I searched the strobist flikr discussions and other associated forums for a cheap solution, but didnt find a good DIY write-up…hence this post. 

The Westcott Apollo light modifier tilted down after using the simple setup

So if you want to allow the westcott apollo softbox to be used with a light stand and STILL be able to tilt it downward without any funky choking up on the post, and have the softbox be used the way it was meant to be, then continue reading! 

I. Parts Needed (3 total, all less than $10…no need for a hollywood arm or anything like that.)
LOWES (I got everything at Lowes since its just 5 minutes from my house):
- PN#136135 SS Wing Nuts 1/4-20 (QTY 2) – $1.21
- PN#64767 Mending Plate 8″ – $1.88 (this mending plate is very solid and will not bend or flex…HINT: if you want to increase the downard tilt even more, get a longer mending plate.) 

EBAY:
-5/8″ Spigot stud Adapter with 1/4″ & 3/8″ Male screw – $5.40 (the seller has since dropped the price to $4.90) 

Heres what the spigot stud adapter looks like. The ebay seller is also noted.

II. Assembly
To assemble, just stick one end of the lightstand in the hole at one end of the mending plate, then put the spigot adapter in the hole at the opposite end and secure both with wingnuts. EASY as pie! 

Wingnut securing the Spigot adapter using the 1/4" stud end.

Other end of the mending plate secured to the lightstand with a wingnut

What it looks like fully assembled.

III. Misc.
Here are more pictures of the softbox with hardware installed and working together. 

Dont need to choke up on the post to tilt it down now.

Heres a shot taken a bit farther back. You can see how the hardware allows the flash to be mounted farther forward which in turn allows the softbox to tilt downward.

The hardware mod still allows the Apollo Modifier to tilt upwards.

 The Hardware really holds together solidly and is very easy to set up. Im very happy with it, just be sure to use sandbags on the lightstand since the center of gravity is now slightly off!

So when my wife and I had our first child (boy, 6 lbs 5 oz. born nov 18th), we quickly realized that we needed more space in our car to carry the usual odds and sods that babies tend to need while out and about. So our dilemma was either to get a larger used car (10k etc.), or to get a rack system (sub 1k) and see how much space it would provide us. We opted to try the cheapest solution first. 

Finished Cargo box and Yakima rack installed

I picked up a set of yakima crossbars, 6 lock cores, and Q-towers off craigslist, and purchased the correct Q-clips from rei and another sale off craigslist (to build the base system for my corolla, one needs crossbars, q-towers and q-clips). The total came out to be $190 for all of the above (new would be around $375), still expensive but acceptable. After initial installation and test drive, the next step was to stop the obnoxiously loud wind noise which was created by the crossbars while traveling faster than 35mph. A quick google search turned up that to do so cheaply (meaning not buying the $70 wind fairing), all one had to do was to take a thick nylon bungee cord ($2) and twist it around the bars (car manufacturers use this same principle on their radio antennas to alleviate wind noise as well). This worked beautifully, as all wind noise caused by wind running through the crossbars was eliminated. 

After the base rack system was installed and all obnoxious side-effects minimized, it came time to ”build” the cargo box which would hold some of the bulky objects one would pack for a weekend getaway. Fortunately, I found a suitable container at work. It was a used Abex pop-up exhibit travel case which was somewhat aerodynamic and made of durable plastic since it was made for shipping and travel. One can pick up similar shipping cases (which do not need to be abex branded) for pretty cheap off ebay, I did a search and found them for about $50-100 with shipping included (search ebay for ‘shipping case’). 

I then purchased two 1″ x 1.5″ x 0.125″ T6061-T6 extruded aluminum tubes cut to 36″ long (my front crossbar distance from the rear crossbar is 32″)  from onlinemetals.com ($30), and some U-bolt hardware, 2″ bolts, stop-nuts, and large fender washers from lowes ($16). I was pretty impressed that the U-bolts fit the yakima crossbars perfectly and snugly. I then measures and drilled 4 holes in the aluminum tubes to run the U-bolts through, did a test fit on the rack crossbars for fitment, and then proceeded to mount the aluminum tubes onto the cargo box. 

U-Bolt and Aluminum tube Installed

I eyeballed the placement of the tubes onto the cargo box, and drilled two more holes for each aluminum tube. I then marked the centerpoint of those holes onto the cargo box and drilled four holes into the cargo box. These four holes would allow me to run the bolts through from the inside of the cargo box through the tubes, and allow them to be securely attached. 

All four bolts and stop-nuts installed through and secured

Bolt, fender washer, and nut installed (added electrical nut to protect car paint in case it hits top of car).

