My $30 home-made dolly

[amoildani]

This weekend I decided i wanted to finally build my camera dolly so I went out looking for parts. After finding some very cheap 2.50 skateboards, I was able to make a really cheap, functional dolly (on PVC pipes)

Here's a very small clip of it in action:
http://www.nucleistudios.com/dolly2.mov

Some very bad, low-light (highly tweaked in photoshop) video grabs of the dolly, will post better ones soon:
http://www.nucleistudios.com/dolly/

Overall, I'm really pleased with the smoothness of the shot, however I have two problems with it.

1. How can i get read of that noise you hear in the video, you can pretty much hear the vibrations/bearings on it. I've been told I should grease the bearings, but I want to see if there's anything else that's causing the problem.

2. The wheels are getting a little loose the more I push it, would, say...washers fix that? Im not a big handy person, this is actually my first ever built contraption, so I have no idea about hardware.

Thanks for any help on those things

[NickMilo]

Do you have to use that audio?
--If your using a doorway dolly in a shot, then I would assume its a pretty professional shot. I for one wouldn't use the audio from just my cam alone.

--Test your dolly. Pick it up and spin the wheels, if it makes noise, then I would suggest getting new berings (Just get like the cheepo ones at the local skate shop) and lubing the bolt where the wheels mount on to.
--If it makes noise when its rolling on the track, then it your wheels might be rough - clean them thouroghly and keep the pvc track slick; try out different things.

--With the wheels getting loose, bolt on the wheels using small washers and lock-tight (Get it at a auto parts store - you put it on the bolt before you screw in the nut)

good luck!

[amoildani]

Thanks, well that shot was just to test out the dolly, i dont need to use that audio but If i have a scene where there's dialogue close, Im hoping the shotgun mic on a boom wont pick up the rolling sound (although i could probably be taken out in post, I'd rather avoid the problem).
The wheels do it themselves, when i spin them they make that...spinning noise...so I'll look into the bearings then. I guess i cant expect much from wheels that cost so cheap.

[amoildani]

after more careful inspection, i found out that the wheels by its own doesnt squeek, but when i put the bult in, it does, so im assuming the bearing is sticking and then scraping across the the bolt, making that noise, do i still need to replace the bearings?

[milverdu]

I would sugest that you put 2 more weels at each corner and dobble the wood. it would give you more stability
good luck

[Young-H._Lee]

thanks for sharing those shots look really pro, makes me want to go out and make one myself!

[Policar]

Looks really smooth. The only problem is that the speed is pretty variable. I guess the only way to fix that is practice.

[amoildani]

Looks really smooth. *The only problem is that the speed is pretty variable. *I guess the only way to fix that is practice.

yeah, never used a dolly before, i was just kind of pushing it (from the tripod, since I have no handle to it yet).

I'll add an extra set of wheels, hopefully there are sitll some cheap skateboards left.
I got 6/8 of the wheels to sound very quiet, however two of them seem...loose, they spin faster than the others and make more noise, causing the pvc pipes to amplify the vibrations, i dont know what to do about them.

[HansK]

After finding some very cheap 2.50 skateboards

I bet the bearings that come with those cheap skateboards aren't sealed and also very cheap. Therefore, they will make noise.

Buy yourself a set a sealed bearings at a skateshop. Verify that they are the same size as the ones in your cheap wheels. That should cure a lot of the vibration and noise from them.

[amoildani]

I bet the bearings that come with those cheap skateboards aren't sealed and also very cheap. *Therefore, they will make noise.

Buy yourself a set a sealed bearings at a skateshop. *Verify that they are the same size as the ones in your cheap wheels. *That should cure a lot of the vibration and noise from them.


thanks for the advice, now to find some skate shops around here

[ques24]

I have used the me66 sennheiser microphone with a boom pole it does not pick up any sound from my dolly at all. Thanks for the shots really nice inspired me to make a dolly. im off to lowes. (although i bought my first one for nearly 800bucks ouch).

[milverdu]

where did you get those $2.50 skateboard weels? last night I went to k-mart
wal-mart and modell's and none of them had it.

[amoildani]

i went to oshmans sports store, they were these mini skateboards with some anime looking dude on them. they're normally priced at 14.99 each, but were on sale for 2.50 (i had to double check the price). I saw them at walmart too for 5.50 each.

[thartley]

What are those brackets called that are bolted to the board on your dolly? And how long were the screws you used?

