In the years before this build, I used to lean a tripod over my desk and put dumb bells on the floor to prevent it from sliding back. This setup certainly works, but it’s less than ideal because the tripod is squarely between me and the thing I’m trying to work on. 

January 2023. Filming the Dash-O-Matic

At its inception, this wasn’t a project I was intending to share. But a few events happened that led me to where we are now.

First, my wife took one look at me using this thing and said “you know you should really make a video about that...” It wasn’t something I thought worthy of sharing because, at the time, I simply hadn’t done very much with it. It was used in a few shots of the Car Camper Build, but that’s about it. It needed to be broken in. Tested. Refined. Then, maybe, it could truly become a part of my tool arsenal.

So it sat in my closet, only used for the odd build job now and then. Eventually it was mounted to the door (which was a fun little exercise in wooden slip fits/tolerances in itself). Later, a hinged monitor was added. And cable management clips, too. It had become a truly valuable tool - one that I was proud to have built.

The last straw came after the initial boost of views on my “Closet Studio” video. I received a few questions and comments about the rig and knew it was time to share.

And so, this video was born: