DIY IndieSlider...

Sttratos said:
I have done one of these Ingus based sliders but it's quite hard to slide the carriage. It seems too much friction. Has anybody found the same problem and a solution? I tried using a silicone spray but it doesn't really help.
Click to expand...

I found that if you loosen the allen bolts that hold the bearing cages to the carriage...slide the carriage onto the rail...it self-aligns. Then you can tighten the allen bolts (while it's on the rails) & it should slide just fine.

If one of those bearing cages is just a little 'off', it will be tough to slide.

Try it and let me know how you make out.:thumbup:
 
What bearings? There are no moving parts in the carriage.

ZazaCast said:
Bottom of carriage, with bolt in place:
1220111431.jpg
Click to expand...
 
great point zaza...

great point zaza...

my carriage was a little resistant also (uniformly so - but resistant nonetheless) - when I loosened the bolts as per zaza's suggestion it became beautifully smooth

hmm I wonder if the tolerances on mine are just a little off

....right...this is cool - just got off the phone with Igus tech.

This is OFFICIAL igus procedure for "aligning" the carriage.
It only needs to be done once.

They say

1. Loosen all carriage bolts - (don't remove - just loosen a few turns)
2. slide carriage back and forth to allow bearings to align themselves)
3. (tech actually recommended "tapping" the center of the carriage to "bump" the bearings into place)
4. With downward pressure on carriage tighten the bolts again a few turns at a time (alternating them - i.e. do NOT crank one down and then do the other ones)

this should be it. worked for me

Nick
 
nickybee said:
This is OFFICIAL igus procedure for "aligning" the carriage.
It only needs to be done once.

They say

1. Loosen all carriage bolts - (don't remove - just loosen a few turns)
2. slide carriage back and forth to allow bearings to align themselves)
3. (tech actually recommended "tapping" the center of the carriage to "bump" the bearings into place)
4. With downward pressure on carriage tighten the bolts again a few turns at a time (alternating them - i.e. do NOT crank one down and then do the other ones)

this should be it. worked for me

Nick
Click to expand...

Thanks Nick. That's just how I explained it to another user in a PM...glad I was right! I added this to the end of the first post for future reference.

:beer:
 
I just leave the 4 guides ever so slightly loose. no need to tighten them at all actually.
I had some fun today. Spotted a discarded steel headboard thingy near the dumpster. 15 minutes with electric hacksaw and the makings of a support started to emerge. It's at the welder for some spot welding. I'll post pics when it's done.
I'm the Michelangelo of up-cycling.
 
Last edited:
so I had a call from Igus PR reps today

so I had a call from Igus PR reps today

it was a 20 minute chat about the way the slider is being used by the film industry etc etc - I namechecked dvxuser and explained that I was by no means the first one to do it - but said that it was a fairly recent development.

Igus seems to think that it's a potential new market for them - I'm really quite curious now how many of these things have been sold as a result of this thread.

What do you guys think - 50 ? 100 ? or more ?

in other news I'm mounting the slider in the back of the jeep ;) - that should be amusing - will provide some photos

Nick
 
Jason Miller said:
great, not they're going to raise their prices
Click to expand...

Exactly, I guess I should order mine soon.

Has anyone successfully used their slider with a Red camera package? A lot of the smaller jobs I'm doing now are just on the HVX which this obviously will handle fine, but there may be a few larger jobs coming up that I'll shoot on the Red and it would be nice to have the option to use the slider. I just want to make sure it can handle the weight and still slide smoothly to both ends.
 
Noah said:
Exactly, I guess I should order mine soon.

Has anyone successfully used their slider with a Red camera package? A lot of the smaller jobs I'm doing now are just on the HVX which this obviously will handle fine, but there may be a few larger jobs coming up that I'll shoot on the Red and it would be nice to have the option to use the slider. I just want to make sure it can handle the weight and still slide smoothly to both ends.
Click to expand...


I would make sure to get a wider rail and cart. The original zaza sizes are just right for an HVX, but I think you'll need a beefier setup with the red.


