jamesstone
02-23-2009, 05:09 PM
UPDATE:
Just a quick test run I did this afternoon, nothing fancy, just me and the dog.
http://www.stonehengemotionpictures.com/dollytest.wmv
A while back I built a mini dolly to ride on some 1 1/2 " pvc we were using for our floor dolly. At the time the pvc was just strapped to a couple of plastic saw horses. So this got my thinking about making a better looking and functioning system.
My first design consisted of 4" pieces of unistrut bolted to a 3"x12" pieces of metal. Then the pvc was secured with bungies. I fixed a 4" legnth of 3/4" conduit to it and welded on a bolt with a set screw. The intention was that the brackets could be mounted on C-stands, and with a bunch of these brackes you could run like a 20' track.
Well things change. I really didn't like the look of the unistrut, and our tracking shots never went beyond 10', so it was off to the drawing board.
Instead of unistrut, I spot welded two 1" emt couplers to a new piece of 3x12" metal. I gound down then stop in the middle so that the 1" emt can slide all the way through. Now instead of bungies I use the set screws included on the coupler. I also reused the mounting post from the old design.
http://picasaweb.google.com/stonehengepics/DollyJib#5306162527442437122
Presto a way cleaner and more professional looking unit.
Now for the support system. It's a distant dream of mine to own C stands, but I know it's probably not gonna happen. So I need a way to mount it to the tripod I allready own. What I did was to weld two 5/8" bolts to a 5' piece of 1/2x3" box tubing. The brackets attach to these posts. The I drilled a hole in the center of the box tubing and welded in a nut for the tripod base to mount to. On each side of the middle I welded on two flanges to help stabilize the unit on the base.
http://picasaweb.google.com/stonehengepics/DollyJib#5306162534600218066All in all it's pretty good. The dolly rolls smoothly on the pipes.
http://picasaweb.google.com/stonehengepics/DollyJib#5306162550307550386
Let me know what you guys think,
~James
Just a quick test run I did this afternoon, nothing fancy, just me and the dog.
http://www.stonehengemotionpictures.com/dollytest.wmv
A while back I built a mini dolly to ride on some 1 1/2 " pvc we were using for our floor dolly. At the time the pvc was just strapped to a couple of plastic saw horses. So this got my thinking about making a better looking and functioning system.
My first design consisted of 4" pieces of unistrut bolted to a 3"x12" pieces of metal. Then the pvc was secured with bungies. I fixed a 4" legnth of 3/4" conduit to it and welded on a bolt with a set screw. The intention was that the brackets could be mounted on C-stands, and with a bunch of these brackes you could run like a 20' track.
Well things change. I really didn't like the look of the unistrut, and our tracking shots never went beyond 10', so it was off to the drawing board.
Instead of unistrut, I spot welded two 1" emt couplers to a new piece of 3x12" metal. I gound down then stop in the middle so that the 1" emt can slide all the way through. Now instead of bungies I use the set screws included on the coupler. I also reused the mounting post from the old design.
http://picasaweb.google.com/stonehengepics/DollyJib#5306162527442437122
Presto a way cleaner and more professional looking unit.
Now for the support system. It's a distant dream of mine to own C stands, but I know it's probably not gonna happen. So I need a way to mount it to the tripod I allready own. What I did was to weld two 5/8" bolts to a 5' piece of 1/2x3" box tubing. The brackets attach to these posts. The I drilled a hole in the center of the box tubing and welded in a nut for the tripod base to mount to. On each side of the middle I welded on two flanges to help stabilize the unit on the base.
http://picasaweb.google.com/stonehengepics/DollyJib#5306162534600218066All in all it's pretty good. The dolly rolls smoothly on the pipes.
http://picasaweb.google.com/stonehengepics/DollyJib#5306162550307550386
Let me know what you guys think,
~James