10 most wanted DIY parts for independent filmmakers

Cool Lights

Cool Lights

DVXuser Sponsor
I started this topic in another thread but I think it deserves its own actually and people might not have seen it hidden in the previous thread anyway. So here goes. I'm in China for my business now and have a bunch of factory partners that are really capable at all kinds of metal parts work. Plastic too but that's quite a bit more expensive.

So what I wanted to see is people post on what are some of the parts they wish they could just buy somewhere. We want to see a bunch of posts here. Then I'll boil it down to 10 or so if we get more than 10 and see what I can come up with here. When you see someone post an idea which may be similar to one you have then chime in and give your version too.

Kdawg started in the previous thread with a lazy susan bracket for dollies. May need a bit more explanation and detail though.

What other parts can we come up with and what else has someone to contribute on that part?
 
I would love to see remote focus parts for my Fuji lens, that don't cost a fortune. Maybe some universal rotating filter bases, which can be built upon to make a nice mattebox. This the stuff you want to hear?
 
Yes exactly. Anything at this point. We're in brainstorming mode here. The rule for effective brainstorming is that you don't discount any idea or say no to anything in the beginning. Then you go through a filtering process later to weed out the things that are impossible or improbable to do.

I expect matte boxes will be one thing that people really want parts for.
 
I'll start that off with something I want to incorporate into my dolly. That is this

Photo-0030.jpg




This is a lazy suzan swivel with a welded angle iron. If there was a way to make a prettier yet heftier swivel style bracket for the wheels. Mass produced I dont see why that wouldnt do well. This was the idea of GuySmilez from this thread.
user_online.gif
 
Okay good I'm glad you moved that over here. Keep going. Lots of ideas is what we want here. It's 12:40am here so I'll be back on later. I hope to see lots more on here when I come back ;-)
 
I hate to throw this idea out there... because I think it would take over the dolly market completely... but here goes anyway... Skateboard wheels are made in china... they are no strangers to special durometer and shapes. For dollies the ultimate answer would be a wheel with a crossection shaped like a bowtie... Have you ever seen the rubber roller wheel that goes on a boat trailer?

Well a precision cast wheel... with a medium durometer of something between 78a and 98a... that has a V-groove around the circumference... and extends for at least 1/2" of FLAT beyond that (towards the outsides)... would become THE dolly wheel for everybody... from now on. The V-groove would allow the wheel to still be used on various sized track and pvc... including industry standard metal track... you would NOT want this groove rounded, because then it restricts the pipe size... whereas having the V-groove still allows equal and symetrical weight loading and identical drag co-efficient on any size pipe... AND even for smooth floors! That's why you have the 1/2" flats on either side of the grooves. No traction or texture would be desired or necessary.

The other benefit is that a molded design, using the same process they ALREADY use for skateboard wheels... would allow standard 608 bearings to be used... and each wheel would only require two bearings instead of the double wheel assemblies which require four... AND the bearings would be directly loaded and allowed to function exactly as designed... as opposed to the side loading that bearings experience in our current applications.

Finally... a wheel design such as this would allow EASY AND SIMPLE design of mounting assemblies that will allow FULL rotation and following ANY curve... or even CRABBING the dolly on a smooth floor (or a custom "dance floor" as the industry calls them)... because any 3-sided box section could support it while allowing any mounting of that section the freedom of the "unused" top side of the V-groove.

Get those going and I'll buy some... after that DIY dolly is shown in action the rest of the world will buy those wheels also... or the dolly that's made with 'em. I would guess the ideal diameter to be between 3-4" and the V-groove should be cut for 45 degrees on each side down to the point.
 
Last edited:
Follow focus (at least the main gear box) would be great. Would look better than a fishing reel.

Another thing would be a matte box, with at least a french flag. This must be the easiest thing to make, but they are so expensive.

Last thing would be a generic 15mm rod mount. A simple block of aluminum with holes for the rails, plus the tighteners. Include two vertical holes to mount stuff to it, and a horizontal hole in case you want to connect two of the blocks together. People with more experience with rails could give better input than I.

And since it's a brain storming session and nothing should be left out...parts to make a DIY steadicam arm would be cool. :D
 
I better start asking questions and getting more precision now or this could get to be a bigger job later with a lot of postings.

MattinSTL said:
I hate to throw this idea out there... because I think it would take over the dolly market completely... but here goes anyway... Skateboard wheels are made in china... they are no strangers to special durometer and shapes. For dollies the ultimate answer would be a wheel with a crossection shaped like a bowtie... Have you ever seen the rubber roller wheel that goes on a boat trailer?
Click to expand...

