Dual BFD Bracket - Master Series

[Afton Grant]

This one's for all of us still working with the good ol' Master series rigs. Like an old car that has always gotten us where we wanted to go, we forgive all the little nuances we put up with each time we drive it.

 

I picked up a great little BFD Iris kit from my good friend Alec Jarnagin today. Until now, I've always been able to simply velcro my single BFD focus receiver underneath the nose of my Master's top stage. On the couple of occasions where I've needed to use a second channel, it became quickly obvious there was no solid, convenient mounting solution for the two receivers. A daisy chain of velcro is just not stable enough. A ton of gaff tape, rubber bands, or zip ties just isn't very practical or pretty and can often obstruct access to the calibration knobs on the sides of the receivers.

 

From the first time I saw the Cinewidgets dual receiver bracket, I thought, "Bingo!" Followed by, "Oh, it's only for PRO. Blimey!" Today when picking up the kit from Alec, he was kind enough to throw in his old bracket since we were confident something could be done to adapt it to a Master rig.

 

I realize there's a good chance I'm not the first to find this solution, but it appears I'm the first to document it. I just hope this helps someone else in a similar position.

 

The solution turned out to be quite easy. Look at the "nose" section of a Master Series top stage, and on top there is the nose cover secured by four screws. Remove those and you'll see the entire nose section to be relatively open with the exception of one cable bundle breaking out to the three connectors at the tip of the nose.

 

I was pretty sure I could simply drill holes in this nose section, through which I would pass screws and secure the BFD bracket to the underside. The only thing I wasn't completely comfortable with was the nose section seems to be made out of a plastic material (delrin, perhaps?). Obviously, it would be more susceptible to flexing/compression when drilling or tightening down the screws. The lid of the nose section, however, is definitely a metal. It is ideal for drilling and mounting in every way except for the fact that it's on the TOP of the nose.

 

I thought I was busted, until I took a long look at four screws on the inside, rear of the nose section - securing the nose to the rest of the stage. Unscrewing these releases the nose from the stage completely, with the exception of the cable bundle passing through it. Fortunately, the screw pattern is symmetrical. I simply flipped the nose section upside-down and now my metal lid is on the bottom where I wanted it!

 

Lined up my bracket, drilled my holes, and I was good to go.

 

 

Peace!

Afton

[Erik Brul]

The lid of the nose section, however, is definitely a metal. It is ideal for drilling and mounting in every way except for the fact that it's on the TOP of the nose.

 

I thought I was busted, until I took a long look at four screws on the inside, rear of the nose section - securing the nose to the rest of the stage. Unscrewing these releases the nose from the stage completely, with the exception of the cable bundle passing through it. Fortunately, the screw pattern is symmetrical. I simply flipped the nose section upside-down and now my metal lid is on the bottom where I wanted it!

 

Lined up my bracket, drilled my holes, and I was good to go.

Peace!

Afton

 

Funny, can you read upside down ?? What a nice solution Afton.

 

Congrats, Erik

[JimBartell]

Nice "out of the box" thinking Afton! I'll be sure to pass this along to other people who ask.

 

Jim "velcro on the brain" Bartell

[David Allen Grove]

This is such a great idea Afton!!! So much so, that just last week I had this done to my sled.

 

Sinec I had to buy a BFD bracket from Tom Gleason at www.cinewidgets.com anyway, I just dropped off my

sled and had him do the drilling, flipping and attachment for the cost of the bracket plus a small fee for the drilling.

 

It was well worth it!

 

I have a job on Thursday (well, last I heard anyway) so it will be nice to get to use it on a job so soon after having it installed.

 

As always, great product and even more importantly, great customer service from Tom Gleason. (he does all sorts of custom stuff so check out his website.)