DIY - Dolly

DJQuikFingaz

DJQuikFingaz

Well-known member
Well in the process of building my first dolly, I decided to document it and post some pics of the process. I couldn't decide whether to make the angled skateboard dolly or MattC's dolly. I finally decided on MattC's because it can roll w/out pvc on flat surfaces.

Please keep in mind, this is not my original plan. This plan is based off MattC's which you can view here: http://www.birthofthecool.com/dolly.html

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48 1/4" washers used for the wheel assembly.

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12 1/4" bolts for wheels, 8 5/16" bolts for platform, 12 1/4" nuts, and 8 5/16" nuts.

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TRUE rollerblade wheels. 3 packs of 8 w/ bearings ordered at: http://www.thesportsauthority.com/p...&clickid=mainnav_browse_txt&parentPage=family

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3' bracket bought at Home Depot.

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2 - 4X2' plywood boards from Home Depot.

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The bracket is 1" from the edge and centered.

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Holes drilled and bolts in place.

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I had some trouble lining up the holes in the plywood so I had to make the holes a little bigger. This caused the bolt to be a little loose causing gaps in the board like this. The problem is fixed in the next picture.

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After putting the bracket down over the bolts, I began to screw on the nuts. As you tighten the nuts, it causes the gaps to close.

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This is the start of the wheel assembly. Bolt, 1/4" washer...

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...Wheel, another washer...

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...Put in bracket, another washer...

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...Wheel, ANOTHER washer...

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...THEN NUT!!!!

The rest are pics of the final product w/ 1/4" PVC.

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Plywood - $14.00 EA
Brackets - $9.00 EA
PVC 10' - $4.00 EA
Wheels - $64.00
Nuts & Bolts - $12.00

GRAND TOTAL - About $130

In the end I'm happy w/ the outcome. The process took me about 3hrs. Hey I'm no Bob Vila, so if you master carpenters out there have any suggestions I'm open to anything. Again, thanks to MattC!
 
There is one thing that you should (have) done in order to stop the flat spots that the wheels are going to get.

Use all different sized wheels. In your design, there would be 24 different sizes.

By doing that, no two wheels flat spots will ever line up, and you won't get the "bumping" that you're going to get.
 
Thanks for posting the pictures, that's always really helpful!

I built a similar design recently, based on the 'in-line wheels in parallel' design from the book 'Killer Camera Rigs that you can build', and I haven't heard of any issues with flat spots on these types of wheels (for some reason I thought that issue was specific to the skateboard wheels) ...actually I never leave my platform/wheels in contact with anything unless in use. In theory that should alleviate the flat spot issue regardless of what wheels you use.
 
The problem I see with the parallel wheels is that the contact point of the wheel and the pipe is not really a rolling one...more of a rolling/sliding thing along the wheels' sides.

Won't there be a lot of side pressure going on there?

Dan
 
This is very similar to the design in my book "Killer Camera Rigs", but the mounting of the wheels is a bit different and more versatile in the book. (like being able to hang the dolly upside down on rails, and the ability to move the wheel units from one sized platform to the other). I've been using in-line wheels for about 7 years without any problems what-so-ever. My suggestion would be to use a stronger bracket, and make your platform the same length as the bracket. And you don't need that many wheels! Good lord, you moving a tank with that thing? You can cut down on the cost quite a bit (the one in "Killer Camera Rigs" will run you about $40 bucks) if you use fewer wheels. I think the reason people are stuck on the skate board wheels instead of in-line is that when the skate board wheel design came out, there was no such thing as in-line skating, and now people just assume skate-board wheels are better. It just ain't so! (Now if you're making something to roll a fisher dolly on rails, or weigh over 400 lbs, go with the skate board wheel design). Also, if you are so inclined, and change the design a bit, you can also use the larger razor scooter type wheels. Keep in mind that the wheels go through a lot more punishment on in-line skates than they ever will on a dolly, so you don't need to spend a fortune on the best wheels available. Get cheap ones! Also, if you get in-line wheels with the bearings already in the wheel, you will probably need to pop them out, take out the axle, them pop them back into the wheel. This way you can use a larger bolt as your dolly axle. If you want to see this type of dolly in action, there's a quicktime movie on my site:

http://dvcamerarigs.com/backseatdollymovie.html

Dan Selakovich
www.DVcameraRigs.com
 
LMAO!!!! Those are all of the EXACT parts I used!!!

