Easy to build Table Top Skater Dolly

benniles

benniles

Well-known member
I saw TheKreative's post about his Skater Dolly and figured I would share mine with you as well.

So Here is my easy to build Table Top Skater Dolly I made last year.

The base is made from a piece of Melamine shelving I picked up from Home Depot and cut out with a jig saw. It cost $7.00. I made sure that is was big enough to make two base plates incase I screwed one up.

The Wheels are 3 Razor Scooter Wheels I purchased from Big Five. They came in packs of two with the bearings included for $10.00.

I attached the wheels to the Melamine with hurricane clips from home depot using a couple 1/2" bolts and some wing nuts. You will find these with all the Joice hangers and other construction framing stuff. They were like $2 or $3 bucks each.

The wing nuts allow you to easily adjust the angles of the wheels so that you can perform nice curved or straight moves.

If you triangulate your wheels by aligning the axles of the wheels to a specific point (Basically using your axles as gun sights at what you are trying to dolly around) you can easily align your dolly to perform perfect circles around your subject from any distance.

The Tripod head is an old #3047 bogen that I had lying around. Doesn't really work for panning and tilting but you can really crank it down for a nice solid shot. The head can also perform dutch angles which is a nice bonus.

I urge you to go out and make your own and if you do or have already made one upload your pics so we can compare.
 

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nice work. Good and simple. I love the fact these will do basically the same job as something costing $5000 and I really like the blue with the white deck.... pretty stylish.
 
triplej96 said:
Now I just need the know how :). I certainly didn't realize those tools are that cheap.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Home depot have sales on tools all the time. I once got a tool kit complete with (what looks like a doctor's housecall) carrying bag, with a cordless reciprocating saw and a cordless drill, each with its own battery pack and charging station, a laser leveler, and couple of other things (I can't remember) for about $24 on sale at HD (black and decker). And a circular saw I had no use for but... it was cheap... Like $15-20 ... Black and Decker....
 
Not too bad, but...

Not too bad, but...

thekreative said:
nice work. Good and simple. I love the fact these will do basically the same job as something costing $5000 and I really like the blue with the white deck.... pretty stylish.
Click to expand...
I had the idea to make such a skater dolly, very easy to build, but thought that it would not be reliable.
When I saw your post, I thought I was wrong, took my jigsaw and drill and built it.
After trying it to shoot some items with a circular movement around them, I am sure now that it is not possible to have a reliable and accurate path which can be reproduced.
So I'll have to work a little bit more to build the plywood skater described by teddybear.
One of the reasons of my disappointment is that the wheels can't be adjusted in all the possible positions and don't turn around an axis included inside the wheel (don't sure I use the right words, but hope you'll understand what I mean).
 
While working on a commercial shoot I rented the P+S skater from Koerner Camera in Seattle and absolutely loved it! It is what originally inspired me to build my own.
For the most part I have been happy with my homemade skater. I feel that it is about 85 percent capable of what the original P+S Skater does.
In my opinion it's not impossible to create fairly accurate and repeatable paths around an object it just takes a little extra care. If you watch my test footage I perform a couple dolly moves around Oscar's food dish.

On the other hand the way that the wheels on the plywood skater rotate is basically identical to the P+S Skater.
So Furiex, I agree with you that the plywood skater described by teddybear does look to be a superior product.

Good luck on your build, post some pics and footage of your attempts and triumphs.

Here is some test footage I shot with my homemade skater dolly

http://homepage.mac.com/benniles1/iMovieTheater19.html

and here is a music video I shot with a Fisher 10 dolly ; )

http://homepage.mac.com/benniles1/iMovieTheater13.html

Enjoy.
 
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Benniles, my purpose was not to discredit your dolly. It is very useful for straight paths, but simply not accurate enough for curved lines aiming at a precise point. Of course, if a very accurate path is not necessary, it will do the work correctly.
 
Ben,

The kitty footage was awesome! I'd nominate you for an Oscar, but one is enough.

Hey, I checked-out a couple of your other vids too. Totally liked the old film stock music video. And the Audi film was at once REALLY excellent and hysterical. You walked (danced on) the line between sincere smugness and balls-out send-up. Loved it. Was the darker-haired woman in the salmon blouse lit for a couple of the shots in the warehouse? Gorgeous work Ben! Complements to the talent also; they clearly were on the same wavelength as you and killed.

btw, your skater dolly seems to get from A to B as well as the $6k version. I think you made yourself a nice tool, and you use it well.
 
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