them directly Oz, but I had no luck, she thought of finden.So, as long as I can DIY one less than Au0 I go. After a few false starts and several wrong ways I could do what I can do I call tentatively the “Death Star”. For those interested, I like it, I have included the instructions to build on his words. Please remember that I do
Please check my stream a few examples of soft box use. Tips to prevent disasters DIY
Articles by Patel Dipika
Do you know when it comes to calculating the energy costs at home? Have you ever botched DIY job? Maybe you? Ve been wounded while performing home repairs, or maybe you? I never tried to even care at home, because you do not know about your DIY exist?
DIY ISN? T our only skill. We? Re also pretty handy with the old computer. We? Must keep some interesting statistics show the most common mistakes made in homes in Britain? To help you keep them in first place. Read more? 1 four out of five homeowners do not? T know that they can save up to 10% of annual heating costs by simply lowering the room temperature by 1C. This year Moneysupermarket.com revealed a surprising fact. Is the idea of opening your next electricity bill you have to break a cold sweat? We hate to ruin you, but energy is still going to happen next year, so now? S is the time to make some changes. http://www.moneysupermarket.com’s energy manager Scott Byrom, advise? Gas and electricity can with small changes in the home, such as reducing the ambient temperature of 1C, which can save as much can be minimized as much as 10% annual heating costs, and to ensure that appliances are switched off or in standby mode. ? When you install double glazing, for energy-saving bulbs and Investment tesamoll roof insulation, it should be possible to accumulate some savings. Finally, keep heating the easiest way to get money to invest in some thermal underwear, wear several layers around the house. Ensemble eccentric, a bit clumsy still a better alternative electricity bill you have come across and leaves it for another drink? 2 Britons are wasting £ 100 million has a naive cowboy heating engineerAfter Safe Gas, one of the three of us will be a craftsman, their gas work is not based on the recommendation of our friends or family involved. The result is approximately £ 100 million spent gas work illegally to make our homes, our loved ones, and repair in danger.
houses tested by the cash register, one in five were to be judged? Immediately dangerous?, And the need of immediate fire. In any case, illegal gas installers finished the job? Often after a referral from a family member or friend. How can you prevent the job? First, don not? Blindly accept the recommendations. Always make sure that your dealer is legally registered to work on the gas. Safe Gas advises you should ask for their gas card secure ID. Note that, even if they? Re adjust the fuel tank is registered, he doesn? T always follow them? Re qualified gas burned. To learn more about it you can http://www.gassaferegister.co.ukWe know that tight times to visit, but you have to do? T to hire someone just because they? Re cheap. Risks simply aren? T worth it. Finally, after your work is gas, you can always include your home gas safety inspection with free gas for sure. If your home is selected, the inspector will come to ensure the gas is working properly.
Created 3. DIY activity leads some 30,000 eye injuries each year89 percent of us do not? T put safety goggles when inserted into DIY, says College of Optometrists. You know, where is this happening? This leads to a huge 30 000 DIY eye injuries recorded each year.
activities most likely to cause damage to the eye are carpentry, repairs, decorating. Basically everything flying concrete chips with scraps of wood and metal care purpose. We, of course, common sense advice for you. Please begin always wear eye protection. The College of Optometrists advise you to check your eye is up to standard? Ideally, he should meet the European Standard BSEN 166 to your local optician can refer you to the right direction. If you? Re chisels, hammers, drilling and stripping paint, welding, laying insulation? It must be an automatic reaction only to slide the goggles. When using paint or chemicals, you never touch your face. And please, do not you? T forget about gardening? Many injuries caused by the spiny branches and leaves. and don? T leave your hat on. Accidents can happen when we turn away and raise our glasses, maybe even try to take a closer look at what we do? Work themselves. In the worst scenario, where you see something in the eye, a doctor as soon as possible.
A recent survey Halifax Home Insurance to find some surprising information (or not so surprising?) That is home to more than 50% of young people in Britain, not a clue when it comes to DIY business. “This could indicate that a significant number of young households have to store the problems in the future, such as lack of treatment begins at home, to take its toll on their homeland.”
Martin Foulds said the HalifaxSo what’s the solution? Education, security. The trust. Young people should not? T with basic tasks DIY can not intimidate. Yes, it is important to be cautious, but also the poor skills can improve over time with a little practice. If you? Sharp again, go to nearest hardware store. B & Q is an organized program once called? You can do this? The focus of people? S DIY knowledge. Internet and even your local library, are sources of advice DIY step by step.
For more options close to home, why not ask an expert in DIY approach to your family and they help? Nearly two-thirds of young people gave her father? S DIY skills far exceeded their own, maybe now? S be the father time to teach you a thing or two. 5 homeowners waste £ 235 million a year DIY disasters patchClydesdale and Yorkshire banks has recently completed a study of 2000 British households of Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks, last year found that one house was 10 spent up to £ Order 500 DIY fix their mistakes. 26 percent admitted that they ever regretted the project separately, and they wanted? D rented instead of a professional artist.
To avoid experiencing regret it, again, make sure the program. detail. have clear goals or project budgets can spiral out of control. Use your plan to get you the tools you need instructions on how you want to spend the areas where you? will need to hire a skilled craftsman. Steve Reid, Retail Director of Clydesdale Bank suggest you start saving plan ahead? in this way? re-covered something should go wrong, and how much you have stored for maintenance (especially important when we’re waiting for winter weather how friendly!)Consider insurance. You have to let insurers know if you? Re intention of making significant improvements to your house? and Don ? not forget that in many cases? require a building permit from the council. You can wake up one day inspired to rush to your garden landscape, but before you cut all the trees, or? have to inform anyone.
Remember that the end of the day there ? S’s wrong with being a professional to help you nothing. It? S is not free, but you can pay twice at the end, what you pay for an artist, you have to DIY expensive mistake. There you have it. It? S is our hope that After reading it, right? ¶ able to avoid these common mistakes around the house and go on your next job DIY with a healthy balance between caution and confidence. Good luck!href rel = “nofollow”> Black & Decker Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair: with 350 projects in 2000 Photos (Black & Decker Complete Guide to Photo)
DIY -. Click on image below for more information
DIY
Bigger and better than ever before, the two previous editions of the Book of hardware stores as “Big Red” was known to nearly 600,000 copies. This new edition features a large portrait format for clarity and includes a new style page layout. But all the qualities that made the original patch of America’s best-selling “bible” still existed here for thousands of color pictures of the house a detailed step by step. The third edition also included
Black & Decker Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair: with 350 projects in 2000 Photos (Black & Decker Complete Guide to Photo)
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DIY : how the atoms in your kitchen Split
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Handel probably did not know that DIY his illegal activity. He was never caught until I have a question answered Swedish Radiation Authority in the form of the police visit. Curious: how did he get the chemicals? …
DIY question about a Saturday : Where can I find home improvement questions my WorkBidder site
My WorkBidder site http://www.workbidder.co.uk/diy-questions/ currently thousands of artisans, but the site allows Heimwerker.Derzeit no questions asked, if you have a bill WorkBidder (though free accounts). I have to allow anyone to ask, it will be placed on the amount of questions? Or should I just let it grow naturally with the current-account holders DIY best answer:
answer by DIY Doc
Sounds like you limit others by making a site “account”. Of course a high level, then Q & A here. Part of what may happen, however, in situations like anyone can here yahoo Q & A, where many stupid questions asked, and not serious about DIY questions. With all due respect, questions and also, often by inexperienced who wish to be included or just share an opinion or two points that you get answers. It happens on the network and the public good. Another idea is to open a website, or at least promote the site, all the people who might be an enthusiastic DIY Network mode for those who ask and to answer them can. Many of us work from DIY’rs and / or still. No offers here collecting against the rules anyway, you can advertise your site? After you have your URL into various search engines? My thought is connecting people with needs, for those who can best advise. I was very happy, the ability to expand its customer base, “on line” and also obtained employment through the WWW, but do not need or Yahoo. With no offense intended … Imagine this. Any work, as it is in / through your site can be, just may do the same, with ideas, sharing of new products, techniques, etc., which do not reach the customer base or be helpful to anyone who knows how to build a bird house, a correction toilet, etc. etc.Steven WolfNur “feel” my second thought. Question and Web sites filled with the answer, of course, are in competition for the hits.
