The ultimate DIY GoPro mount
My wife and son got me a GoPro Hero 5 Black for Father’s Day. It’s awesome, but unlike most cameras, it doesn’t come with a tripod mount.
Several YouTubers have shown how to tap a hole into the GoPro’s plastic packaging to make a free tripod adapter. While the price is right, I’m not real confident in the plastic threads’ ability to stand up to frequent use. I decided to take this hack one step further and permanently screw the buckle mount to a 3/4" plywood base instead.
This serves three purposes. One, the plywood provides a home for a more durable threaded insert for your tripod to screw into. Two, it creates a place to add magnets and leveling feet for more camera mounting options. And three, the wood provides a wide, steady platform on its own, whether it’s clamped to a surface or screwed to a board.
Special thanks to Jeremy Sciarappa, who uploaded the earliest YouTube video I can find about the packaging hack, and Platypod, the source of inspiration for the leveling feet.
I’d love to know if you found this useful. Leave a comment below or find me on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
Thanks for watching!
FAQ
Is this really “the” ultimate DIY GoPro mount? Isn’t that kind of arrogant?
That’s a good question. Let me check with marketing, which came up with the name. … Hmmm. Yup, they say it’s the ultimate one. Not sure what to tell you.
What supplies did you use?
— 3/4" pine plywood for the base
— 3 x 3" 1/4–20 bolts for the leveling feet
— 3 x 1/4–20 wing nuts to secure the leveling feet
— 3 x 1/4–20 tee nuts to thread the leveling feet into the base: http://amzn.to/2t1ey9m
— 1 x 1/4–20 threaded insert for the tripod screw
— 15-minute epoxy to glue the magnets and tee nuts: http://amzn.to/2sx9Df5
— 6 x magnets: http://amzn.to/2sHCLyy
— 4 x 1/2" wood screws to attach the buckle
Why did you use both a threaded insert and tee nuts? Aren’t they basically the same thing?
They do both serve the same purpose in that they let you screw a 1/4–20 bolt into the base. In theory, the threaded insert provides a stronger grip for the tripod to attach to, but I suspect the epoxied tee nuts would be absolutely fine for this purpose. In fact, it was kind of a pain to install the insert, so if I ever make another one of these, I plan to try tee nuts all around instead.
I’m not handy enough to make this. How do I buy one?
I suspect you are selling yourself short. You probably can make this project. But more importantly, if making it doesn’t look fun to you, then you could put together the same thing by buying the Platypod Pro base and a GoPro tripod adapter instead.
