PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

Does anyone have a parts list and where to get everything for making an inexpensive pvc pipe dolly with roller skate wheels? I ve seen videos and such, but need a parts list to get the right size stuff,
Thanks!

P.S. Looking for a non table top dolly - something I can throw a tripod on

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

Hi Silas

Consider aluminium rather!! It's way stiffer and lighter. My DIY dolly has been used my hundreds of people and is even tough enough to sit on!! Just a square frame made from aluminium angle so you have a triangular box section which is very stiff and very light...the 45 degree sides allow the skateboard wheels to run on any diameter pipe too!!

Chris

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

I am looking for really cheap and I already have PVC, 1", but I'll take a look at the aluminium ones if you have some part lists and plans for it. Thanks!

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

I second Chris' suggestion. I have used PVC, Aluminium and steel, with Al being the best compromise for strength-weight-price.

Here's a list from the top of my head (it's been 4 years+):
1. 8 skateboard (I didn't use roller skate because they weren't big enough, among other reasons) wheels - the best quality you can find. + washers if you need them
2. Two one inch rectangular wooden boards (you will need to estimate the tripod base size and enough space for a person to stand). These are sandwiched and bolted together and can handle the weight of two people easily.
3. 90 degree V channel aluminium sections
4. Bolts, nuts and washers for everything. You'll need a drill to punch holes, and drill bits for wood and metal.
5. A couple of steel rods if you need a handle - what I did was drill a couple of additional bolts on the board so that the dolly grip could easily slide it while sitting alongside.

I've used this dolly on rough ground (about 15 feet) and interiors with aluminium rods. I've tried both curtain rods (with grooves) and smooth rods, not much difference in results.

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

or...

buy these: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/604842-REG/Ikan_FDD_TW_FDD_TW_Track_Wheel_Set.html
Thats for 4 wheel sets, ready to go. Total of 16 wheels, just drill a hole and thread the bolt.

You can rig them onto old floor dollies, onto a board, whatever. By the time I priced out the parts and labor, I decided these made much more sense than DIY, so i bought 2 sets and use them for various things. dollies, overhead rigs, impromptu "sliders" etc. very useful little guys.

The bearings were slightly different on the two sets (ordered a year apart), but both have performed without any issues.

My 2c anyways.

-a

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

Have you seen YouTube user "thefrugalfilmmaker"?

He includes a descriptive parts list at 2:00 into the video.

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

That looks great Andrew - will those wheels run on 1" pvc pipe?

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

Thats a cool table top dolly, but I am looking for a sturdy tripod to throw my tripod on - and hopefully some wheels and a sheet of plywood on them will work on pvc pipe with a tripod siting on the top!

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

Sooo... wouldn't this track dolly from the same Frugal Filmmaker be more relevant to the OP? But, maybe I'm still misunderstanding...

Trolley Dolly (Camera Slider) - YouTube\

Deborah

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

No, he's looking for a traditional dolly that supports the camera on a full size tripod, monitor, and possibly operator. It's a big rig that can support about 200lbs. It's not something you can put in a backpack or carry with 1 hand.

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

Thats right, it needs to carry my tripod on it and a heavy camera possibly too as well as DSLRs.

I am really interested to know if the wheels Andrew was talking about would go on 1" pvc pipe?

(Ikan FDD-TW Track Wheel Set FDD-TW B&H Photo Video)

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

Its a tad heavy, and wouldn't fit in a backback, but i *can* carry my board dolly with one hand. The thinner the wood, the more you'll need some other support frame, but a 30mm MDF board is a decent balance between weight and strength. Inset the wheels 3-4 inches from the edges (ideally, make the dolly 6-8 inches wider than your tracks) and she's quite good for the operator + sticks/camera. I'm a big guy, and i ride mine just fine. If in doubt, span the wood you are considering using between two bricks (or whatever else is at the hardware store) and stand on the board. If it flexes, its probably too weak. (or the dolly too wide/long)

Ideally, you'd want something like this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/497588-REG/Matthews_377702_377702_24_39_Adjustable_Bazooka.html
with one of these on top: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/188706-REG/Cartoni_D470_D470_Bazooka_Basket_with.html
That lets you adjust the height of the camera without mucking around with the legs of a tripod. It means your dolly can be MUCH smaller and lighter and more portable while still maintaining all its functionality.

As to running on 1" pipe, i'll have to check on that tomorrow. It would be right at the lower limits. The wheels will definitely run on 1" pipe if it were on risers, but i'll have to make sure that 1" pipe by itself would give enough clearance to keep the skate wheels from touching the ground. I think it would work, but i'll have to double check before I say for sure.

cheers!
-a

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

Thanks Andrew!