Normally on these DIY posts, I start with a picture of the materials I used. While I did take a picture of everything I thought I was going to use, in the end so many things got changed for something else, most of what I originally put together never got included in the final build. Never the less, here is what I thought I was going to make this soft box from.
The first thing I did was to make a temporary frame to hold the shape of the softbox in place while I worked on it. This frame is not part of the final soft box so it can be made from any old scraps of wood as long as they are at least 50 inches long.
The frame was held together with ‘L’ shaped brackets and small screws.
First I measured out each length of wood to 50 inches and used a marker pen to draw the cut lines.
Using my trusty super sharp rust free saw I cut each piece of wood to length.
As the wood I was using was thin and very soft, I marked and drilled small pilot holes for each of the ‘L’ brackets. This helps prevent the wood from splitting when I put in the screws.
I added an ‘L’ bracket to each of the corners.
With the temporary frame complete, I put this to one side while I started work on the centre hub.
For the centre hub I used a length of hard wood 7cm wide and 3cm deep. I would mention at this point that I initially tried making this hub from soft pine but quickly found that the forces acting on it were so great that it split in two along the grain, I would therefore recommend using the strongest wood you can find for this part. The hub also incorporates the centre spindle which I made from 6mm threaded rod and the spar holders which I made from 8mm PVC tubing.
First I marked out a 7cm square on the hard wood and drew diagonal and centre markings on this.
I clamped this down and sawed it off. I then added diagonal and centre markings on the opposite side and joined the centre marks up on each edge.
I drilled a 6mm hole through the centre. Rather than jump straight in with the 6mm drill bit, I worked up from a small pilot hole to the final 6mm hole in steps of 2mm.
I checked that the 6mm rod fitted through the hole. It was a bit snug so I ran the drill bit through the hole a few times until it fitted perfectly.
Next I drilled the holes for the spars. These slot into the 8mm PVC tube. The outside of the tube was 12mm so I again worked up to 12mm holes in 2mm increments. I drilled the spar holes all the way through from one side of the hub to the other.
Using a box cutter, I cut four 6cm lengths off the PVC tube.
Before adding the PVC tubes to the hub, I cut a length of aluminium tape long enough to wrap around all four sides.
I wrapped the tape around the hub and smoothed it down with a cloth. I then cut a second strip of tape to wrap around the other sides.
Again I smoothed it down with a cloth.
Using the point of the scissors, I pushed all the holes through the tape.
Next I mixed up a good blob of quick drying two part epoxy resin.
I rolled the end of each section of PVC tubing in the epoxy and then pushed it into the holes around the hub. I then set this aside for a few minutes to dry.
I now wanted to add the centre rod to the hub. For this I took a length of 6mm threaded rod, four 6mm nuts, two small washers, two medium washers and two large washers.
I screwed two nuts onto the threaded rod follow by a small washer, medium washer, large washer, the hub, large washer, medium washer, small washer and finally two more nuts. I tightened the inner nuts down onto the washers and then locked them in place with the outer nuts.
At this point I was ready to add the spars to the hub. I initially tried to use thin wooden dowels for the job but it was immediately obvious these were nowhere near strong enough or had anything like the spring required. I was scratching my head thinking about alternatives when Keoula reminded me about an old beach sunshade we had sitting in the garage. This is basically a nylon cover over a couple of collapsible fibre glass spars. I pulled it out and what do you know, they were absolutely perfect. (If you are looking for something similar, I did a search on the web and found quite a few people selling this: ‘Beach Essentials Mega Pack’)
I used the parts of the fibre glass spars to make four equal length rods 50" long for the softbox. I did need to trim the ends off a couple of the spars to get them all the same length.
