I like to fabricate so when I needed a Dana style dolly I made my own. For those of you who like to do this sort of thing, here's how I did it.
The key to the project is these wheel assemblies. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...r_gw_100_dolly_track_swivel_wheel.html?sts=pi Normally, I would buy skate wheels and bearings and fabricate these assemblies myself, but I took a shortcut and bought these. They are excellent. One of the things that Dana emphasizes is how they have their wheels specially made to be perfectly round so there is no wobble in the shot. I have a lathe so I figured I could have the wheels cut round if needed like Dana does. It turns out these wheels have under .001" run out. That means they are nearly perfectly round and won't wobble. These wheels include a thrust bearing that allows the wheels to swivel. That means you can use them on a curved track without binding.
I made the platform from a 12" x 14" piece of 1/4" aluminum flat bar (Online Metals). Buy the flat bar instead of the plate because it is cheaper. It was a simple matter of making two pocket holes with the CNC mill to form the pocket for the bowl holder.
The 100mm bowl is made from some left over 1" stock. I made it so it has a ledge that can hold a 100mm-to-75mm adapter that I already had. This way I only need one bowl holder.
The schedule 80 aluminum pipe (Online Metals) was sanded down with 80, 120, and 240 grit paper to get the dings and extrusion marks out of the pipe. That makes it nice and smooth. To keep it that way, I store the pipes in pipe insulation foam.
The pipes are held on the stands with baby pins I made on the lathe and pipe clamps from B&H.
It is buttery smooth. While the lightweight stands work if you are careful, it really needs more robust stands like the American Grip Baby Combo stand. But I just needed this for a couple of shots, so I wasn't ready to spend the money.
These wheel assemblies are nice.
The dolly
100mm bowl and adapter eliminates bulk of multiple bowls.
Using baby pins and lightweight stands is not optimal, but it's good enough for the two shots I built this for. I can always upgrade when needed.
Pack the pipes in foam insulation tubes
The kit
It all fits in a $5 bag I got from the local recycle store. I'm not a big fan of Pelican-style hard cases. I have plenty of them, but I prefer a soft case for things like this. I don't travel. A nice tight fit and less bulk than a hard case.
The key to the project is these wheel assemblies. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...r_gw_100_dolly_track_swivel_wheel.html?sts=pi Normally, I would buy skate wheels and bearings and fabricate these assemblies myself, but I took a shortcut and bought these. They are excellent. One of the things that Dana emphasizes is how they have their wheels specially made to be perfectly round so there is no wobble in the shot. I have a lathe so I figured I could have the wheels cut round if needed like Dana does. It turns out these wheels have under .001" run out. That means they are nearly perfectly round and won't wobble. These wheels include a thrust bearing that allows the wheels to swivel. That means you can use them on a curved track without binding.
I made the platform from a 12" x 14" piece of 1/4" aluminum flat bar (Online Metals). Buy the flat bar instead of the plate because it is cheaper. It was a simple matter of making two pocket holes with the CNC mill to form the pocket for the bowl holder.
The 100mm bowl is made from some left over 1" stock. I made it so it has a ledge that can hold a 100mm-to-75mm adapter that I already had. This way I only need one bowl holder.
The schedule 80 aluminum pipe (Online Metals) was sanded down with 80, 120, and 240 grit paper to get the dings and extrusion marks out of the pipe. That makes it nice and smooth. To keep it that way, I store the pipes in pipe insulation foam.
The pipes are held on the stands with baby pins I made on the lathe and pipe clamps from B&H.
It is buttery smooth. While the lightweight stands work if you are careful, it really needs more robust stands like the American Grip Baby Combo stand. But I just needed this for a couple of shots, so I wasn't ready to spend the money.
These wheel assemblies are nice.
The dolly
100mm bowl and adapter eliminates bulk of multiple bowls.
Using baby pins and lightweight stands is not optimal, but it's good enough for the two shots I built this for. I can always upgrade when needed.
Pack the pipes in foam insulation tubes
The kit
It all fits in a $5 bag I got from the local recycle store. I'm not a big fan of Pelican-style hard cases. I have plenty of them, but I prefer a soft case for things like this. I don't travel. A nice tight fit and less bulk than a hard case.
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