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Ulophot
28-Jun-2020, 12:40
Sometime back I posted a query for suggestions for adding some traction to the feet of my Bogen 3221 tripod. Much of my work is indoors, and although the rubber feet generally work well, they can slip a bit when the legs start nearing full extension.

The round feet are just enough larger than 1” in diameter to prevent using 1” rubber furniture leg cups. Well, I subsequently came across some 1 1/8” ones made by Everbilt at Home Depot and snapped them up, even though they’re white. (“Well, I am a B&W photographer after all,” he rationalized.)

The photos show my solution. I used a matte knife to cut off the unneeded top portion (two inner embossed rings). Since the cup would not stay on, I cut a half-inch-wide, roughly 1-inch-long rectangle from a 2” round non-slip self-adhesive pad (same manufacturer) to insert , to take up just enough space to keep the cup secure but allow its easy removal, since I don’t always need these. I rinsed the powdery residue from inside the cups and dried them, and the rectangle adhered well.

Maybe not the most elegant solution, but the traction is excellent.

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Mark Sawyer
28-Jun-2020, 13:21
Most Bogens I've seen have leg-spread limiters at the top of the legs adjustable to two or three angles. You can also put restricting cords or light chains lower on the legs to keep them from spreading. But yeah, more traction is a nice option too.

ic-racer
28-Jun-2020, 13:30
That is nice. I just re-furbished my 30 year old Bogen with a new bubble level, new nylock nuts on the adjusters and a good tightening of the head assembly.

Those rubber tips remind me of a project where I refurbished the rubber wheels on my D5500 enlarger using those and some O-rings.

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