Texanite's Acrylic Skater Dolly

[thekreative]

I just got Texanite's skater dolly in the mail today and thought I should write a review. Man is it awesome. The look is very professional and the material is top notch. He made it in the RedRock blue that I wanted so it will match all my gear once I've stopped shopping. The etched dials are amazing and it is super heavy duty. My Letus rig with monitor causes no flex at all. The P&S chart works perfectly. Smooth smooth smooth. He said he might start making more so you might want to bug him for one.

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/27915/1240271994.jpg
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/27915/1240272019.jpg
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/27915/1240272043.jpg
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/27915/1240272068.jpg

Ferris: "It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."

[Neal Buconjic]

Beautiful looking.

[miloca]

How much did it cost?

What head should one get?

Cheers,

CCC

[Texanite]

How much did it cost?

Hey there miloca. There's not really a fixed price as I'm not really selling these, if that makes sense. I basically put a few together during a prototyping process, and have been able to sell a couple which then allowed me to buy more materials and try a couple other things. There are just some things that are trial and error and the costs of having the acrylic cut built up and I was surrounded by parts, so I've been lucky enough to have some people help me through that process.

There's a great Acrylic skater thread here (http://dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=67039)which has plans, instructions for builiding your own as well as a cost breakdown. My designs have been based on that and Teddybear's original plywood skater thread here (http://dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=40901&highlight=plywood). Those were the ones that initially inspired me to jump into trying to make my own. I'm changing and adjusting things all the time but both those threads have tons of info.

[thekreative]

The 501 I'm using is pretty good. Just remember that you want the camera really locked down so larger than a photo head but you don't need fluid. I.E. 501, plus they cost almost nothing for the older version like mine.

[Pro Gressive]

Im sure we can get at least ten of us together to purchase these so that its worth it!

[ryvac]

holy crap, that looks so professional.

Well Texanite,
if you ever might make some again put me into the wait list! (wait#1:grin:)


Im sure we can get at least ten of us together to purchase these so that its worth it!
I'm in!

[dregenthal]

I want one too!

[Michael T]

Sign me up too, ya gotta have one of these.

[min lee]

what the heck, me too... and i should put a pic of my dog as my avatar too.

[Texanite]

Thanks y'all. There's not really a wait list, although I'm still tweaking the design (kreative's pictures made me realize I've got to get rid of those ugly hex-nuts on the bottom!) so over the next few months I may have another test-build to get rid of. I'll post something if I end up with an extra skater up for grabs.

[Darkeyesuk2000]

If for example hypatheticaly you did decide you make a small batch of these skater dollys.
how much would they sell for?

[Texanite]

The downside is that these are still DIY and, like any DIY project, are a time-suck and kind of a pita to put together. There's toxic acrylic cement, clamps, there are a bunch of overpriced hardware parts that my local places only sometimes carry and no matter how precise the words 'laser cutting' sound, it's not and there's actually hand-tool work required even after the parts are cut. I could get a bunch made, but there's hours and hours of work to just put each one together and it's just tough to make it worth the time.

I'm wanting to put together a smaller, less intensive version but every time I get something cut, it's hundreds and hundreds of dollars just for testing. So every time I try to figure out how to make something work better or fit better or look better, I basically have to spend a chunk of money to get a new set of parts made. The good news is that every time I want to try something, I end up with an extra dolly, so it can be sort of win/win :)

Thanks

[infurno]

Why not just sell them as incomplete kits? This is the DIY section after all!

That way it's better for everybody. Less work for you, and cheaper for us. Let us worry about putting it together and polishing. Besides, I would be interested in making my own set of upgrades to the design.

[IjabaFilms]

Why not just sell them as incomplete kits? This is the DIY section after all!

That way it's better for everybody. Less work for you, and cheaper for us. Let us worry about putting it together and polishing. Besides, I would be interested in making my own set of upgrades to the design.

I second this.

[Tommy K]

We have some breaking news to pass along to our viewers. A large crowd has gathered outside Texanite's residence, and they are all chanting "We want kits, We want kits". We have just been informed that the National Guard has been called in as a precaution. Full story and video at 11.

[Texanite]

We have some breaking news to pass along to our viewers. A large crowd has gathered outside Texanite's residence, and they are all chanting "We want kits, We want kits". We have just been informed that the National Guard has been called in as a precaution. Full story and video at 11.