I don't remember seeing that but I think you're talking about something like these "V Keel Roller Bracket Assemblies":

http://shop.easternmarine.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=catalog.catalog&categoryID=204

MattinSTL said:
Well a precision cast wheel... with a medium durometer of something between 78a and 98a... that has a V-groove around the circumference... and extends for at least 1/2" of FLAT beyond that (towards the outsides)... would become THE dolly wheel for everybody... from now on. The V-groove would allow the wheel to still be used on various sized track and pvc... including industry standard metal track... you would NOT want this groove rounded, because then it restricts the pipe size... whereas having the V-groove still allows equal and symetrical weight loading and identical drag co-efficient on any size pipe... AND even for smooth floors! That's why you have the 1/2" flats on either side of the grooves. No traction or texture would be desired or necessary.
Click to expand...

Which is better--toward the 78a or 98a? I see some sites carry both. What if you only had one which would be better for most uses?

Width of groove? So what I hear is a hard and solid rubber wheel (maybe urethane for example), bowtie shaped with a groove in the center of maybe (around 1/2"?) or so and at least 1/2" of space on either side of that. Something like this wouldn't work because it's metal and too hard and too flat right?:

http://catalog.durableusa.com/ItemListView.aspx?id=55

You prefer more the bowtie shape like the boat trailer wheels because it allows going around curved tracks better if I understand.


MattinSTL said:
The other benefit is that a molded design, using the same process they ALREADY use for skateboard wheels... would allow standard 608 bearings to be used... and each wheel would only require two bearings instead of the double wheel assemblies which require four... AND the bearings would be directly loaded and allowed to function exactly as designed... as opposed to the side loading that bearings experience in our current applications.
Click to expand...

What you're suggesting here then doesn't require the V grooved placement of two sets of wheels on each side as with many of the track dolly arrangements like this for example:

http://www.willyswidgets.com/pr_wheels.html


MattinSTL said:
Finally... a wheel design such as this would allow EASY AND SIMPLE design of mounting assemblies that will allow FULL rotation and following ANY curve... or even CRABBING the dolly on a smooth floor (or a custom "dance floor" as the industry calls them)... because any 3-sided box section could support it while allowing any mounting of that section the freedom of the "unused" top side of the V-groove.
Click to expand...

You're talking about trucking in studio use on permanent flooring or smooth snap together temporary floors if I understand you without a track at all. I'm not sure about the "3-sided box section could support it..." part though. I'm not totally up on "dolly science" yet. Just a lot of the basics.

MattinSTL said:
Get those going and I'll buy some... after that DIY dolly is shown in action the rest of the world will buy those wheels also... or the dolly that's made with 'em. I would guess the ideal diameter to be between 3-4" and the V-groove should be cut for 45 degrees on each side down to the point.
Click to expand...

Amazing no one has thought of this yet from what you say. Later, when we get down to picking the best ideas for products that kill the most birds with one stone, we'll get into more details and drawings and stuff to make sure we all understand each other.
 
TeamJoeDawn said:
Some version of a handheld, boom-stick mounted camera crane for a lightweight camera.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=94476


J
Click to expand...
Yes, I saw this thread before but couldn't open your link for some reason here in China. May have been so good the commies had to shut it down ;-). Anyway if there's a way to post a picture here for documentation purposes that would help or I can just get around to looking at it next time I'm in the "free world" of Hong Kong. Another possibility is posting the web address as an IP address rather than the web name. It could be a DNS thing getting us from here too I suppose.
 
Kdawg said:
This is a lazy suzan swivel with a welded angle iron. If there was a way to make a prettier yet heftier swivel style bracket for the wheels. Mass produced I dont see why that wouldnt do well. This was the idea of GuySmilez from this thread.
Click to expand...

So you want that whole assembly then including wheels? or without wheels?
 
jmc said:
Follow focus (at least the main gear box) would be great. Would look better than a fishing reel.

Another thing would be a matte box, with at least a french flag. This must be the easiest thing to make, but they are so expensive.

Last thing would be a generic 15mm rod mount. A simple block of aluminum with holes for the rails, plus the tighteners. Include two vertical holes to mount stuff to it, and a horizontal hole in case you want to connect two of the blocks together. People with more experience with rails could give better input than I.

And since it's a brain storming session and nothing should be left out...parts to make a DIY steadicam arm would be cool. :D
Click to expand...

I want a steadicam this year so I agree that would be nice. Be prepared to elaborate at some point in the future on the 15mm rod mount and follow focus features.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top