new stlye of home made dolly- cost under 30.00

[Neil Rowe]

hilarious... i wanted a track dolly for a shoot coming up here cause its outdoors, and somtimes the wind can really mess with my vest stabilizer(..it likes to blow the camera around cause it catches in the mattebox... you can control it, but it adds a little sway, and is annoying.) * so anyway, i was going to build a skate wheel dolly, but ended up going with my own little design that took about 30 min to build. * once we decided taht we did not need to be able to ride on the dolly, i tested out, and bought some of those swively/rotating office chair caster wheels..you know the kind that have a two little wheels ith a space in between on the bottom. *they have a flat plate that you just screw or bolt to *the bottom of the thing you want wheels on. *i got 2 1/2" wheels 2 for 3.79 and used 4 of them. *then i bought a big peice of laminated wood *for 3.97, and cut it up to make it lightweight(it looks stupid as all heck after i cut it up , but i didnt want the whole board weight to carry around..lol), and measured and screwed the wheels onto the wood so that they were square for going on tracks.. *short wood screws cost me .87 . * so hen i went and bought some (i think its 1 1/2" ..close to that anyway) pvc track *in 12 foot lengths...i dont know what that cost.. i just bought some of it..it was cheap . * *but anyway its all under 30.00, and extra track is really cheap.. you buy the size of pvc that fits inside te one your using, and cut it into little "joiners" that hold it together. ..

anyway.. it works really well..its very smooth and easy to set up. so i thought id share. * the only hitch to it is that you need to make sure you set up the wheels square, because they will not lock onto the track as well as a skate wheel dolly wher the wheels surfaces are flater and angled in, but if they are square they will striaghten out the track if its off a bit as it rolls over it, and dont tend to come off the track at all. its worked for a few hours last night *of testing without coming off the track unless i went off the end..lol :)

[David Jimerson]

Pics? ;D

[Neil Rowe]

:) i knew you guys would ask for pics of this stupid thing LOL .

it looks like it cost under 30.00..lets just say that..

i guess if you wanted itto look cool you could take the time to make it look better, but i didnt care. i just wanted a smotth riding dolly. ill post a pic or two ASAP.. i might have some time tonight to take a couple. to give you abetter idea til i get pics on though, it looks like the "indy dolly" kindof. here..ill draw it in paint with my magnificent quick paint skills.
here:
http://www.zoomforce.com/dvxuser/photos/images/159093901.jpg

..ha! thats awsome..the best diagram ever! ill post a pic tonight if i have time though :)

[J.R. Hudson]

Are saying you are using OFFICE CHAIR WHEELS? I know the kind; Kind of Split with space between them and they RIDE SMOOTHLY on PVC?

Is that what I am hearing?

[Neil Rowe]

lol..yep. thats the kind. i got some that are stronger than the real cheap ones, but they are still cheap even still. you have to use a track small enough to let the gap in the wheels seat the track up between the wheels a bit.. but not too smal or it will split the wheels, and slide inbetween... lol :)

[Barry_S]

Fantastic. Any specs/brands of the actual wheels and PVC pipe would be appreciated.

[Neil Rowe]

haha! i have no idea. i got the wheels from a bin .. they are some generic brand.. just get the biggest strongest ones you can. the pvc is just some plain brand of pvc in the size that the wheels rode on nicely.. i took a wheel over to the pvc pipes, and rolled it on each thickness untill i found the one i thought worked the best .

[Neil Rowe]

k..heres the dealio.. its obviously strong enought to hold a care bear, so it will hold your camera too...

http://www.zoomforce.com/dvxuser/photos/images/159140424.jpg

http://www.zoomforce.com/dvxuser/photos/images/159140729.jpg

now agin this is not would i would recommend if you want to ride it..unless you want to put 8 wheels on it per side, but it works fine for the cam.. and looks hilarios too. but i just did it quick last night for some shooting were doing in the middle of nowhere. im think im going to build a skate dolly for permanent use. cause it would be more durable and stable in the long run

[Barry_S]

Thanks--it looks good. Definitely cool for $30.

[J.R. Hudson]

Thats awesome for 30 bucks! Ill look into this option.

Still want my Ladder Dolly though :P

[Michael Summers]

where did you get the tracks?

[Barry_S]

It looks like your basic PVC pipe.

[mrbimmer]

I tried building one exactly like this using office wheels and for some reason it didn't work out so well..IAL..I need to try this again... ;D Thanks for the pics!!!!!

[Neil Rowe]

LOL.. it works like poop unless you get the right size track for the wheels, and then the wheels have to be square, or they just swivel off the track. once you get it right it works pretty well though. i wouldnt reccommend building it if your going to want a nice "keeper" dolly. I would build a skate dolly for that. this one is just a quick fix for my little dillemma. *im still going to make a skate dolly when i have time.

[Barry_Green]

Yeah, a skateboard dolly won't cost much (I think mine was about $60 total) and it'll last for years and provide better performance...

[Terry_Lasater]

So, Barry... now it's your turn to post some pics. ;D ;)

[Barry_Green]

This is what I built, minus the handle...
http://www.foreignimage.com/SkateboardDolly.html

It's about four years old now, and still going strong.

Originally I did it as they said, two pieces of 3/4 plywood, and it was H E A V Y and a real bugger to move on location. So not too long ago we replaced the wood with a piece of ... I don't know what it was, birch or something, one sheet, smaller (so it can fit through a doorway) and it's still plenty stable.

[Terry_Lasater]

Thanks for the link.

Wow! Two pieces of 3/4" plywood. You're right... that would be one heavy board to carry around.

[Taylor Moore]

Great work Loser...DIY boy.

[mrbimmer]

Thanks for that link Barry, I am going to start building one of those tonight :)

[Dan_Lahav]

ebay has some super cheap wheels/bearings fyi