Ideally this thing will run on 1" pvc pipe but maybe larger pipe would work too. I would like to get those wheels from BH but want to make sure it will run on pvc pipe because thats what will work best for I think.

Thanks!

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

This looks pretty awesome with curved tracks:

Long Valley Equipment | products

I am thinking of getting the wheels from BH and then attaching to a sheet of plywood and probably buying the curved 1,5" track from the company and getting my own straight track for the straight. And then the wooden dowels for attaching the track pieces together sounds like a great idea!

ALSO -
Parts list from Digital Juice
http://cloudfront.public.digitaljuic...1-DIYDolly.pdf
Wheels from BH
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/604842-REG/Ikan_FDD_TW_FDD_TW_Track_Wheel_Set.html

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

Heya Silas.

Sorry for the delay. Its been a nutty week.

Yes, it will run on 1" track, but you don't get a whole lot of clearance. Here are some photos. I didn't have a 1" pipe, but this one is slightly smaller and worked, but you can see it doesn't have much clearance. Given that, a 1" should work fine. the 42mm pipe seems the sweet spot to me. The wheels ride on their center and there is enough clearance to not trip over shag carpet. For grass, you'd want even bigger pipe. You can run on almost any size upward. 5" sewer pipe is good for grassy bits.

Hope that helped or something! Cheers!

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...1&d=1334185124
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...1&d=1334185124
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...1&d=1334185124
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...1&d=1334185124
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...1&d=1334185124
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...1&d=1334185124
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...1&d=1334185124
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...1&d=1334185124

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

Awesome!! Thank you!!
Do these wheels swivel as well? It looks like they would if there is curved track I think?

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

Yes, they swivel. As you can see in the last photo, there are a pair of bearing washers sandwiching a bearing on both sides of the join - where the bolt head meets the assembly and where the assembly meets the dolly. So, they swivel nicely, even under load. As to how that works with curved track... i dunno. Never tried it. Seems like they'd work if the long valley wheels work, as they swivel in a similar manner.

Let us know what you find out!

cheers,
-a

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

Hi Andrew

Something that really works well for me is the top portion of one of these garden gazebos.. My old one was 3 m x 3m and has a whole bunch of tubes that are 16mm diameter and the dolly still clears normal ground. The great thing about using an old gazebo top is that the sections break down into 20 bits of shorter pipe and each has a tapered end and a little spring clip..it means that you can easily carry/store your rails and it gives you around 6 m of dual track.

My dolly frame is just simple 1"square aluminium tubing across the wheel angles and then I have two threaded rods to keep it square....tripod cups in the corner keep things in place and it's super light to carry..I also have a tower (ally tube) and a crane if I need it....I found a plywood or MDF top made it a bit heavy!!

Chris

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

I think I'll get the curved track from Longview, and I decided to get Glidetrack's wheels which are almost exactly the same as BH's except they looked a little bit more sturdy and had more information available about them then BH.

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

Cool idea, Chris Harding! some clever stuff there.

I spent today gripping for a full loaded red epic. The camera operator sneered when he saw me pull out my miller ds10 and asked if he could instead use his personal sachtler tripod with 150mm bowl. Nevermind the epic, his sticks cost more than most of my kit. ha!

Silas, I've had a 30kg red one rig plus operator and focus puller riding on my ikan dolly wheels, so i can't imagine needing anything more "sturdy," but you are exactly right about the lack of info. They are sold as addons for the ikan dolly, so there is close to zero info about them online. But, thats why i considered them a hidden treasure and was inclined to share. The rest of the ikan dolly looks flimsy to me. (never having touched one). I don't care for caster wheels and have a hard time visualizing the dolly being strong enough. However, the skate wheels are very nice.

I tried searching for Glidetrack's wheels, but didn't find anything. When you get them, please post your opinion! Cheers!

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

Thanks for the info Andrew, when I finally went to order the lack of information and the fact the BH is closed to April 15th made me look around a little bit. Glidetrack's wheels looked like they had a small plate on each wheel to attach, and they still swivel - I am no enginer but figured that would be easier to attch to the deck if it came with mounting areas. I get it Monday and I['ll let ya'll know how it goes!

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

What do you guys use for connecting your track together to make a seamless 30' + dolly track?

I would like to use 1.25" pvc pipe but I am have had a lot of trouble over the years getting it to be seamless where the pvc pipe connects to the next pipe.

Re: PVC Pipe Dolly Parts?
 

A seam will always be noticeable unless you add additional wheels under the dolly. This way there will always be a set of wheels that run over the smooth part of the pipe.