I also added some tape around the joins to hold them in place while I was putting everything together. The joins were quite loose and without the tape, the rods keep falling apart which can get very annoying when you are trying to juggle with everything at once.
The next job is to make a pattern for the soft box shell. This is where the temporary frame comes into play. In this picture, I was using the original softwood hub without the centre rod pushed into it, but the steps are still the same. First, push all the spars into the PVC holders on the hub.
Next push each end of the spars into the corner of the temporary frame.
I tied the ends of the spars to the frame to stop them flicking out. There is a lot of tension in the fibre glass and they could cause a nasty injury if care is not taken at this point.
I now needed to draw a pattern to make the shell with. I used an old off cut of seamless paper for this, but anything large enough would do.
I first traced a line along the bottom edge of the softbox.
Next I held the paper over one side of the frame and roughly cut away all the excess paper.
I then laid the paper flat and tipped the softbox over onto it, tracing the outline as I rolled it forward.
I cut out the pattern along the traced outline.
I held the pattern back up over the frame to make sure I had a good fit.
Finally I cut along the bottom line. One tip at this point is to fold the pattern in half and make sure it is symmetrical. If you are a little bit out, you can trim it down to get the pattern square (although don’t go mad or you won’t get a good final fit).
For the inner lining of the shell I used four emergency Mylar blankets.
For the outer shell I was going to use extra tough garbage bags ….
.. but after realising that they were not big enough and joining three together with duct tape it was pretty obvious this was a plan that was destined to fail. Once again, Keoula stepped into the breach and said she could use the pattern to sew a shell together from black fabric. While this takes the DIY element to a slightly higher level, it is still something I am sure most people could either manage or at least find someone who could help.
First job was to lay the pattern out on the black cotton fabric.
Next Keoula traced round the pattern with chalk leaving a 2cm sewing gap round the sides and a 10cm gap along the bottom.
We cut out four of these pieces.
Next we laid out one of the emergency blankets and placed one of the black pieces on top of it. We traced round this with a permanent marker so we could see the shape of the black piece on the blanket.
With the black piece held down with a weight, we applied spray glue to a third of the blanket and then smoothed the black fabric down onto this. We repeated this for each third of the black piece.
Finally we cut out the emergency blanket to match the black fabric.
On the last side we pinned a pair of zips with the zippers facing each other so that they would effectively zip from the middle out.
Now Keoula applied her seamstress magic. She started by straight stitching each of the panels together, as well as running the hook part of a strip of Velcro around each of the four front edges. She also stitched in the zips and four little pockets into each of the front corners of the shell.
Keoula finished off the shell by over locking the seams to give the whole thing a nice finish.
With the shell complete, everything is ready to try putting it all together.
First push all the spars into the hub.
Next push one of the spars into one of the pockets on the shell.
Push the next spar round into the next pocket.
Push the third spar into the third pocket (things are getting a bit tight here and while you can do it on your own, it is much easier if you have someone helping you).
Push the last spar into the last pocket and bingo, it’s starting to look like a softbox.
Now we need a light stand with a flash attached to mount it. This can be any suitably sturdy light stand with any flash as long as there is an umbrella adaptor somewhere in the mix.
Undo the two zips and push the flash through the opening, then clamp the centre rod into the umbrella adaptor.
Here you can see how the centre rod goes into the umbrella adaptor of the flash.
Here you can see how the light stand passes through the zip opening.
This is the zip opening from the back.
This is a close up of the pocket that holds the ends of the spars.
It’s time to test fire this fully operational
Death Starsoft box …. I’m blind!!!!Here’s a side view …
… and a back view. There is a bit of light leakage, but the D-Lite 4 flash is on 5/6 power!
Back to the work room to make the diffuser. Keoula measured out a square of white fabric to fit the front opening. She cut it out with 2cm sewing room to spare and straight stitched the edges over all round to stop it fraying. She then ran a strip of Velcro all round and stitched this into place.
