Dolly Q

I almost forgot... I also built some extendable curved 1/2" PVC track. I can change the angle of the arc from slight to circular. If I connect it all together, I can do the famous "spin around the lovers shot."

It's amazing what you come up with when you tinker around a bit.
 
dudewaba,
The 1" pneumatic hose works, most of the time. I think that the times I've had trouble getting the shot I wanted, the Losmandy flextrack would have been just as problematic. I haven't overweighted it, yet. I say 'yet' because I believe that it probably IS possible to overweight it. It's rugged, it has some serious wall strength, but it is also hollow. Which makes it lighter than the Losmandy stuff (which for schlepping around is a good thing), and at .95/ft. it is less than a tenth the price of Losmandy flextrack. I have put my dolly, with a tripod (not my Bogen, a heavier one) my crane, 12.5 lbs of counterweight and the DVX on the hose and it didn't bow or bind. It definetly requires more joules to roll the dolly with that much mass, but under those circumstances, I'd have a grip or two helping. I'd say with 16 skateboard wheels spreading it out, it's good for 85-90 lbs. My dolly isn't particularly condusive to riding, and I'm a big boy (6.0', 210lbs) I doubt the pneumatic hose wants me riding the dolly.
 
Hey, got my dolly with the V-inverted wheel style, and threw it on my 1" pipe rail. It works great, barley any noise, none that the DVX can pick up, it rolls smoothly, no sudden jolts or sudel movement, and it works great with just lying both pipes down freely, and throwing it(as long as it is on a flat surface), thanks for everyones input in helping me figure my dolly setup, I plan on making cross memmbers and stands for the track.

Side note: To connect the 12' track to extend it to 24', I have another pipe tat runs 6' and fits perfectly in the 1"Diameter track to make a strong hold and no disruption in the dolly motion over the connecting pipes

-Matt-
 
yeah. 1 " steel or aluminum pipe fits perfect inside 1" pvc. becuase the metal pipe is 1" outer diameter and the pcv is 1" inside diameter. so you can make couplings easy by taking little 6 inch or however long you want section of the metal pipe and drilling and tapping 2 holes (one in each end) of the connectors, and then drilling holes in the pvc to match the head size of the screw or bolt you put in the connector.. that way you just slide the connector in (id leave it in the end of one pvc all the time) and then put in the screw or bolt which bolts into the pipe and the head sits in the hole in the pvc which locks the pvc in place to the coupling.. so you have 2 set screws/bolts that lock the coupling in the pcv .. i did little diagram in paint for anyone interested below.

dollyconnector2rn.jpg


NOTE: THE 1" PVC HAS TO BE THIN WALLED TO FIT THE 1" PIPE INSIDE. THE THICK WALLED PVC WILL NOT FIT THE PIPE INSIDE.
 
So the pipe is easy enough to build, I built one like that for skating...

Anyone bought from Willy's Widget Wheels? He's got 8 wheels for 200 bucks. That's not that bad...I'd spend that on messing up making my own version! :) heh

Anyone suggest buying just the wheels?
 
no prob. i just built a new 24 wheel (6 offset wheels per corner) dolly so i did alot of drilling, and racheting lately. when i was looking to get some new track i checked out the metal track and noticed it fit perfect in the pvc, and thought.. gee it would be alot easier to simply stick this in and put a screw in it to hold the track together than having to make or buy and work with internal locking splices of some kind. no need for a pressure fit.. the inner pipe fits perfect so it lines up the pvc perfect .. just need to hold it in place in there. i thought an even faster way would be to just permanently put it in the end of one track section, and use a little pin to stick in the hold on the other side ofthe connector through the pvc.. like a grenade pin.. so you could just slip it in and stick the pin in.. cause if all your holes ar on one side of the track you can just face that side down out of the way. ... but its bets to have it smooth just in case.
 
no way man.. i spent aboout 150.00 making the entire above mentioned 24 wheel version dolly. thats 6 wheels per corner. and i offset them too for ultra smooth track connection transitions. i also used aluminum angle running the full length of the dolly. instead of steel so the dolly is lighter to carry, but its still heavy with 3/4 inch pressure ply and 24 wheels with hardware . The aluminum is thick and VERY strong.. plenty strong enough.. i used large washers to spread out pressure as well. it took about 6 hours since i did alot of custom stuff. i drilled and tapped the aluminum angle so the bolts for thr wheels actually bolt into the aluminum angle.. and then get tightened with a lock unt on the back for extra secure fastening.. i also used 44 mm (i think) ----edit: no, they are 42 mm wide--- wide wheels so they are ultra fat waide and will ride on a variety of pipe sizes. anyway.. way cheaper to do yourself.
 
iamloser, you obviously are a filmmaker after my own heart. More power to those who would rather engineer their own filmmaking solutions, especially when yours can outperform and keep more of your hard earned budget in front of the lens.
 
