DIY Jib Bearings?

[bmxbud4130]

To those of you who have built your own jibs and cranes... Did you use bearings at the pivot points of your jib?

I'm really interested to know what type of bearings you all use for the horizontal pivot point where the jib mounts to your stand/tripod/etc. I've seen some designs that use a large thrust bearing, lazy susan assembly, or a caster assembly.

The lazy susan route would be the cheapest (and I'm def. interested in keeping costs down), but I'm concerned with how smooth it actually moves. But even more concerning than that, don't the loose ball bearings in the lazy susan's make a little bit of noise?

[sek0910]

I didn't use any bearings for the vertical pivot points and the movement is smooth.. I did put some plastic bushings through the holes I drilled in the metal tubes, and inserted 1/4" bolts through them.

Since I mounted the jib (8 ft.) on a heavy duty tripod, I simply use the horizontal movement of the tripod head itself to swing the jib around horizontally.