Here is the finished diffuser.
Here it is almost in place. This is how you access the flash to change its settings when you are using the soft box.
The first test fire with the diffuser in place.
Here is the same shot at f22.
All done and packed away! I used the bag that the beach tent came in to store it in. I could break the spars down further to fit in the bag but then I would have to tape them together every time I wanted to use it.
That’s it, one DIY 50” x 50” collapsible soft box. After a few wrong turns, the final product turned out well. I would estimate the total cost to be around AU$150, broken down as follows:
Beach tent: $35.00
Four Emergency Blankets: $22.00
Black Fabric: $30.00 ($5 / meter)
Velcro: $20.00
Threaded rod, PVC tubing, nuts, washers, wood etc: $40
Still considerably less than $380 from B&H!
There are a couple of things I would try changing if I made another one. The Mylar inner lining is not very strong and tears quite easily. I have patched a few holes with aluminium tape. From previous experiments, I know matt white is almost as reflective so I think I would try making a three layer shell of black, Mylar and then white fabric. I would also try and find a single zip with a double head so that the opening can be anywhere along its length. Other than that, everything worked pretty well.
Oh, one more thing, if you are wondering where the usual mess is, this is what was behind me …
done! congrats!!! i’ve gonna made my own the next week
Nick, you are quite creative and resourceful! Well done!
You have convinced me to buy one, but you did a great job of explaining how to build one. Thanks
I think I will try to make a smaller one for speedlights. Very Cool!!!
good job
Isn’t it fantastic to have family members pitch in to help out with hobbies? On a side note, she does have a great seamstress workshop going. I paused at those photos to to gawk at the stuff she had.
Looks good! About how many total hours of time was put into making it?
Nick,
we are all envious…
This is your best creation yet… thanks for the detailed instructions.
it’s totally not fair that you have cloth cutting services at home
your work is really stunning man .. am learning alot from you ..
really thax for ur time in explaining every thing clearly ..
Well done!
You continue to impress me!
this is genius, you can actually make money by selling this lol
The details and the time you spend!!!! I doubt if I would ever complete a project like this, but sincerely appreciate the fact that you share so much with the world – for free!!! I’m learning by just looking at the photos of your setups. You are incredibly gracious with your time and your talent!!
Nick, thanks for sharing this wonderfully detailed how-to. Really awesome!
Your quiet amazing. This is way beyond me. Great job!
"Deathstar" cracks me up.
Very very very creative, and definitely a great DIY version… now just need to find a DIY stripbox!
Fantastic work. Sometime in the distant future I may try something like this myself. Maybe not as elaborate, but rather something that is Inspired by this one.
Isn’t that insane! You beat mine in size and weight that’s for sure!
Nice tutorial again Nick. Always interesting to follow your posts.
Take care
Alex
Great inspirational stuff.
Ouch!, seems like ALOT of work! Surely if you counted the cost of your labour+Tent+Other Supplies it would work out nearly as expensive as a "proper" one.
you can get flexible bendy rods searching for DIY kite suppliers …
all the best
Vicco
IKEA has got something called Observatör cross-braces, which are used to stabilize storage shelfs. They are a $5 a piece in the american store. I guess if you bent them, they could be used in a big softbox. The solution would be a little bit different, but it might be worth looking into.
This is awesome, I have been thinking of doing the same thing but like your ideas with the tubes to hold the tent poles. I had the same ideas but like how you did it. Maybe I should get off my lazy butt and start this project! Thanks for the instructions.
Looks good, thanks for sharing!
Now you have to make an DIY strobe so I could use the softbox!
As an observation, the light did not look very uniform when you used f22; does this happen because the strobe was not centered or because the softbox was mounted as an umbrella is mounted? I’ve seen on youtube that to improve the uniformity of the light at the level of the difuser someone has mounted another difuser in the middle of the softbox (in a plane paralel with the face of the softbox); not sure if this is possible with your model of the softbox mounted as an umbrella.