Sorry I haven't been around much, I've been fighting off the crowds at the Texanite Compound! :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

I haven't had anything cut/made in a while but just wanted to say that there's not much cost savings on a kit since it costs about $300 (give or take) just for all the parts, supplies and the cost of getting one of these cut. I've probably linked to it before, but the 'original' acrylic skater thread has a pretty specific breakdown of costs. I think he spent something like $250 and that was doing ALL the cutting himself!

The other issue is that, as much as laser cutting sounds really precise and specific, it's not. Depending on the laser's power (heat?) the amount of material that's burned away has been different every time I've gotten stuff cut. Also, the acrylic itself almost always seems to vary in thickness (1/4" isn't always 1/4" thick) depending on which batch (or brand?) of acrylic that they have and I'm still hand-sanding parts to get them to fit perfectly. So the idea of selling 'kits' makes me nervous when somebody might get a bunch of parts that don't fit together just right and then they don't know what to do.

I'm working on a rocker mount and will hopefully have more pics in the near future.

Thanks!

[blckhawk542]

Are you selling these? Looks reallllyyyy niiice. Hopefully it performs just as well.

[Texanite]

I'm still tweaking the design (kreative's pictures made me realize I've got to get rid of those ugly hex-nuts on the bottom!)

Just wanted to post a picture of the revised and cleaner looking underside

http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/tt217/Tex_015/bottomoffull.jpg

[sek0910]

I think the entire purpose of a skater dolly is to enable a camera to circle around an object (and thus the wheels have to be able to rotate).

what you are suggesting is a miniature track dolly

[Texanite]

Yeah, sek is right. These are really intended for tabletop rotational use where you can do a rotation around an object and even keep an object perfectly centered in the frame without any panning of the head. The wheels can be locked down in any position, so you can do it in a straight alignment as well and I have a link to my vimeo video in the other thread, I think which shows the dolly going straight as well as around a glass. People have also made platforms that fit onto light stands which hold the dolly up in the air so you get more of a person-height dolly move.

You're right about the time and complexity though. it would be much simpler to make these without any moving parts.

[Huy Vu]

So will you be selling this one to get to the next version :)?

[Texanite]

So will you be selling this one to get to the next version :)?

Could beeeee.... PM sent :)

It's taking me months between any kind of changes but the tweaking seems endless as one new 'fix' brings along new challenges. So yeah, anybody who might be interested in the future should send me a PM. You never know when I might have another extra one.

Thanks

[Daniel Schaumberger]

I also finished my diy skater (from Bill Hawkins plans) but I can't use the rotation calculator (excel file from the original skater mini) because the design is a little bit off compared to the original skater mini from p+s.

Does somone know how to edit the values in the excel file to make it fit on a custom design? I searched the whole excel file but I don't understand how the formula for the wheel positions work.

http://www.pstechnik.de/downloads/SKATER_RotatCalc1-0_excel.zip

thanks
Daniel

[Daniel Schaumberger]

Finally I did it myself and after a couple of hours I succeeded to change that formula. Now the custom calculator is giving me the correct values (matched for Bill Hawkins's design).

I've attached the zip file here for others with the same problem. The calculator can now be simply modified by putting your own values into the formula.

Using correct values is essential for the skater to work properly. If you guess the values than the skater will slip and you won't be able to do repeatable moves/curves.

Also checkout the pics of my diy skater.

thanks
Daniel

[photonashville]

Daniel,

Superb. A couple questions:

Did you CNC cut the wood?
What material for the wheel blocks, Delrin plastic?
Specific links to the laser you are using?

I built a wood skater last year and it's worked out well. http://tinyurl.com/ylg88mv

You've taken it to a new level. Great craftsmanship you have there.

John

[Daniel Schaumberger]

Hi John,

yes it's all done on a cnc mill - no laser.
The wheel blocks are delrin (allows smooth rotation in the wood chamber).

Thanks but your dolly looks also very good.

best regards
Daniel

[photonashville]

Daniel,

Thanks for the reply. Sorry if I wasn't clear, I see you are using a laser for setting the wheel blocks. Where did you find the small laser? I see many on Amazon.com but most have terrible ratings.

I appreciate it.

John

[dcetrtic]

Great job! Is it posible to get a drawing? I would like to make one by myself. Regards

[Daniel Schaumberger]

Sorry but I didn't saved all of my drawings when building my skater.

Here is also a simple (but very clever) design that works almost the same: http://vimeo.com/10516250
It's much easier to produce it.

Daniel