Patrick Kaplin Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 excuse my ignorance :unsure: But what exactly is a frontbox? Attaches to...? To hold common supplies? Thanks! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted December 1, 2008 Premium Member Share Posted December 1, 2008 excuse my ignorance :unsure: But what exactly is a frontbox? Attaches to...? To hold common supplies? Thanks! :) It's just a box for stuff. It's the ACs place to put stuff and for the DP to overfill with his stuff, too.;) It attaches to a couple of pins that are on the front of the head. Those two pins are one of the few things that are truly and universally standardized in motion picture camera equipment, actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnathan Holmes Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Decided on a more generic front box. If I built one again I would have made the front shallower, to make grabbing smaller items easier. next, I am going to build a rain cover with a bit of elastic edge that can snap over everything quickly. I envision it looking a bit like a type writer dust cover. Good lord, that box is LOADED! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Jason Anderson Posted December 1, 2008 Premium Member Share Posted December 1, 2008 Good lord, that box is LOADED! I was just so excited to have a front box, I stuffed it full of everything. :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted December 3, 2008 Premium Member Share Posted December 3, 2008 I was just so excited to have a front box, I stuffed it full of everything. :lol: There's not even room for the DP's meter. Or his water bottle. Or his cigarettes. Oh, the lighter, too. And his phone and keys. Oops, wallet too while he's sitting on the dolly... ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted December 3, 2008 Premium Member Share Posted December 3, 2008 I was just so excited to have a front box, I stuffed it full of everything. :lol: There's not even room for the DP's meter. Or his water bottle. Or his cigarettes. Oh, the lighter, too. And his phone and keys. Oops, wallet too while he's sitting on the dolly... ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diego Garc Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Let me join Patrick questions... I still don't realize the frontbox-head 2 pins conection. Neither Chris drawings or the photos help understanding. Does someone have photos of the frontbox mounted on a head? Thanks a lot! Diego. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diego Garc Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 (edited) Let me join Patrick questions... I still don't realize the frontbox-head 2 pins conection. Neither Chris drawings or the photos help understanding. Does someone have photos of the frontbox mounted on a head? Thanks a lot! Diego. Edited December 4, 2008 by Diego Garcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted December 5, 2008 Premium Member Share Posted December 5, 2008 See these links and you'll get it. In the second link, click on the head and you'll see a bigger photo; you can see the pins on the front of the head. http://www.filmtools.com/frontbox.html http://www.ocon.com/products/fluid-heads/2575c.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Jason Anderson Posted December 6, 2008 Premium Member Share Posted December 6, 2008 There's not even room for the DP's meter. Or his water bottle. Or his cigarettes. Oh, the lighter, too. And his phone and keys. Oops, wallet too while he's sitting on the dolly... ;) Yeah, suppose it would be polite to leave a spot open. I may add some velcro to one side so I can make some room, transfer a few items outside the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted December 7, 2008 Premium Member Share Posted December 7, 2008 Yeah, suppose it would be polite to leave a spot open. I may add some velcro to one side so I can make some room, transfer a few items outside the box. Most DPs and operators are good about. A few would put the kitchen sink in there if they could. What would be a nice addition to a frontbox, now that I'm thinking about it, is something to hold eyeglasses and sunglasses. Something like a strip of leather stapled onto the side such that it sticks out in a few loops that glasses will hook to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diego Garc Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 See these links and you'll get it. In the second link, click on the head and you'll see a bigger photo; you can see the pins on the front of the head. Thanks, Chris. Now I get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Steven Beverly Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 What would be a nice addition to a frontbox, now that I'm thinking about it, is something to hold eyeglasses and sunglasses. Something like a strip of leather stapled onto the side such that it sticks out in a few loops that glasses will hook to. How about one of those sunglasses clips that are used on car sun visors: http://www.amazon.com/Type-S-Double-Sungla...5988&sr=8-3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted December 10, 2008 Premium Member Share Posted December 10, 2008 How about one of those sunglasses clips that are used on car sun visors: http://www.amazon.com/Type-S-Double-Sungla...5988&sr=8-3 That would work, too. I was thinking of a couple of loops because everyone has some sash lying around and they can't really break like those sunglass clips can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Steven Beverly Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Well, the only problem I would have with loops is the sunglasses/glasses have a good chance of slipping out. Now if you were to make leather pockets with the open end up, THAT would keep the save, add a tie-down flap over the opening and they'd be VERY secure. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted December 11, 2008 Premium Member Share Posted December 11, 2008 Glasses with a temple hooked through a loop shouldn't fall off easily. In any case, if they fall off everything else in the box dumps as well. Usually the head isn't bouncing about roughly enough for any of that. If it is your shot has problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Thorn Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I just bought some poplar stock today. They didn't have any 3/16", though, so I had to go with 1/4". Total cost for raw materials: $21. I know a guy that owns a table saw (actually, I gave it to him), and I have lots of wood glue and small screws lying around, so we'll see how it looks when I'm done. I might even go buy a half pint of pretty red (!) stain when I'm done...I'd paint it RED red, but if I was going to do that I'd have bought plywood in the first place...I'll just have to print the RED buzzsaw on a projector transparency and varnish over that... The poplar looks pretty and is way lighter than oak. A RED on an Oconnor 2060 or 2075 is heavy enough...don't exactly need counterbalance there! I wanted cherry, but it was so expensive... Will post pictures when I'm done. By the way, would anyone be willing to take a flat scan of a frontbox bracket? Or do a precision diagram? A friend of mine is a machinist and I could probably have a batch of these made fairly cheaply if there was interest for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kar Wai Ng Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 1/4" is pretty thin; I'd be nervous loading up a frontbox made with 1/4" stock. Especially the back panel where it attaches to the bracket, there's going to be quite a bit of stress, and poplar has more flex than oak. Mine is made with 1/2" oak sides with 1/4" non-moveable oak dividers, and 1/4" thick poplar for the bottom panelling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Neugeboren Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Thanks for the extended drawings, Chris. There's an awsome site called ponoko which will basically take your drawings, laser cut wood of your choosing, flat pack it, and ship it out. I'm reworking the drawings into a consolidated .eps file, at which point I can determine the material cost. It shouldn't be much more than Mike's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Thorn Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 1/4" is pretty thin; I'd be nervous loading up a frontbox made with 1/4" stock. Oh yes, definitely - the sides are 1/2" poplar. I considered oak, but wasn't sure how well I liked the weight of it... I can buy it by the linear foot, so if the thing shows signs of stress (and I don't have a huge amount of stuff to put in it), I can always go back and get some oak or hickory (!) and try that instead. That ponoko site sounds amazing. Makes me wish I hadn't bought the wood yet. Wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Saunders Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Depending on what you mean by 'fairly cheaply' I would be interested in a bracket. I'm also curious to see how the ponoko thing works out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Neugeboren Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I'm wondering if anyone can give me some somewhat detailed dimensions in terms of the height, length, and width? Anything you can provide would be great. I have the diagrams, but no actual measurements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Thorn Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Ross, the drawings Chris made are 1:1 scale. If you print them out with no printer scaling, you can measure them with a ruler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Neugeboren Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Ross, the drawings Chris made are 1:1 scale. If you print them out with no printer scaling, you can measure them with a ruler. Aah. Very good. I'm at my school's CAD lab right now, so I can draw up the frontbox for ponoko. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted January 14, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted January 14, 2009 (edited) Aah. Very good. I'm at my school's CAD lab right now, so I can draw up the frontbox for ponoko. That's awesome! I'm glad my drawings are going to good use. They were, more than anything else, a way for me to doodle out my ideas for my own use so I'm glad they can go to more than just killing my own boredom. let me know when you have those all drawn out for this ponoko thing. I'd love to see how that works out. I will warn you about one little detail with those drawings. Some of the measurments are a bit off due to that drawing program's rounding. For example, some things were meant to be 1/8 of an inch and they ended up being .1" or .15" rather than the proper .125". Just watch out for those. It's not like a frontbo is really that critical for size anyway, as long as it fits together with itself. The real irony here is that I still haven't got to a workshop where I can make myself a frontbox. I've been up to my Dad's place a couple of times but other stuff got in the way. Edited January 14, 2009 by Chris Keth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now