Build your own Camera Jib

Supply list:
4- 2"x4"x 8' Pieces of Lumber
2- 6" Lazy Susans
1- 2'x2' x 3/4" Thick Ply wood
9- 1/4"x 4" Bolts
6- 1/4" Nylon Lock-Nuts
3- 1/4" Wing Nuts
9- Flat Washes
4- 6" or 8" Steel/Zinc Hinges
30- 3/4" Wood Screws for the Hinges
16- 3/8" Wood Screws for Lazy Susans
Old plastic tripod head & Camera mount plate for easy Quick Connect/Dis-connect
2- 14' Conduit Pipe
2- Old weights in Disc Form about 40 lbs total (this will vary on everyone's Jib)
1- Circular or Table saw
1- Drill with 1/8", 1/4" & 1/2" Drill bits and a Combo Philips Head/Screwdriver bit
1- 1/2" Hole Saw or Butterfly bit. (Can use a Jig Saw for this also)
1- Pair of Safety Glasses
and some Time.

Scroll down a little bit for the instruction on how to put all of this together!
Complete with great Illustrations too!

Before you get starting building... make sure you have all your Supplies & Tools (Listed at the beginning of this post) and plenty of time... Like a whole day. Start with the tri-pod legs.

Cut two 2x4 by 8-foot's in half at the center line with a 45° angle cut. Also cut the other square ends at an opposite 45° angle. You should end up with four 4-foot pieces of wood (trapezoid shaped) that measure 4-foot along the outside and aprrox. 3-foot 9 inches along the inside. See Photo above. Place these pieces aside for a while. We will need them a little later.

Cut 2 pieces of 2x4 by 1 foot long and Screw them together staggering the screws on the opposite sides when screwing the wood together. Make sure your cuts are square on your ends and place them near the top half of the wood block. See Photo above.

Cut 2- pieces of 3/4" Ply Wood into a 4" x 4" Square (Wood plate) and screw one (Wood plate) on top of that piece you just screwed together (Step 2). with Four 2 inch wood screws to hold it securely in the center (see Photo above). Take the 4" Lazy Susan and screw it in with Four 1/2" wood screws onto the Ply Wood (Wood plate).

Hang on to the second 4"x 4" Ply Wood (Wood plate), you will need it for Step 4

Your top half is just like the bottom half, except one piece of wood in longer than the other and has holes in it. Cut one 2x4 at 9 inches long and the second piece at 20 inches long. Attach together with six 2-1/2" wood screws just like before.

Cut a Third piece of 2x4 wood (Not in the picture Above) to 3 foot long and place, end to end, on top of shorter piece of wood. Drill Three 3/4" holes offset (see photo above) with 3/4" drill bit through both top pieces of wood. Place Third piece of wood aside for now, we will need it in Step 7. Take that second 4" x 4" (wood plate) from step three and attach it to the bottom of this wood assembly with Four 2-1/2" wood screws. (See Photo Above)

Attach four legs from Step 1 to base of bottom assembly. Use the four 6" or 8" Steel/Zinc Hinges and four~six 3/4" wood screws per hinge to attach each leg to the four sides. Attach the hinge to the leg first with three screws and then to the base with two screws; three if you can. Make sure all your legs are parallel to the base. It helps to lay this down on a work bench or on a carpeted floor. You should NOW have a basic super sturdy tripod with legs that fold inwards. See Photo Below.

Here is what your final tripod assembly should look like. The four legs hinge out and brace against the center post for a rock solid tripod. Next we move on to building and assembling the crane (jib) arm. Half way done at this point!

Cut two 2x4 by 1-1/2 foot tall boards and cut 2 rounded corner rectangular holes out. (Aprox. 3-1/2" tall by pipe radius + 1/8" wide... see photo above). Place holes starting at about 1 inch from the top and the other one inch from the bottom. Take the two conduit pipes and drill holes through them at each end making sure you go through straight. To figure out where the middle holes go... measure the total length of the pipe and then figure out what 1/4 that size is. (Example: pipe is 10 foot long, 1/4 of 10 is 2-1/2 foot, Drill middle holes at 2-1/2 feet in from end.)

Next, take that piece of wood you used in the top of the tripod assembly (Step 4 - Three foot long 2x4 with holes in it) and cut the same rounded rectangular holes out at the top of the wood. Use one of the other pieces of wood on the end as a template to figure out placement of holes on this piece of wood. It's important to note that these three pieces of wood need to have the rounded holes line up as close as possible or it won't work right. Use a jig saw to cut most of the wood out or a Whole Saw bit and then sand out the lumps in between cuts.

This is what it should look like when assembled after all the holes have been drilled. Run your 4 inch bolts through a washer, the wood and then the pipe and then on the other side of the wood, another washer and then a nut. Use nylon locking nuts to keep the bolt on, but don't over tighten this nut...the metal pipe needs to move with as little friction as possible. You want the bolt end to just be flush with the nut nylon end.(On the right side in the photo above) Attached another piece of wood Horizontally with 2 inch wood screws to the bottom of the front side board and then a little block on top of that and then a camera tripod lock plate on top of that. (See Photo Above.)

Also on the back board (left side in Photo above) drill a hole and run a long bolt though. This is where you can attach weights to counter balance the camera. You want the weights to be attached to the wood, because if you hang weighs and there is play, or any swinging.. that will rock and shake your whole rig... making your shots look like your were drunk or something. Enjoy making you very own Camera Jib.

Attach your jib arm to your tripod bottom with three bolts, three washers and three wing nuts for easy set up and tear down. Optionally shown you can add a Lazy Susan to the wood blocks underneath the camera block to add camera angle adjustment (left and right adjustment). See right side of photo above. Post questions below and I will answer them. Have fun building!