DIY Dolly Track DOM Tubing Question

J

JordansRoomProductions

Member
Hey All,
I originally posted this over on the hardware forum, but it was pointed out that there was a DIY forum too. So...thought I would take a shot at posting my question here.

I want to build a high quality dolly track setup for my son. He has a project coming up that he will need use of a dolly track and cart. I have the skills to build this stuff, but no idea how heavy it should be as my skills are more geared towards building 1/8" scale military models. My plan is to use 1/4" wall DOM tubing. This stuff is made to a higher tolerance than your everyday Schedule 40 or 80 pipe. It is really smooth too. Of course, it costs a lot more than PVC, Sch 40/80 or fence posts too. This tubing appears to be the same stuff that the Matthews track is built out of.

Any suggestions on this?

Thanks

Mike
 
Steel or Aluminum DOM tubing? What OD tube? Either way 1/4" should be plenty thick enough. A lot depends on what kind of dolly you're building as well.
 
It is 1.5" OD steel tubing as that appears to be the industry standard. The 1/4" wall will give me a 1" ID diameter for the alignment pins which I will turn out of either steel or aluminum.

The cart is going to be a heavy duty type with four pneumatic go-cart tires (slicks with no tread). This will then sit on 8-wheel skates with the channel across the top for the tires to fit into. Right now, I am planning on using skateboard wheels with a durometer (i think that is the correct term) of around a 96. The wheels were on the harder end of the scale. I have some concerns of flat spots showing up in the wheels though.

I have a 11x36 lathe, CNC mill, bandsaw, a MIG welder, and a host of other tools available. I have the tools to build this, I just need to figure out the materials. It does not help that I am in South Dakota. This is somewhat a no mans land for filming equipment. LOL

Mike
 
What are you planning on doing with the surface of the tube to prevent it from rusting? Does it have to be DOM or could you just use ERW tube? Both will be much better than pipe, but DOM will cost more. 1/4" wall will be plenty thick in both cases and honestly you could probably get away with a thinner wall.
 
TiE_Shepherd said:
What are you planning on doing with the surface of the tube to prevent it from rusting? Does it have to be DOM or could you just use ERW tube? Both will be much better than pipe, but DOM will cost more. 1/4" wall will be plenty thick in both cases and honestly you could probably get away with a thinner wall.
Click to expand...

As far as surface rust...I am contemplating some options.

1. I was going to paint the track flat black. Rustoleum holds up pretty good and will take quite a bit of abuse. It can be touched up as needed.

2. There is a guy in town that does powdercoating and his prices are reasonable. I like this idea, but I am not sure of the uniformity of the thickness of the powder coat. I have no idea if this stuff can get "waves" in it.

3. Send the rails off to get chrome plated like Matthews does. I think this will be more expensive than the powdercoating and won't hold up any better.

3. Leave it as is and coat it with a light oil on a regular basis. I don't like this idea at all. But it is something I gave thought to.

4. Price out stainless steel and see what the difference is between the DOM steel and painting/powdercoating/chrome plating.

5. Any other ideas???

I checked SpeedyMetals.com for prices and the next thinner tube was actually more expensive than the 1/4" wall. Go figure. I am buying the metal locally because I can get the full 21' and if I order it with a stock order and wait another week, I can get it shipped in for nothing.

I am not sure of the ERW tube. The metal place did not mention it nor evidently had any on hand.

Mike
 
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definitely do not powder coat. powder coating is anything but smooth. paint would work nice, and get you through the project, but long term its not the best solution. having it electroplated if you have a facility nearby that can do it for you would be the best. chrome or otherwise. although i do think you should speak with him about the setups needed for the track and see if normal pvc will work for you to get through this project because the cost of all track building may be close to what you could have just bought some nice non-matthews track for. although it seems like a cheap solution..and it is. cheap does not necessarily equate to "not good" ..many great professional dolly shots have been pulled on pvc. its light to carry, quick to setup, and inexpensive to replace.
 
Personally I would go with PVC or Aluminum. I built a plyood dolly about 6 years ago that used PVC for the track and it worked just fine.
 
TiE_Shepherd said:
Personally I would go with PVC or Aluminum. I built a plyood dolly about 6 years ago that used PVC for the track and it worked just fine.
Click to expand...

Neil Rowe said:
definitely do not powder coat. powder coating is anything but smooth. paint would work nice, and get you through the project, but long term its not the best solution. having it electroplated if you have a facility nearby that can do it for you would be the best. chrome or otherwise. although i do think you should speak with him about the setups needed for the track and see if normal pvc will work for you to get through this project because the cost of all track building may be close to what you could have just bought some nice non-matthews track for. although it seems like a cheap solution..and it is. cheap does not necessarily equate to "not good" ..many great professional dolly shots have been pulled on pvc. its light to carry, quick to setup, and inexpensive to replace.
Click to expand...

I have not given up on using PVC tubing completely. I am going to build one four foot section out of PVC tubing to work out the design since if I screw something up with the tubing, the PVC is cheap enough to start over with. If I come up with something that is satisfactory, I will go the PVC route.

I appreciate all the input. I want to look at this objectively and if my idea is not going to work or is more expensive than what I thought, I want to get that figured out now instead of later.

I'll keep you all updated. I won't start this until July because my job is sending me out of town for the whole month of June.

Mike
 
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