# DIY, the $3.00 dual flash bracket



## jstuedle (Oct 29, 2008)

A while back, I spotted a little tid-bit on Al Jacobs Black Box web site. He came up with a common piece of hardware to use as a dual speedlight bracket. He used a common stair tread bracket, etched away the galvanizing and powder coated it black. He charges for his effort of coarse, but I thought I'd try it out without the acid and paint.

I found the bracket for $2.39 at Lowe's hardware. Al got his at Home Depot. These brackets have very sharp edges, so I first used a Dremil and 1/2" sanding drum to break all the sharp edges and remove burr's. I mounted a few pieces of hardware I had in my parts drawer including:

2     Smith-Victor cold flash shoes (about $7 ea. at B&H)
3     1/4"-20 hex head bolts
5-6  1/4" flat washers
1      brass light stand stud with 1/4"-20 hole
1      Light swivle w/umbrella mount

It looks something like this:

















If you are like me, all the small parts were already available. If not, then your milage may vary. In other words your cost may be in the $25-$30 range. Still, that beats $200.00 plus price of many dual brackets out there.


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## jstuedle (Oct 29, 2008)

BTW, these work very well, even if they are a little shiny. I made up 2. The only change I made from what is pictured, the sticker was removed and I added a Wein optical slave to one flash shoe and now only need a single pocket wizard if not using Nikon's CLS system.


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## JustAnEngineer (Oct 29, 2008)

How about a quick spray of black paint?


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## usayit (Oct 29, 2008)

Nice idea :thumbup:  

Probably end up doing the same thing...


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## kundalini (Oct 29, 2008)

Neat idea.

I'm curious in what situations a dual flash will be used.


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## usayit (Oct 29, 2008)

Strobist love the flexibility, cost, and portability of using regular dedicated flashes on stands and umbrellas.  The biggest con is the amount of light produced.  More flashes helps in this arena.


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## JerryPH (Oct 29, 2008)

kundalini said:


> Neat idea.
> 
> I'm curious in what situations a dual flash will be used.


 
In situations that you are not getting enough light... lol.

Kidding aside, one situation would be to use a 2 umbrella setup instead of needing 4 strobes and 4 umbrellas to light about the same sized area. Battery powered strobes are not known for their very high W/s levels of performance. Also, by using 2 strobes in a single umbrella, you can lower the power levels in each strobe, further lowering battery consumption and recycle times.


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## jstuedle (Oct 29, 2008)

The typical output from most high end shoe mounted flashes is around 70 watt seconds. Dual brackets bring up the power to almost 150, enough for most location work using umbrellas. As Jerry mentioned, the extra power can be used to reduce battery drain in your flashes for more shots per charge, or help you get down to f/8 or smaller and get that perfect portrait on location, or fill a larger area with just a couple of stands instead of a half dozen. I don't need to use these brackets often, but when I do the difference is quite noticeable. 

As for spray painting the brackets black, I have yet to find a decent paint that sticks well to galvanizing. One answer might be to sand blast the tin from the steel base metal and let your local high school body class paint them. Other than the hardware store look, I don't find the brite color objectionable.


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## Big Mike (Oct 29, 2008)

Nice work.  It does double your light output...but that's only one stop more than one flash alone.


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## JerryPH (Oct 29, 2008)

jstuedle said:


> As for spray painting the brackets black, I have yet to find a decent paint that sticks well to galvanizing.



Want a good idea?  Just sandpaper your bracket to roughen it up to the point that the galvinization is mostly removed (maybe a 5-10 min job at most... do it during a few commercials and you won't even notice and use high temp BBQ paint.  Not only does it have a nice texture and look to it that would be more professional looking than straight flat black, it should also stick very well and be durable as hell.


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## jlykins (Oct 29, 2008)

JerryPH said:


> Want a good idea? Just sandpaper your bracket to roughen it up to the point that the galvinization is mostly removed (maybe a 5-10 min job at most... do it during a few commercials and you won't even notice and use high temp BBQ paint. Not only does it have a nice texture and look to it that would be more professional looking than straight flat black, it should also stick very well and be durable as hell.


 

+1 on this idea. I have used grill paint for lots of projects in the past. That stuff is awesome.


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## jstuedle (Oct 29, 2008)

Cool idea, I'll give it a try. Thanks!


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## jstuedle (Oct 29, 2008)

Big Mike said:


> Nice work.  It does double your light output...but that's only one stop more than one flash alone.



Very true Mike, But often that is the difference between an OK shot and very good work. I like to use my 35-70 f/2.8, one of my "go to" lenses. It's great glass, but the difference between f/5.6 and f/8 is noticeable.  Or when I shot the D1X a lot, getting down off of ISO 800, even to 640 made a heck of an improvement. Every little bit helps. Even if it just means cutting from full to 1/2 power, that might well save a battery change in the middle of a shoot. And the price was right, so why not?