Top of bolt and large fender washer inside cargo box

After the installation of the bolts, the cargo box needed to be weatherproofed a little. I used some door weather-stripping that i had laying around and lined the lip of the seam where the cover would butt against. After that, the cargo box was finished! 

Cargo box mounted on yakima roof rack (notice the nylon bungee cord wrapped around the crossbar. I doubt it needs to be there with the box mounted since the box would stop the wind from whooshing over the bars. I was just too lazy to remove them)

I have since taken a trip to Tahoe in the middle of heavy wind/rain/snow/freezing temperature storms and have yet to have the cargo box fail on me. The four bolts with large fender washers securely hold the box to the aluminum bars. The weather stripping keeps the water and snow out, and the box is aerodynamic enough to keep my gas mileage at 28mpg (without passengers/cargo I get about 30-31 mixed driving. The mpg hit might be because as I was carrying 5 passengers and their cargo as well). The wind noise is very acceptable, and just noticeable at speeds of 75mph. 

The cargo box in some harsh conditions

Overall, for saving some money, this is a project that is well worth it (spent less than $250) . My sister in law even mentioned that she thought it didnt look any worse than commercially built cargo boxes and worked just as well!

Having them professionally refinished was not an option for me as im terribly cheap and did not want to concede to being defeated by lowly floor tile, so I embarked on what ended up to be one of the coolest lessons learned since starting work on the house…How to refinish marble floors for less than $100 and make them look as good as new.

So heres how you do it:

What youll need

1. Get a liter of Dia-Glo Diamond Buffing Compound for Marble (available online or any professional flooring shop). I used the “M” variant for marble ($30). I got mine from keystone tools in San Francisco (http://keystonetools.com/)

2. Get a variable speed angle grinder which uses 5/8 attachments (or if you want to do this all within 2 hours, rent a floor buffing machine from home depot pro). I had one laying around in my garage, but you can always buy one at Home Depot or Lowes and then return it after. A word of caution – you do not want to get your rpms up too fast. I had a variable speed angle grinder and kept my rpms around 5,000.

3. Get a 4″ velcro loop attachment (which uses the 5/8 fitting) to use with the angle grinder ($10). Its a little disc attachment which has little hooks on it (like velcro) to grab onto velcro disc pad attachments (also bought from keystone tools)

4. Go to Home Depot Pro and go to their tool rental section. Look for a white polyester buffing pad. It will be a big circular disc. (Costs about $6). Cut a piece of the white polyester buffing pad in a circle shape to fit the angle grinder velcro loop attachment. Stick it onto the attachment and make sure it stays put (the hooks will grab onto the polyester fibers).

5. Get a shop vacuum to suck up all the water and compound mixture.

6. Tile/Stone Sealant to finish the job and keep your tiles from getting stained and prematurely dirty.

Preparation

1. Section your floor into smaller work areas. I did small 5 x 5 ft sections to make work cleaner. I used rolled up towels around the 5′ x 5′ perimeter to limit the amount of kickback spray from the spinning motion that the angle grinder generates. If you dont do this, the milky colored spray will get everywhere.

2. Wet the section of the floor with water and cover the tiles with a nice layer of water (I found more was better as it provided lubrication for the pad). Add a small handful of buffing compound and mix thoroughly (just spread it around with your hand). Make sure the water/compound mixture is milky and pretty dissolved before buffing. USE GLOVES when doing this as the buffing compound is acidic and will dry up and irritate your skin.  I didnt and it dried my hands for 3 days. Also made everything I wore smell sour even after several washes (do not wash your work clothes with your other laundry, they will end up smelling sour too).

Refinishing

3. Use the angle grinder with the nylon pad to go over your tiles one by one. Let the angle grinder do the work and just hold the sucker steady. It will take a bit of getting used to at first, but youll get the hang of it. I spent at least 30 seconds on each tile to make sure the scrapes, scuffs, scratches were buffed down and smoothed as much as possible. Keep the grinder moving in small circles to polish the tiles evenly.

4. After you have finished the sectioned area, pour clean water over the area and mix it around making it wet again. Use a shop vac and suck it all up. Then if necessary, rinse with clean water and suck that up too.

5. Move onto the next section until every tile is done.

Cleanup

6. Use a clean wet towel and wipe your floors so you can get as much of the leftover splash and residue from the buffing compound off the floors and fixtures. Then go over your tiles once again with a dry towel.

Finishing

7. Finally, after your tiles and grout lines are dry, use a stone/marble sealer (I got a jug at home depot…$30) and seal your tiles. Two coats are sufficient and your floors will look as good as new.

My floors after polishing (I didnt have a before picture, but I can assure you there wasnt even a reflection)