Randy George:
Another Project Complete! This is my new Body Support Lite! Full lower body stabilization for high precision melodic theremin playing. Like the larger heavier original version this is a unique invention. I designed this new version with ease of use in mind, focusing on lighter weight, collapsed size and travel friendliness, without compromising the high degree of body stillness, ergonomics, and comfort that I need for long term use. I also put a lot of energy into crafting a custom carrying case.
I originally wanted to make this simple enough to reproduce easily so that others can benefit from the design. It unfortunately got too complex. It looks pretty simple when it’s fully assembled, but every component required a lot of steps to build. This was quite time costly, and there is no way I can think of to make such an elaborate build for a price that anyone can afford.
There an integrated grounding pad in this design. Like the previous build, I can stand comfortably on the EVA foam padded surface, and my body can be connected to the Earth ground, which is another deep topic, essentially improving the instrument stability by solving cross modulation between antennas.
Also in this design, is a fabric cover that sits on top of the base surface, to protect the foam, and increase comfort. It is made from t-shirt fabric. The fabric is semi-permanently fixed to a folded brass frame. The brass frame is a U shape, which means the side of the rectangle I stand on top of is fabric only.
The base of the body support lite is made from a 14″x24″ bamboo cutting board. Bamboo plywood is incredibly strong and rigid. It is about 3/4″ thick too, so there is no possibility for it to bend or warp when the edges are stressed by the pull of the tube structure. The brackets that connect everything together are all 3D printed, made from Hatchbox Black PLA filament. Each bracket took about 6-7 hours to print on my old dinosaur of a 3D printer, the original Creality Ender3, that I bought back in 2018. Interestingly, the foam I used to construct the carrying case was the original foam that my Ender3 printer shipped in. Many of you know that I like to save raw materials. This is precisely the reason I do so. There’s a lot of creative options I can explore when I keep raw materials, and of course these materials don’t cost anything extra.
