Affordable inspection camera !!!

[thefishinmusician]

So....After rebracing an old Epi accoustic, and regluing some loose brace ends...Fumbling around up to my eblow blindly....Dry run after dry run...Fubling blindly to position brace sticks..I got the job done...Finally..Then I went flishing....I started to think about the  last few years, ice fishing using my underwater camera....LIGHT BULB IN HEAD GOES OFF !...

 I have just returned from the shop, where I had an old Harmony on the bench for loose back braces and a problem with the endpin jack for the electronics....I stuck my fish camera in the hole, set it up so I could see the loose braces...BINGO...How easy it was to position my feeler gauge with sandpaper to clean out old glue !..How easy it was to position my brace sticks when I could see exactly where I was going with them !...The camera ( at least on my unit ) has lights built in, altho' I could see pretty well with just the shop light going thru' the top of the guitar...Also...It magnifies everything at least 2 times...Turn to look at the endpin jack problem ! Solved because I could see, magnified, the problem...These units are available for a bit over 100 dollars, or less for a re-conditioned model....I thought to myself, man, I could come up with a modified unit just for this and sell tham and make a bunch of money...Then, I realized, that effort would cut into my valuable flishing time...So , I thought I'd just share this with the luthier community....Karma will send me excellent returns, I'm sure....

[Rick Gentry]

That is an awesome idea.

[FRANK]

i have seen these for 299$ at home depot for inspecting ducting with a wiggle room of about 12 inches

[thefishinmusician]

I looked on ebay..There are cameras that hook up to a lap top or a regular television for less than 100....I am right now preparing to glue a loose brace on a J50....You can see your hand thru the top of the guitar for location...It just blows my mind I didn't do this sooner....I've cut at least half the time and tons of fumbling this morning already...Clamp to top brace location is as if the brace was on the top..Incredibly easy !..Boom, right to the perfect location right NOW !..I am so smarp, I am so smarp !...

[FRANK]

fishinmusician can you show us your camera so i can find a comparable one for my shop ?

[thefishinmusician]

The one I have is the aqua-view scout...You can google the company..Nature vision...This one cost me around 200 bucks a couple years ago....Fish T.V. is a new one that brand new costs 129 bucks..You can google fish t.v. underwater viewing system for that one...You can get a reconditioned one from them for under 100 bucks..

[Greg Mirken]

I have one of these:
http://www.micromark.com/WIRELESS-MICRO-CAMERA-SYSTEM-WITH-SOUND-24...

and it's neato-torpedo. I tried my webcam hooked up to my computer but the resolution was terrible.

[thefishinmusician]

Is it easy to position and focus on your work area? Or is it mostly used for exploring ?

[Greg Mirken]

Frankly, it's mostly used to impress customers; but to position it I have it stuck to a blob of that blue putty for putting stuff on the wall. It stays put and the putty pulls loose cleanly from the wood.

[Frank Ford]

I first tried an inspection camera in the late 1990s, and it's a cool way to show the inside of a guitar. Fact is, though, I hardly ever used it for actually doing the work inside because of the difficulty in maneuvering it, my hands and tools. I still work with a light and mirror, and mostly by feel, although I also keep telling myself I'll go back to trying a camera again.

Here are a couple of articles from t he first year of FRETS.COM featuring the camera:

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Tools/SpyCam/spycam1.html

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Guitar/XGallery/xgallery1....

[thefishinmusician]

The beauty of the " Fish cam " is it's size and bulk...I was easily able to rest it inside the guitar pointing at my work, and it would pretty much stay where I put it...Of course it won't work if you have to pick the guitar up and move it to work...But for the two jobs I just completed, it performed like a champ !...And...It doubles as a camera to use for flishing !

[Mike Kolb]

I've always had a hankerin' for an inspection camera, too. One of the less-expensive ones to catch my eye has been the little AA-powered model by Milwaukee. The camera head is tiny and the screen is a modest but usable 2.4", not unlike many digital cameras these days. Here's one source and specs:

http://www.toolup.com/milwaukee/2300-20.html

This is about an average "mid-price".... Amazon sells it for about $105, and Northern Tool gets well over $200, so it would pay to shop around. Here's a "second runner-up"...

http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/SeeSnake-micro nice, but they seem to go for around $300 firm.

[thefishinmusician]

The " fish cam " has a 7 inch screen and magnifies things...Me like