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Old June 9th, 2008, 05:09 PM   #1
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Yet another DIY track dolly

Hi all,

I finally made some time, bought the necessary stuff and build a dolly and tracks. The design is based on the Digital Juice design and some other ideas I got from searching the internet.
The tracks need some work still but it works pretty nice as it is.
I'm very pleased with the results as the dolly glides very smooth and silent across the track.

I used 16 skate board wheels (hardness 72A) with ABEC7 bearings.
The dolly measures 80 x 110 cm (about 31.5" x 43.3").
It took a couple of hours to built.

I still have to mount some kind of push bar and maybe something for the camera operator to sit on.

Here are some pictures.

Regards, Andre.
Attached Thumbnails
Yet another DIY track dolly-dolly01.jpg   Yet another DIY track dolly-dolly02.jpg  

Yet another DIY track dolly-dolly03.jpg   Yet another DIY track dolly-dolly04.jpg  

Yet another DIY track dolly-dolly05.jpg  
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Old June 11th, 2008, 07:56 AM   #2
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Track

Below some details of the track and support.

I use metal pipe (28mm diameter) for the tracks which gives more stability compared to PVC based track.

I'm still thinking of a way of securing the tracks to the wood. Not really necessary with the current setup but if I should use more pieces of tracks I think it helps keeping everything fixed.

Regards, Andre.
Attached Thumbnails
Yet another DIY track dolly-dolly06.jpg   Yet another DIY track dolly-dolly07.jpg  

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Old June 20th, 2008, 02:47 PM   #3
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nice :)
Looks like a great dolly!

is that the letus extreme on the xh a1?
Im considering buying it myself.
What kind of matte box are you going for?

the redrock micro matte box looks nice.
supply it with the focus puller from redrock and i think we have a winner :)
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Old June 25th, 2008, 09:53 AM   #4
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Hi Vegard,

Yep, that's the Letus Extreme on the XH-A1 and a Nikon 50mm f1.4 lens.
I ordered the Brevis follow focus unit and I'm also thinking about the Redrock matte box. It sure looks very nice.

BTW: What kind of stepper motor did you use for pulling your dolly?

Regards, Andre.
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Old July 15th, 2008, 04:13 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Andre Theelen View Post
I'm still thinking of a way of securing the tracks to the wood. Not really necessary with the current setup but if I should use more pieces of tracks I think it helps keeping everything fixed.
Looks nice. How's it working for you?

Maybe get some track ideas from this one: http://vimeo.com/1234650
Dave Eaton is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 18th, 2008, 04:45 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by Dave Eaton View Post
Looks nice. How's it working for you?

Maybe get some track ideas from this one: http://vimeo.com/1234650
Hi Dave,

In my first tests the dolly moved very smooth and silent across the tracks.
Unfortunately I haven't had much time lately to do further tests but I'll try to post some footage soon.

Thanks for that link! Some great ideas implemented there.

Regards, Andre.
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