Home made dew shields & filter holders for 16x70 binos

[alanjgreen 2,322]

1. DEW SHIELD

I've completed a pair of dew shields for my 16x70 binos. I used a 10mm thickness Mountain Warehouse camping mat paired to some 50mm Valcro with additional strong glue to keep them stuck together.

For the first one, I used the full 50mm overlap on the Velcro to hold the ends together but they were quite hard to pull apart. So, for the second one, I used 50mm on one side of the Velcro and cut-down to 25mm on the other side of the Velcro.

Time will tell which is the best solution, then I can make up a "third one" to be the same as the best of the other two - if needed!

 

       

 

2. FILTER HOLDERS

My APM binos have 20mm of eye relief so I hope to make some filter holders from some of this matting.

I have some spare old 2" Skywatcher UHC and O3 filters in the loft, so I plan to experiment to see if I can construct something from the camping mat to fit them over the eyepieces of the binos.

After removing the rubber eyecups, I am left with a 2" diameter eyepiece which matches the circumference of these 2" filters.

So, I am making a 40mm wide & 210mm long camping mat "roll" that will fit exactly around the eyepiece. The ends wont overlap, they should just meet up and i will wrap the whole thing with Gorilla Tape to hold it "in a circle". This circle should then just push down over the eyepiece to hold the filters in place.

I will use some folded over gorilla tape segments to make a "rim" that the filter will "sit on" ( at a distance of 10mm from the top ) when pushed inside.

As the 2" filter is way more than the 30mm of the bino eyepiece lens, then as long as I dont block the central 30mm of the filter, the view should be unobstructed.

The glue is setting at the moment, if successful then I will post up some pics... (Blue Peter would be proud!)

Alan

Edited December 21, 2017 by alanjgreen

[Stormbringer 206]

interested to see how it works out 

[ronin 3,800]

Not sure if any around you, or simialr outlets, but at Hobbycraft they sell thinner foam, guess around 3mm, that comes in assorted colours, including black, which for binoculars would likely be a better option. Called something like Fun Foam or Fab Foam. Comes in A4 and A3 sheet sizes.

They also do a black felt in the same size and both come in self adhesive forms so you could use the foam for an outer and add a layer of felt for the inner.

Seems to be a store in Carlisle, the "next" one is Preston.

[alanjgreen 2,322]

I managed okay to make a "slide over" holder for a 2" filter but found my nose no longer fitted between the two lenses so I have abandoned the reuse 2" filter plan. 

i have ordered a Castell 1.25" UHC and now plan to make a small flat circular holder to get the filter fitted within the rubber eye cup space.

If I can't find a flat piece of packaging to cut to shape then I will look into buying something. As you say 10mm will be too thick for this job.

Alan

[alanjgreen 2,322]

I received a 1.25" Castell UHC filter this morning & set about fixing it into the space inside one eye cup of the binos.

The first issue encountered is that the hole in the bottom of the eyecup is larger than the 1.25" filter, so I needed to construct a reducer to narrow the hole so the filter stayed inside the eyecup (rather than fall straight through!)

- My eventual solution was to make a cardboard "O" ring that is placed at the bottom of the eye cup.

 

Next, after trying & failing to make an "O" ring shaped foam adapter, I found a simple long thin piece of foam could be wrapped around the inside of the eyecup to make a hole small enough to push the filter inside.

Here is a pic of my final two components ( I made a few spares too)

Here is the pic of the UHC filter inside the eye cup.

Alan

[PeterW 1,331]

3D printing can also come in useful in these situations, I have made filters holder, winged eyecips and lens shields this way. 

 

Peter

[JOC 7,795]

Just an idea, but is there any chance you buy a plastic pipe, like a piece of drainpipe or other plumbing pipe in exactly the right dimension to fit over the binocular ends?  Then you could hacksaw it into correct imensions.   Or even toilet roll middles painted with waterproof paint?

NB.  Lightweight plastic can sometimes be obtained from plastic document holders -try poundland for those.  Cheap plastic cups from the same store might also have possibilities 

Edited December 23, 2017 by JOC

[PeterW 1,331]

 some simple ones I knocked up for a club colleague.

 

Peter