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## jstuedle (Nov 6, 2008)

Thanks to JerryPH, I found a cheaper and better flash shoe for this little project. Take a look here:
http://www.flashzebra.com/hotshoes-shoes/0074.shtml

This site has a lot of inexpensive little gadgets we need from time to time. 
Thanks Jerry!


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## Mike_E (Nov 6, 2008)

+1 on the site!

There is an inexpensive flash out there that has a guide number of just under 200.  The manual settings aren't much but the auto function is legendary.


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## jstuedle (Nov 18, 2008)

I finally got around to trying Jerry's grill paint idea. Works Great!!!!!  I used a 1/2" sanding drum on my Dremil at low speed and roughed up the surface of the bracket. Takes about 5 min. per bracket, add couple of light coats of grill spray pain and presto! Nice pro looking bracket without a hint of the DIY look. Oh, and first thing you will need to do is peel off the bar code sticker and remove it's glue gunk. That is a dead give away of a DIY project every time.


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## JerryPH (Nov 18, 2008)

Ok, here I spend all this money on a D700 and you are telling me that all I needed to do to get better lit pics was a 3 dollar bracket... lol.

Actually, I do want to do this.  For Christmas I want to order 2 more SB-600s and do just this with them on 2 umbrellas.  Because the kind of hotshoe adapters I got from flashzebra has 2 sync port openings, one could conceivably use 1 receiver to trigger 2 flashes easily enough.



jstuedle said:


> Thanks Jerry!



My pleasure.  A lot of people helped me out here, so I consider it a privilege when I can return the favor.


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## jstuedle (Nov 18, 2008)

Jerry has had all the good suggestions for finish and components. Thanks again Jerry!


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## TimothyHughes (Nov 19, 2008)

jstuedle said:


> If you are like me, all the small parts were already available. If not, then your milage may vary. In other words your cost may be in the $25-$30 range. Still, that beats $200.00 plus price of many dual brackets out there.



I would find a better way to mount the Wizards even if it's with gaffers tape. I wouldn't trust that dental-floss gauged string to hold up $500 worth of electronics.


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## jstuedle (Nov 20, 2008)

TimothyHughes said:


> I would find a better way to mount the Wizards even if it's with gaffers tape. I wouldn't trust that dental-floss gauged string to hold up $500 worth of electronics.



Actually, the same hole the pocket wizards wrist strap is shown being fed through will also permit you to use a 1/4-20 bolt to mount the PW. It's close but doable. I personally have never had an issue with the strap, the PW's are so light even with batteries, it's a non-issue in my mind. Just take a quick look-see to verify no fraying or noticeable wear on the strap.


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## grw1055 (Sep 20, 2009)

jstuedle - 
You inspired me to take another approach.  I found another thread which talked about stripping the galvanizing off with chemicals and the danger.  So I took a piece of flat stock 3/4" wide and cut a piece off about 7-inches long. Then I marked the flat bar three holes to drill for 1/4x20 bolt. Drilled the holes. Next I took my electric drill and a wire brush attachment and removed the galvanizing, to bare "bright metal" condition. For safety, use safety glasses, ear protection and a glove. The wire brush action on the metal makes the bar stock too hot to the bare skin touch.
I have just sprayed the first coat white primer paint.  Total time 1-hour 30-minutes. I will wait for the paint to dry for 24-hours, then give one additional coat of primer and three coats of black paint.
I am making two for each of my stands and umbrellas.
Thanks for the inspiration, my cost was only the Stroboframe universal show mounts.


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## Antithesis (Sep 20, 2009)

Primer won't stick to galvanizing? Cool idea overall though. I love how frugal strobists are, heh.


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## c.cloudwalker (Sep 20, 2009)

Out of curiosity I looked up those flash units on e-bay and saw they usually sell for about $150 a piece. So, for this two flash set up about $300.

Makes me wonder why not buy an AB strobe instead. New, the B400 is $225 and the B800 is $280. So that for about the same price or less you get a strobe designed for the kind of work. And if you buy used equipment it may get cheaper.

I think the Strobist thing is a great way to learn but I don't get it when you end up with a bag full of flash units that are not really designed for the work demanded of them.


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## CxThree (Sep 20, 2009)

WIth 2 speedlites you have a lighter, smaller, more versitle setup. You can go dual in one umbrella or setup one as a main light and the other as a hair light or catch light. You just have a lot more flexibility. 

I have both, and believe there are places for each.


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## c.cloudwalker (Sep 20, 2009)

CxThree said:


> You can go dual in one umbrella or setup one as a main light and the other as a hair light or catch light.



Yes but this thread is about setting up two flashes in one umbrella because of lack of power.


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## CxThree (Sep 20, 2009)

Right..  SO you spend $3 and throw this in your bag.  In the event you need more power, you might be able to just pop 2 flashes in the umbrella or softbox.  This could keep you from having to bring out the larger studio lights and portable power for it.


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