Easy DIY Skater Dolly

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derrickgibson

Member
I thought I would share my new tabletop rig with everyone. I was trying to build something similar to he Humble Monkey on a tight budget. For the main frame I used a planter dolly $8 found at Home Depot or Lowes in the caster section. I drilled through the caster pins and removed the supplied casters. I then extended the span by adding a U shaped steel(I tried flat stock but tended to bend under heavier lenses) piece $15 found at HD in the Hardware department. It comes in 36" length. I cut three 4" pieces for the spreaders(I plan on making 8" spreaders as well with the remaining stock). I drilled 1/4" holes on both ends. I attached it to the body with 1/4" bolts and lock washers(keeps it from rotating) $3. Then I used 2" angle brackets 3$ to them for attaching the wheels to. I attached the brackets to the spreaders with 1/4" bolts, Lock washers, and wing nuts $5(easier to adjust rotation).I used some cheap skateboard wheels $15vand high quality bearings $15(rollerblade wheels work as well). I attached those with 5/16" bolts and lock nuts $3(had to drill l bracket out to 5/16" hole) that has a collar $2 on it to stand the wheel off the bracket. I found the collars at Toacoma Screw(fastener shop) didn't see anything like them at HD but they may have them as well. I used an old ball head for the mount and attached it with a 3/8" machine screw(unfortunately due to the fact the the main piece is recessed quite far you can't attach a video head). All this cost me less than a $100 plus the head. I went through many revisions and this one seems to work well all in all. The pictures show the parts and assembly well. Email me for hi-res versions.

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here is some quick footage shot just moments ago. I don't have any video editing software on my laptop i just realized so here is the raw footage, shot on 5d mk2 24-70L 2.8. sorry about DOF but I'm shooting available light in Seattle at iso 100

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I AGREE

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I'm so happy I found this thread! I was waiting for my wife to get home from work so we could head to the hardware store and I can get parts for spider dolly. Your design has inspired some last minute changes to my design!
 
I absolutely will! I found that center piece and picked up a piece of the steel channel. I got my arms cut and ground tonight. I'm going to weld them onto the center piece. I picked up some small casters and I'm going to try it with those first. If that doesn't work I will use inline skate wheels that I have laying around.

My problem is I don't have any tripod heads that will easily mount in the middle and I can't find anything else to mount the camera on that will still let me swivel it.
 
I've considered having a friend make me circular plates at different sizes that can be dropped in the middle so that I can raise and lower the head as needed.
 
Derrick, I've used your basic idea in the middle and I can't thank you enough! I went a step further and welded the arms onto the center piece today, filled the seams up and ground them smooth to make it appear more like one piece. I also turned my arms upside down from your design.

However my wheel configuration is going to be different. At first I was going to use the casters I bought but have changed my mind. I'm going to build some wheel housings out of PVC end caps and use those instead.

I can't thank you enough for the inspiration for my design though! I hope to get some pictures up for you guys tomorrow.
 
KevinACrider said:
Derrick, I've used your basic idea in the middle and I can't thank you enough! I went a step further and welded the arms onto the center piece today, filled the seams up and ground them smooth to make it appear more like one piece. I also turned my arms upside down from your design.

However my wheel configuration is going to be different. At first I was going to use the casters I bought but have changed my mind. I'm going to build some wheel housings out of PVC end caps and use those instead.

I can't thank you enough for the inspiration for my design though! I hope to get some pictures up for you guys tomorrow.
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I really wish I had a welder I would do the same. I might see if my neighbor will do it for me? I would have flipped my brackets upside down to get a lower angle but with the shorter wheels it doesn't clear the bottom of the chassis. Looking forward to seeing your pics.
 
Here's where I'm at so far. I took a picture of the top view before I painted it so you could see the weld job. After paint it looks seamless as if it's one solid piece.

I've yet to come up with a solid idea for the wheels. I think I finally have something good but won't know for sure until I go to the Home Depot tomorrow. I need some flat metal rings, almost like some very large washers, with an inside diameter big enough for the roller blade wheel to spin inside of. If I can find those, I'll have this thing done by the end of the weekend!
 

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Just had an idea. Looking at your top left photo. I decided to mount the head on the opposite side of the bowl. This allows for easier access to all the controls it also eliminates my clearance issues so I can flip the axles and mount the wheel to the lower hole giving me a lower center of gravity. I have to wait to get back home so I can drill out the L brackets, but I think this will work well.
 
I have been looking at making something close to the spidertrax when i saw your post. In the process of a recent move i saw a furniture mover very similar to your center piece.

I decided to give it a try with just the stock wheels and an older fluid head in the middle. I havent had a chance to test it because my camera is at home but you bet ill be trying it over the weekend. Here is a quick cellphone picture of the thing.

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Yeah i could understand that being a problem. The wheels are pretty cheap plastic ones. How well does turning work on the skate wheels?

As i play with it on my desk the whole thing feels pretty unstable, when the casters get turned in too far the whole thing wants to topple over. I hoped that it would be more stable with the added weight of the camera, because right now the tripod arm knocks it over if its not sitting right.
 
well i have the brackets attached so I can lock them in any position. So as long as I have the axles pointed in the right direction it is as smooth as i need.

Yeah I had originally attached the l brackets to that frame directly but soon realized that I needed the arms to add stability
 
That could turn out to be the easiest dolly yet! I was at my local Harbor Freight today and saw that they have the exact same furniture movers available but in a slightly smaller size. They are silver and not black also. I wasn't able to find a price but I'm sure it's cheaper than the HD ones.
 
I tested out the rig with the stock bearing-less wheels over the weekend and on anything the a perfect surface they don't do well, you were right. Looks like its time to get to adding the skate wheels to it!
 
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