[Unix]

W ;DW

that footage is great

keep it up

[Guest]

'bout the noise -- old trick 'o da trade

on sets we spray pledge onto the track and wipe it down with a cloth to eliminate squeaks -- course, that's on real metal dolly track, but i figure it should help with your pvc track as well -- if you get lemon pledge, you get a nice smelling room to boot 8)

cheers

[waycooljr]

If you use rollerblade wheels they don't make anynoise. Very soft and even roll smooth across PVC joints. Got mine at WALMART for $16.00 with sealed bearings. Also I use 2 inch PVC for less flex.

Ray

[aedude01]

Carlos,
The dolly looks great. One question though, where did you get the instructions on how to make it? Also where did you buy the angles with the hole in the middle of them? I'm looking to make a low cost dolly like yours but I have not been able to find plans online. Any help you (or anyone) could give would be great.

Thanks!

Lee

[milverdu]

I found the metal angles at home depot for about 5 bucks each and you can have the wood cut to size also. That's what I'm gonna do as soon as I find those weels,
good luck

[amoildani]

The angles are 2x2 right-angle (45 degree) steel...angles, that came with holes already in them. they were around 3 dollars each. I got two. 1ft bars. and cut them in half.

I didnt really use any instructions, I just used these two pictures: http://www.solutioneers.net/cinema/projects.html

[crazymcnutjob]

Very nice. 1 word of advice for the noise: WD-40. :D

[Soliton]

I'm no handyman myself, but I think I could do this!! Looks and works great.
But I think the particle board top is acting as a sounding board and amplifying any noise made by the wheels and transmitted through the mounts. If wiping the track *with pledge works for you - Great! Otherwise you'll need to isolate the wheels somehow from the board (maybe rubber washers) so there is NO direct contact between the wheels and mounts. Or you might be able to isolate the mounts from the board.
But first you might try dampening the sounds coming from the board. Try a sandbag or two on top and see what happens. It could be the quick and easy you're looking for.

Oh, and there's something MUCH better than WD-40. Its called One Lube and is made by Slick50 Stock Number: 43712012. I've used this stuff for many years and swear by it. A little goes a long way and lasts a long time.
http://www.slick50.com/

[amoildani]

ive learned the hard way that using lube is not going to fix it, the wheels i used it on now sound...'wet' they make a little splat noise when they turn now. The noise has nothing to do with the contact against the track, but the bearings, when the bolts get loose, the bearings start to scrape against the screws and the noise vibrates through the wood and the track. I think my only hope is to go get new bearings. I have all the wheels but two, perfectly silent, it's getting frustrating, im going to try it out tomorrow on a shoot, and see how bad the noise is.

[BLUESPIDER]

haha, not bad for a $30 homemade dolly. I watched the clp with no sound and it looks pretty smooth. It works better than my $40 model. :)

[AndyJ]

I think that clip was very commendable for a first attempt - lovely little dolly Carlos, well done mate! :)

[speedbump]

Better wheels will get rid of that noise problem.

Your next issue will be slight camera wobble if you don't have a solid, heavy tripod. You can use a cheap tripod if you build some sort of supporting struts on the dolly to stiffen your tripod.

Using a sandbag or a duffle bag filled with pebbles will stiffen the tripod also.

You may also want to build some sort of handles on the dolly to facilitate pushing/pulling it.

All in all, you've done a great job, and upped your production values. Congratulations.

[speedbump]

I just thought of an even cheaper solution to the problem of stiffening a cheapo tripod on this dolly: you can use 4 ropes or shock cord from your tripod, just under the head, to each of the bolts on the top of the dolly. Attach some sort of hardware which gives you a hole or a loop to those protruding bolts, and you can tie down the tripod, and tighten your ropes to stiffen it.

[amoildani]

thanks AndyJ!

I used the dolly at a friends shoot during the weekend, he said the shot came a little shaky but we gotta see, it was a pretty quick set up and i think the wheels werent alligned properly. I used gaffer tape and made a cute little handle that i pulled it with, plus taped down the tripod wheels. The more practice I have, the better i get.

Im gonna look into sandbags or somethign else to make the tripod more heavy (im using a bogen 501 w/ 3001n legs)so its pretty light right now

[thartley]

Hey Carlos-

Did you get my Personal Message?

Thanks,
Terri

[milverdu]

Im still looking for those cheap wheels in the Nj area, I found a set of 4 for $30 but that might be too much for cheappo wheels.

is there a website selling this wheels??
I need it for a shoot this comming weekend.

thanks,