i just redid my dolly setup...

before i had the rollerblade wheel setup with right angle brackets where the wheels were spaced apart and the wheels sort of straddled the pvc pipe.

i use 2 inch pvc pipe with the giant dowel connectors from willywidgets.com

in the end the rollerblade wheels didn't work very well, they were noisy and seemed to always want to leave the track one at a time.

so i kept the willy's widget connectors and got the basic kit from willys widgets with the skateboard wheels.

i built a new deck for the new wheels, got two pieces of 3/4 oak plywood from home depot, i had them cut it so i ended up with two pieces 30 inches x 48 inches with the grain going in two different directions.

then glued and screwed the two pieces together.

ended up with a rock solid deck to mount the wheels to.

then for the track, before i just had the 2 inch pvc connected with the willys widget dowel like connectors, this time i decided to make the track more like the real stuff...

i started with 10 foot pieces of 2 inch pvc and 10 foot lengths of 2x4

we used metal brackets meant for hanging 2x4's together so you screw the bracket to the 2x4 instead of the 2x4's ever being screwed to each other directly.

we put cross braces of 2x4 between the 10 ft lengths of 2x4

just picture a ladder.

the 2x4's are on end so you drill a big enogh hole to the top of the pvc to get the head of the screw through and then screw the pvc to the edge of the 2x4

when your done its amazingly rigid and the resulting dolly movements are super smooth.

we made 3 ten foot long sections.

it was too dark and too late when we were done to take any pictures but i'll take some later this week and post them.

matthew
 
Indy rideable Dolly and Glideshot GS5000

Indy rideable Dolly and Glideshot GS5000

Hi All

I am undecied between the indy rideable dolly and the glideshot GS5000, and I have

1) The GS5000 has a push bar but the indy does not ..so I am wondering how do you push someone one the indy rideable dolly? is there some kind of push or pull bar or do you push the operator .

2) Where do you place your feet on the indy rideable dolly ? i am kind of curious as it looks like they will be hanging off the edges .

3)The GS5000 what curve rails will this run on ? will it work with the indy dolly rails .

4)Ifyou put a crane on the indy dolly can you operate it while being seated ? Will there be room for you to fit on the stand ? or will you have to walk along side the indy dolly ?

I am looking into purhcasing one of these so gimme you coments on both .

Cheers AllyGirl
 
Here's a pro trick:

We use Pledge on dolly tracks. It makes them smoother and eliminate noise. And it smells nice too.
 
Hi Allygirl,

When sitting on the Indie Dolly your feet will rest on the center platform. in case of using a jibarm you will most likely walk next to the dolly unless you are using a mini jib of some sort.
I doubt that the GS5000 will fit on the Indie Dolly Curved track, they would have to make a custom set up to accomodate the trackwidth as well as their wheel configuration.

I think you should look at more criteria when deciding on what dolly is best for you; some of the greatest points of the indie dolly are that the wheels are sitting vertically on the track, no V-shaped wheels. I always thought that the V shaped wheels are not a great idea because of the additional friction that is caused when putting heavy loads on them, the wheels get jammed into the track. Also the theory of using many wheels in order to make bumps less noticeable is not exactly correct in my opinion. If you have 5 wheels going over one bump then you will feel that bump 5 times, unless of course some of those 5 wheels are not even touching the track which is the case quite frequently. The type of bearings that are used in skateboard/long boardwheels are not made for sideway pressure which means the lifetime and performance of the bearings is reduced when using it in a V shape.
Also the Indie Dolly is extremely versatile, you can use it in a small configuration for table top set ups or in the full size rideable one. The straight track is easily scissored together to accomodate any trackwidth required.
Regarding the Push Bar ... there will be a pushbar for the Indie Dolly as we have many requests for it. It works very well though by simply pushing the Tripod.
The Indie Dolly comes in custom carrying bags which lets you pack it away for travelling or storing it, in a professional manner.

Should you have any questions, feel free to call me,

Thanks,
Helmut
Indie Dolly Systems
323 467 6160
 
... I forgot to mention another important point. When you are using your dolly on uneven terrain or on the beach etc. you will find the indie dolly extremely easy to set up. You can simply place some appleboxes under the crossmember/track joints and thats it. If you don't have appleboxes you can also cut some 2x4's or 1x4's into about 8" sections and place those under th crossmember/track joints. The Indie Dolly Track is stable in itself it doesn't require the V shaped wheels to keep it at a perfect distance from one another.

Thanks,
Helmut
 
I respect everyone's right to their opinion, I also encourage readers to consider the source. If I didn't honestly believe in my product I wouldn't make it. Would my Sony rep honestly recommend a P2 workflow? No, he probably would not even be aware of the reasons for doing so. With free advice, you get what you pay for, including mine.
 
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