WoodBow
WKR
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2015
- Messages
- 1,744
The last couple of hunts, I really enjoyed taking pics through my binos but it is a real pain without an adapter. I decided I would buy one for the next hunt. That decision changed as soon as I saw the price of them. So i decided to build one.
Perks of building one is cost savings and that you can make it so you do not need to remove your phone case.
I used 3" sdr 35 pvc. That is sewage pipe basically. You could probably use any pvc. This is just what I had on hand and have good success with in the past.
First I cut off a section of pipe and then made a cut down the length of the piece. Oven was heated to 300 and the piece was heated until it gets malleable. It only takes a couple of minutes. You will see it begin to wilt. I then took it out of oven, placed it on the floor, spread it flat and pressed it with a cutting board until cool enough to keep shape.
So now I had a flat piece of material to work with. I traced around my phone and then extended the lines for the straight edges to make measurements easier. I measured in 3/4" from each corner and used a jar lid as a radius to notch the corners. I found where the center of the case cut out for the camera was and transferred that to the pvc pattern. I drilled that area out with a forstner bit. A paddle bit would work fine. I left wings to bend up around the phone.
I then used a cheap harbor freight heat gun to heat the areas that needed to bend up around the phone. Don't scorch it. Just get it soft enough to shape. I orginally planned to make a dummy phone from wood to shape around but ended up just using my phone. Do not heat the material while your phone is on it, obviously. Just heat it, place the phone where you traced around it, and bend the pvc up around it with a gloved hand. If your case makes a lip, try to form it around that lip. That will make for a very nice fit. Only do one wing at a time. After all sides are bent up, mark your lines to cut off the excess material.
Cut off the excess and sand the corners and edges. I had originally planned to have a 4 sided enclosure. That's why it still has a tail. However I realized it is not necessary and would only make it harder to take the phone in and out.
I took my kaibabs to the hardware store and tried several fittings until one fit well. A sch 40 1.5" cap fits PERFECT! I drilled the center out of it with the same size as the case portion.
I roughed up both surfaces with 80 grit and used 5 min epoxy to attach them after I had my wife trace around the cap while I held the phone portion up to the binos with the camera on to maintain proper alignment.
The epoxy is more than sufficient but I went ahead and counter sunk a couple of screws as well. It was more trouble than it was worth.
Perks of building one is cost savings and that you can make it so you do not need to remove your phone case.
I used 3" sdr 35 pvc. That is sewage pipe basically. You could probably use any pvc. This is just what I had on hand and have good success with in the past.
First I cut off a section of pipe and then made a cut down the length of the piece. Oven was heated to 300 and the piece was heated until it gets malleable. It only takes a couple of minutes. You will see it begin to wilt. I then took it out of oven, placed it on the floor, spread it flat and pressed it with a cutting board until cool enough to keep shape.
So now I had a flat piece of material to work with. I traced around my phone and then extended the lines for the straight edges to make measurements easier. I measured in 3/4" from each corner and used a jar lid as a radius to notch the corners. I found where the center of the case cut out for the camera was and transferred that to the pvc pattern. I drilled that area out with a forstner bit. A paddle bit would work fine. I left wings to bend up around the phone.
I then used a cheap harbor freight heat gun to heat the areas that needed to bend up around the phone. Don't scorch it. Just get it soft enough to shape. I orginally planned to make a dummy phone from wood to shape around but ended up just using my phone. Do not heat the material while your phone is on it, obviously. Just heat it, place the phone where you traced around it, and bend the pvc up around it with a gloved hand. If your case makes a lip, try to form it around that lip. That will make for a very nice fit. Only do one wing at a time. After all sides are bent up, mark your lines to cut off the excess material.
Cut off the excess and sand the corners and edges. I had originally planned to have a 4 sided enclosure. That's why it still has a tail. However I realized it is not necessary and would only make it harder to take the phone in and out.
I took my kaibabs to the hardware store and tried several fittings until one fit well. A sch 40 1.5" cap fits PERFECT! I drilled the center out of it with the same size as the case portion.
I roughed up both surfaces with 80 grit and used 5 min epoxy to attach them after I had my wife trace around the cap while I held the phone portion up to the binos with the camera on to maintain proper alignment.
The epoxy is more than sufficient but I went ahead and counter sunk a couple of screws as well. It was more trouble than it was worth.