Here is my slider with the original zaza parts. I wouldn't put anything bigger than my setup on my slider.
slider.jpg
 
Last edited:
unless your RED setup weighs 200lbs

unless your RED setup weighs 200lbs

I think you'll be fine...

;)

these rails are super strong - your tripod will break before the rail does.
I stood on mine (in between the two bricks) and it didn't flex (I weigh 215lbs - obviously I didn't jump up and down on it - but your RED is likely to be a static load aswell)

the bigger question is whether your tripod will take that kind of a moment on the legs (moment being weight multiplied by distance from the 3/8" 16 stud on the tripod legs)

a wider rail will not help you with that

Nick
 
So locally I can only get the 10mm, not the 16mm, also I have to eithe go 40mm wide, or 80mm wide,

so I'm thinking using the 600mm carriage length, 10mm "rods", and 40mm wide, with a 73mm carriage width, and probably 150mm carriage length

you guys think it will work for a 200, letus extreme + 3 pound LCD 7" monitor?

thanks,
derrick
 
Whats the secret of the Kessler Krank?

I'm going to order the ZazaSlider right now, and was wondering how it would be possible to build it hand crank-wise
 
I just shot all day in cold weather with this thing. I found that it stiffens up and doesn't slide as smooth. It was about -15 in the morning and 20 degrees later in the day. However, I was able to get used to it and compensate for the added stick.

Also, if you have any weight forward or behind the slider, it seems to stick. So panning up from the ground can sometimes be an issue. I think I need to knock down the height of my rig on top of the slider. There's to much pressure being put on the sled when the camera is tilted down or back, it's fine when the weight is completely centered. I may have to lose the ball head adapter and pick up a head that can permanently stay on the slider.

my setup
slider.jpg


video coming soon.
 
Still waiting for my base to be welded. In the meantime, I made some improvements.
I notice that while I like the smooth nearly frictionless action of the platform carriage on the rails, I want to be able to slow motion down even when applying a firm push of the camera along the rails. Without a brake, this is impossible to do smoothly, so I devised a brake. So simple. I planted a 1/4"X20 X3/4" set screw into one edge of the platform and attached a shoe. fashioned from plastic chair slider. tacked a 3/4" diameter felt dot to the slider and viola! highly adjustable brake for the carriage. Now I can use force and the camera will not slide uncontrollably! total cost? $2.00 and a tap and drill.:thumbup:
 
Zephyrnoid said:
Still waiting for my base to be welded. In the meantime, I made some improvements.
I notice that while I like the smooth nearly frictionless action of the platform carriage on the rails, I want to be able to slow motion down even when applying a firm push of the camera along the rails. Without a brake, this is impossible to do smoothly, so I devised a brake. So simple. I planted a 1/4"X20 X3/4" set screw into one edge of the platform and attached a shoe. fashioned from plastic chair slider. tacked a 3/4" diameter felt dot to the slider and viola! highly adjustable brake for the carriage. Now I can use force and the camera will not slide uncontrollably! total cost? $2.00 and a tap and drill.:thumbup:
Click to expand...

please post pics!
 
cool...

cool...

Zephyrnoid said:
I planted a 1/4"X20 X3/4" set screw into one edge of the platform and attached a shoe. fashioned from plastic chair slider. tacked a 3/4" diameter felt dot to the slider and viola! highly adjustable brake for the carriage. Now I can use force and the camera will not slide uncontrollably! total cost? $2.00 and a tap and drill.:thumbup:
Click to expand...

This is an excellent idea...adjustable resistance ;)

Nick
 
Pics coming up this weekend. Just picked up my 'IndieSlider hacker's scaffold' from the weld shop. just a few more tweaks and that will be ready for a trial run sometime next week. The 'Brake Job' pics will easily be up by Saturday Noonish ET. Thanks for your patience:thumbup:
I just joined the Innocentive.com community so I'm gonna be super busy this year! Ouch! Any professional bread bakers out there that need some consulting cash?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top