There, I fixed it.

Paul C. Buff makes some great gear…… but nothing made is “Steve Approved.”

I find ways to break things, no matter what. I’m super gentle on my gear, yet somehow things break. I’ve learned this about myself, and therefore my handy skills always come into play. It’s an adventure to take a “Non-Steve Approved” item and make it better. I love the process actually, as frustrating as it sounds. If I could weld, it would make lots of things easier/cheaper in life :)

Recently I bought an Alien Bees flash and a Mini Lithium inverter/battery. The lightstand mount worried me from day one. The included clamp didn’t tighten up at all. I used a superclamp like many other folks, and one day I opened my trunk at a wedding venue and the photo below is what I saw. The built-in 1/4-20 nut had removed itself from the case, and took some plastic with it. I ended up throwing the battery in a reuasable safeway bag and hanging it from the stand for a couple weddings before I just HAD to make a new mount. My custom mount is so much more stable! WOOOOOOT!

 

The problem:

Seriously? I'm more than a little bit worried about the quality of my Paul C. Buff gear now.

 

My solution:

Custom Paul C. Buff Vagabond Mini Lithium Battery Mount

Custom Paul C. Buff Vagabond Mini Lithium Battery Mount

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 1st, 2011 at 7:01 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “There, I fixed it.”

  • Ken N Says:
    September 2nd, 2011 at 2:38 am

    Have you considered taking a welding class. They are actually a lot of fun. Most community colleges offer welding courses.

  • Steve Says:
    September 2nd, 2011 at 9:11 am

    Hey Ken, Yes I have considered it. When I lived in santa cruz, the local comm college offered classes. If DVC did, I’d take them. But I’d have to go to Los Medanos, and I just don’t have time for that kind of commitment most of the year.

  • Pete Abeyta Says:
    September 2nd, 2011 at 3:58 pm

    Looks awesome, Steve. Can’t beat home-made stability. Really, you could do the type of welding you would be using most, fairly easily, without classes. The main hurdle is getting a machine. A simple flux core (wire feed, no gas) welder that plugs into a 110 outlet would be plenty for around the house type projects, and costs < $300. It's truly point and shoot, and you could get an hour long briefer course by any semi-experienced welder that would prepare you for anything you're likely to encounter.

  • Steve Says:
    September 2nd, 2011 at 7:09 pm

    It’s super stable! I’ve never welded before…. case of beer and little rig and I’ll be on my way, eh?

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