My Version of the Homemade Dolly
 

Hi all,

Just wanted to put some pics up of my dolly construction. I got all of my ideas here, but used a little from each of you. The dolly is rock solid, and is able to be shimmed to perfect level, and it's so smooth, I don't have to worry about the sections joining together. The PVC doesn't slip around, and the handle is an improvised push broom stick at lowes.

Total cost: $110.00

Here are the links to the pictures:

http://homepage.mac.com/visiondigital/PhotoAlbum7.html

Looks very good.

I like the design for removing the handle!

- Mikko

Bob,

Great job... looks pro. A few questions...

Are those Rollerblade wheels?

Any chance you could get a head-on shot of the wheels and how they are attached?

The PVC is just sitting in the channel, yes? Not attached.

When you want a longer section you just put two of these up next to each other and it rolls over the gap smoothly? It seems it would work well to have the gap in the wood not lined up withthe gap in the PVC.

Anway, congrats and thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the compliments!

They are roller blade wheels, and the PVC is sitting inb the channel - not attached. That way I can replace track if I ever need to. Actually, I cut the PVC longer than the Track section so that the links never line up with the division of the track. Very smooth. I'll try to email a picture of the wheels later today, but they are attached the same way Barry Goyette's wheels are on his dolly..

Hope that helps!

Bob

detailed plans?
 

the pics look sweet-can you give a detailed list of the materials you used and how you put it together? -or just links to the forums that you borrowed from. thanks.

Here is a link to a short video showing the dolly tests with this particular dolly that I did... Just for fun...

http://homepage.mac.com/visiondigita...eTheater8.html

Hmmm.... what codec did you use? All I get is audio and a note that the clip requires software that is not available on the quicktime server.

It does sound smooth though :).

Excellent dolly. I'm getting one of my guys to build one very much like it to replace ours (one that had an indecent price tag attached to it).

This is similar to the dolly in my book, "Killer Camera Rigs" using in-line skate wheels, except the wheel assemblies are different. I've been using my in-line skate wheel dollies since 1987, and would never go back to skateboard wheels. These are not only easier to make, but you can use a variety of track. A great solid track is angle aluminum or steel ('L' shaped). Set the open end on the ground, and set the wheels on top of the 'V'. Also, to connect more than one length of PVC: use thick walled 3/4" PVC, get a 1/2" plumbing nipple 1" long (these are threaded the entire length on the outside), and screw it in half-way into the pvc. Take another length of PVC and screw that onto the other half of the nipple. It will make a seamless joint, and you won't get a bump when the dolly goes over it. The nipples can be tough to screw in the first time, but just use Vise Grips. If it is still tough, heat up the nipple a bit and it will screw in like butter.

Also, if you want to save some money, you can easily get away with only 4 sets of wheels. We've had about 300 plus pounds without any problems. Also, if you do the wheel assemblies on separate brackets, you can move them to different sized platforms. Check out the small platform shot on my site:

http://dvcamerarigs.com/killercontents.html

Click on the "Dark Passage Dolly" to see what you can do with a small platform. You can also hang the dolly upside down for above the action dolly shots.

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com

Bummer! I guess I found this post too late... all the links are broken!

I was really interested in seeing this.

Me too. I'm only 2 years too late. Any shot of posting the pictures/video again.

Sadness. :(

I took a stab at making my own
 

So far I would call it mixed success.

http://www.heron-media.com/images/recce/dolly.html

We tried to reinforce the wheel brackets, but I still feel like the one that first bent is still a little off. But it was working enough that I used it for a shoot walking next to it rather than riding. (Can't show that footage because it was for work so nothing can go up until it's really done.)

Our problem of that day was that it was it was noisy. I was going to get WD40 but that smells bad and we were inside (and would have gotten in big trouble for making it smell bad) so someone suggested silicone spray instead. Boy was that a bad idea. It made it worse not better in both noise and smooth rolling. Then we tried furniture polish - which I think I read about on one of these threads. That helped a lot, but was still not quiet enough. Fortunately for that shoot there was no dialog and movement at the same time so we got away with it.

Tomorrow I've got another shoot - personal this time so I'll be able to post results, should I get any. It'll have it's own challenges. It's outside so at least I can use all the WD40 I want. But the dolly has to be quiet because they're walking down a path talking. I think I might be doomed because the path is gravel. I'm hoping I can cheat them to the edge of the path and put the dolly on the grass, but I'm not sure how flat it is there. It's always something I suppose.

Smile,
Kris

New pictures posted...
 

Sorry about the broken link... I have now reposted the original pictures from the first post.

http://homepage.mac.com/visiondigital/PhotoAlbum13.html

email me if you have any questions! I'd be happy to help!
Bob Stovall