Epoxy and double sided tape

[Brian Stirling]

This is going to sound kinda weird but I'm wondering if epoxy will bound to double sided tape. I want to attach a temporary camera mount to the outside top of my cars windshield and I figure using double sided tape to attach to the windshield and to an epoxy base for a small camera ballhead. So, starting at the glass, I plan to put down a layer of double sided tape, then place a plastic mold on the tape as well as a 3/8"-16x0.75 bolt and then fill the mold with epoxy to form a base for a small ballhead -- the reason for the 3/8"-16 bolt.

I thought about using a small block of aluminum, but since the windshield is curved it wouldn't sit properly unless I only used the double sided tape on the outside edge and I don't want to risk a $2000 camera/lens with so little tape. By making the base out of epoxy I can have it conform to the shape of the windshield making it possible to use double sided tape across the whole bottom of the mount.

But, for this to work I'd need to be sure that the epoxy will properly bond to the top side of the double sided tape. I figure about 9 square inches of 20lb/inch tape should give me about 180lbs of hold down force which should be a safe margin for the approximately 3lbs camera and ballhead.


Brian

 

[MongGrel]

If it is a $2000 camera I would think of doing something a bit more solid.

Some type of a solid mount.

Double sided tape would not be in the equation.

 

[LTC8K6]

Why not a magnet mount on the roof?

For your idea, I would use a block of plastic, and shape it to the contour of the windshield.

Or maybe find an existing mount with a thick plastic base that could be contoured.

 

[Brian Stirling]

Why not a magnet mount on the roof?

For your idea, I would use a block of plastic, and shape it to the contour of the windshield.

Or maybe find an existing mount with a thick plastic base that could be contoured.

Yeah, I think maybe the magnetic idea on the roof might just be a better idea. I think I'll get three disc magnets with holes and make an aluminum frame to form a magnetic tripod and then mount the ballhead to the frame.

The idea with mounting high on the windshield was to get it as close to the
front of the car to minimize the chance of getting the front of the car in the FOV but mounting to the roof and close to the windshield would accomplish about the same thing and would make for easier install and removal.

I currently have one of the sticky bases for my GoPro Hero 3 mounted to the windshield and was planning to remove it and install this new base to mount my Panasonic GH2. Down the road I plan to get either a GH4 or the GH5 when it comes out so I can record 4K video.


Brian

 

[Brian Stirling]

Well I rigged up a magnetic mount as above and it worked really well. I used some pretty decent magnets of neodymium type with over 100 pounds holding force. Of course, the holding force is effected by the type of metal and its thickness so in my case the actual holding force per magnet was nowhere near 112 pounds listed. Still, after mounting the system to the roof and attaching a small ballhead I then used a scale to measure the force I applied to pull the mount off and I maxed out the scale at 18 pounds and it didn't budge.

I used the mount with my Panasonic GH2 in Yellowstone and on the Beartooth Highway in WY and MT and there were times my speed exceeded 70mph and the mount didn't budge.


Brian

 

[razel]

You may want to try the Video and Digital Camera area. Double sided tape in the automotive work is pretty much permanent and are used for trim moldings onto body panels, not windows. However if it's $2k, if within reason why not just shoot through the window?

 

[Kelvrick]

So what exactly are you mounting that is 2k? I'm just curious.

There are plenty of track/car/motorcycle guys who get away with double sided tape to attach the mounts of their action cams to helmets with speeds well into the triple digits.

The suction cup mounts have held from the roof as well as windows on the outside of my cars at track days as well.

If you're that worried, you can always run a strap from the mount back through the windows inside the car, too.

 

[Brian Stirling]

Well I have a GoPro Hero 3 Black and have mounted that to the windshield using the double sided tape on there sticky mounts. I had tried the suction cup mount GoPro sells and it was terrible -- there was way to much wobble and I had the GoPro fall off the car 3 times using it. After that I switched to the sticky back on the windshield so that when I want to remove it a razor blade will do the trick and not screw up the paint.

The camera I used this past week is a Panasonic GH2 and is not cheap. The current version, the GH4, goes for about $1400 without a lens and a decent lens is a few hundred or more.

Shooing through the windshield is not a good idea because you get glare from the inside of the glass and the only work around for that, using a circular polarizer, eats a couple stops of light so is a bad choice when light levels are low.


Brian

 

[Kelvrick]

Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with the official GoPro suction mount. I've personally used this mount well in excess of 100 degrees on my car. On the outside of the rear driver side window, off the roof of the car, front fender, and rear bumper well in excess of 100mph with no problems. This is with smaller profile action cameras though.

Your camera with lens is also much larger and heavier than the action cameras that people are using and is probably more than the mount can handle. You should be using the double or triple suction mount systems for mounting actual cameras.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A86MMY8/

 

[Brian Stirling]

Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with the official GoPro suction mount. I've personally used this mount well in excess of 100 degrees on my car. On the outside of the rear driver side window, off the roof of the car, front fender, and rear bumper well in excess of 100mph with no problems. This is with smaller profile action cameras though.

Your camera with lens is also much larger and heavier than the action cameras that people are using and is probably more than the mount can handle. You should be using the double or triple suction mount systems for mounting actual cameras.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A86MMY8/

No, I never tried to use the suction mount on my GH2 -- with the 3 falls using the GoPro there's no way I'd risk the GH2 to a known bad mount.

I'm not sold on suction for this and it doesn't matter if we're talking one cup or three. The advantage of magnetic mounts is once sized properly the force it applies is constant and can't leak away as happens with suction cups. Once I had my prototype mounted and adjusted I pulled on it at the top of the ballhead mount and it didn't budge -- the same force on a suction cup thing would have ripped it off easily.


Brian