Good job on the tutorial, glad it works for you!!

Matt
 
MattC said:
LMAO!!!! Those are all of the EXACT parts I used!!!

Good job on the tutorial, glad it works for you!!

Matt
Click to expand...

Oh man, it works great Matt! Rolls like butter.

As for the Dan S. design, I've never seen it before. Hell, this is the first dolly I've ever used let alone built. I really love how the non-angled wheels will roll smootly on any flat surface.
 
Carriage bolts...

Carriage bolts...

Looks like the beginnings of a great low-cost tool. You might consider changing the bolts out from standard hexagonal head to carriage type. These are commonly available in 1/4, 5/16 and larger sizes at home centers and will make a nearly flat, safe work surface for your camera and operator.

Also, holding your wheels so far back from the ends of the board - doesn't this cause the dolly to cantilever up when you inadvertantly step toward the ends?

Anyway, I look forward to a little footage!

e
 
Here's are a couple of quick pics of the one I built from the "killer" design, I also added some Rubbermaid shelf rails, which allows me to lay the PVC on top of 2x4's for uneven surfaces and so I can shim to level. Also, the track can be screwed down to the 2x4 once it's laid out to match the dollie.


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DJQuikFingaz said:
Oh man, it works great Matt! Rolls like butter.

As for the Dan S. design, I've never seen it before. Hell, this is the first dolly I've ever used let alone built. I really love how the non-angled wheels will roll smootly on any flat surface.
Click to expand...

Put my short jib (the killer's kiss crane):

http://dvcamerarigs.com/dinnerdogmovie.html

on there, order Per's "Hollywood CameraWork" and you'll really have something!

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com
 
Do you ride on it?

Do you ride on it?

Maybe this is a stupid/obvious question but are you actually able to stand on the dolly while shooting? With that weight on there does it still roll well, even at slow speeds?

It's just that the platform looks a little tight for someone to stand on along with the tripod.

Thanks for all the pictures as well....very helpful!
 
I am able to stand on mine along with the tripod. See the link in the first post of this thread for the link with photos and video.

Matt
 
"Maybe this is a stupid/obvious question but are you actually able to stand on the dolly while shooting? With that weight on there does it still roll well, even at slow speeds?"

The beauty of building your own stuff is that you can make the plaform as large (or as small) as you want! I've got several sized platforms that I just move the wheel assemblies from one to the other as the need arises. And yes (I can only speak for my dolly design) it glides even nicer and with more control with a human on it.

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com
 
*I just noticed Dan's response after submitting my response, so, ditto plus some additonal comments. ;-)

Speaking for the design that I built (based on Dan's book), and as Dan mentioned, it can easily be adapted (the wheels moved) to fit on numerous size platforms. I have several platform sizes: one that is small enough to fit in the back area of a car, to move side to side through the windows, and one that is larger that I could stand on with the camera and tripod, and the one I have pictured, which is narrower to fit a doorway (and only a tripod on the platform). The 3/4 plywood I bought is very sturdy, and even with only using 8 wheels on my design it felt very smooth and stable when standing on it.
 
This post was intended for another thread... sorry for any confusion, I must have been doing too many things at one time!
 
Hey Shawn, make the "Killer's Kiss Crane" to go on that thing if you want to mimic what Hollywood does with a Fisher dolly with a boom attached. I don't think my tripod has been used to hold a camera for 5 years! I even use it for "Still" shots because it is so much faster to dolly and boom for the next set-up. Experienced actors on my stuff are amazed about how fast the shoots go. Plus they love it because the don't have to wait around and re-gain that "mood".

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com
 
It will never be confortably large for a person to sit with the tripod because it has to go through doors. But it fits. That is the purpose of a doorway dolly...
 
Good point, Taubkin. That's why I like the small jib on a dolly so much. I don't ride it, but control the jib boom from the camera end and push or pull the dolly while operating the camera.

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com
 
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