Again, thanks for sharing!
cpls29 Hi, the output is a little uneven at f22 and I think it is probably a combination of the box not being perfectly square and the flash being slightly off centre (it sits high in the box because the umbrella mount is at the base of the flash head). In real world use, it really doesn’t seem to make any difference (that I can see) and is not something I am worrying about.
I think a double diffuser would even out the light, but at a cost of some output. They are most useful when the flash is at the back of the box facing forwards as they help to prevent hot spots in the middle of the diffuser. The flash facing backwards design inherently helps eliminate this.
As an experiment I will try adding a second diffuser to see how it effects the output and report back with the findings!
Kewl, just about to build my own softbox from coroplast and flyer fabric, when I stumbled upon your tutorial and the one from Alex Champagne.
Your tutorial will be a great inspiration!
Crisp, Clean, & Surgical instructions,
There are certain skills that are “wasted” on no one. Home repair is one such skill. I believe that 5 weeks after purchasing this book – the book has already paid for itself. My parents moved back into my grandmother’s 1960-era house after she passed away last year. The house was in need of a few repairs, but money was a limiting factor. I had to find a way to teach myself (and my dad) how to weatherproof the basement, replacing an ancient water heater & dishwasher, replace several outlets with new GFCI (p. 397!) outlets, and finally, how to update the upstair’s faucets and fixtures. I logged onto Amazon.com and typed-in HOME REPAIR. To be honest, I chose this book because it had 500+ pages and two 5-star reviews. When this book arrived, I instantly felt the weight and quality of the binding.(think college textbook material) I quickly found DETAILED descriptions of the tasks I would soon have to perform. I called my father and said “Get ready we’re going to Home Depot!” On the phone, my father expressed concern over our lack of experience. When my father got in my truck, I handed him the the Black&Decker text. I had put PostIt’s on the pages with our projects. He slipped on his glasses and peered through his bi-focals and didn’t say a word on the way to purchase tools & supplies. Once in the parking lot, I could hardly turn-off the engine before he was pointing to pictures saying “Ours looks just like this! I want some gloves like that!” And he was making a bee-line for the door!(the old man can move!) He was excited and so was I. Now, it has beeen 5 weeks since that first trip to Home Depot. Both my father and I have the cuts and scrapes and the ever present sore backs to prove that we have done our own home repairs. My father now keeps the Black&Decker text at his house “for safe keeping.” He cleans the text with a moist cloth after each project. The projects don’t seem to have an end in sight, which I believe is a direct result of my dad reading the text for “suggestions.” My suggestion….don’t let anyone “borrow” this text, unless of course – you love him!
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|Invaluable Resource,
We recently purchased an old home with lots of “problems”. I borrowed this book from my local library (along with Black & Decker’s Home Improvement) and was amazed at how clear and detailed it was. I think the best part is how they use real photos of everything, and not sketches. There are well over 2000 photos. Within days, I was dealing with and solving basement issues, plumbing problems, electrical outlets, and many more things that I did not even thing of. The books helped so much that I decided to go ahead and purchase them here on Amazon. There are countless home improvement books out there and some rank better than others. From what I’ve seen, the Black & Decker series ranks at the top and are an invaluable resource. It literally pays for itself with all the money saving tips and instructions. I recommend this book, along with Black & Decker’s Home Improvement and Outdoor to anyone looking to save money on home repairs.
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|A great new homeowner starter book!,
I just bought this book and really love it. It’s simple and easy to understand, and considering that I have never done much home repair before, this was a plus. It’s the hammer and nail equivilent to that Betty Crocker cookbook we’ve all be hauling around for years. Always something new that you never knew you needed!
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|The first drawback to your site is the name. DIYers are not going to join a site that looks like it is to get work done by contractors. The “Bidder” part is deceptive if it is a true DIY site. I belong, and am a Moderator, to many DIY websites. All require you to “join” in order to ask or answer questions. Some sites just take longer to obtain members. Allowing smammers or members who are just there to “play” is another downer to sucessful DIY sites.