My 48" DIY Slider - $84 Bucks

M

media408

Member
Hey everyone, this is my first post here and after watching videos using a slider I just had to have one.

I'm lucky enough to have an Uncle who also happens to be an Engineer. The guy is super creative and knows where to buy things. I sent him some links to sliders and basically asked him if he could help me build one. A week later, this is what we decided to go with:

All parts were purchased from McMaster-Carr online and shipped directly to my home. Both the rail and the guide are clear anodized aluminum.

1. 48" Rail (2" Width) - Part #60585K2 - $23.30
http://www.mcmaster.com/#60585k2/=bjom7h

2. Plain-Bearing Guide for 2" Rail - Part #60585K37 - $61.41
http://www.mcmaster.com/#60585k37/=bjomlc

This was an easy setup - we basically only needed to drill and tap six holes and cut some plastic to make some rail-stops.

One hole on the Guide to hold the camera mount (tripod head).
One hole on the Rail to mount it to the tripod.
Four holes on the ends of the rails for the stops.

Here is what it looks like:

P1000034.jpg


P1000032.jpg


P1000037.jpg


P1000036.jpg


P1000031.jpg


P1000030.jpg


P1000141.jpg


P1000146.jpg


P1000147.jpg


These holes are already there, they just need to be tapped:

P1000148.jpg


The shims (plastic layers):

P1000149.jpg


This is the first slider I have ever owned. I'm not sure how the other sliders I've seen "flow", but this one is pretty darn smooth. I will post some test shots soon with both my HMC-150 and GH2. My personal take is that my carbon fiber tripod works pretty well, but I may use one of my other tripods that has a little bit more weight to it. It comes with shims and it only took me about 10 minutes to remove all of the "play" out of the guide.

Let me know your thoughts and if you have any suggestions on how to improve it let me know!

Sample video with GH2 - First try at it.... (nothing more):



Thanks!

Marce
 
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Nice job.

Also do a search for "8020 ebay" and you'll find you can order many of the parts direct from the manufacturer 8020.net. Oh, and if you're at all into timelapse stuff, check out dynamicperception.com They use 8020 track for their stuff.
 
I just bought the parts can you take out the yripid head and show mw how you mount the head to the slide assembly and how you mount the rail to your yripod . My order came with 2 pitch fork shape materials .. What are those and when do uou use it?

my
media408 said:
Hey everyone, this is my first post here and after watching videos using a slider I just had to have one.

I'm lucky enough to have an Uncle who also happens to be an Engineer. The guy is super creative and knows where to buy things. I sent him some links to sliders and basically asked him if he could help me build one. A week later, this is what we decided to go with:

All parts were purchased from McMaster-Carr online and shipped directly to my home. Both the rail and the guide are clear anodized aluminum.

1. 48" Rail (2" Width) - Part #60585K2 - $23.30
http://www.mcmaster.com/#60585k2/=bjom7h

2. Plain-Bearing Guide for 2" Rail - Part #60585K37 - $61.41
http://www.mcmaster.com/#60585k37/=bjomlc

This was an easy setup - we basically only needed to drill and tap six holes and cut some plastic to make some rail-stops.

One hole on the Guide to hold the camera mount (tripod head).
One hole on the Rail to mount it to the tripod.
Four holes on the ends of the rails for the stops.

Here is what it looks like:

P1000034.jpg


P1000032.jpg


P1000037.jpg


P1000036.jpg


P1000031.jpg


P1000030.jpg



This is the first slider I have ever owned. I'm not sure how the other sliders I've seen "flow", but this one is pretty darn smooth. I will post some test shots soon with both my HMC-150 and GH2. My personal take is that my carbon fiber tripod works pretty well, but I may use one of my other tripods that has a little bit more weight to it. It comes with shims and it only took me about 10 minutes to remove all of the "play" out of the guide.

Let me know your thoughts and if you have any suggestions on how to improve it let me know!

Sample video with GH2 - First try at it.... (nothing more):



Thanks!

Marce
Click to expand...
 
PhilF said:
I just bought the parts can you take out the yripid head and show mw how you mount the head to the slide assembly and how you mount the rail to your yripod . My order came with 2 pitch fork shape materials .. What are those and when do uou use it?

my
Click to expand...

I believe the pitchfork shaped materials that you are referring to are the shims. If you looks closely you can actually peel away layers as needed and place them between the white plastic slides and the carrier itself. I'll take a photo of the screw mounts in more detail and post tonight. If you have any other questions let me know!
 
Hey everyone, I added photos to the original post that include where we drilled and tapped holes. If you need any more photos let me know.
 
media408 said:
I believe the pitchfork shaped materials that you are referring to are the shims. If you looks closely you can actually peel away layers as needed and place them between the white plastic slides and the carrier itself. I'll take a photo of the screw mounts in more detail and post tonight. If you have any other questions let me know!
Click to expand...
thank you....

how about the holes where you mount the tripod? can you show me how you drill the hole and how you mount it.... thank you so much !!! you rock !!!

By the way, what kind of type of screw are you using for the tripod mount and what size... pardon the ignorance in screw type and sizes.
 
I bit the bullet and ordered this set up....... WOW! What a great slider!!! Smooth as silk and easy to customize. I love that it keeps the camera captive.

Thanks so much for this Marce!
 
How about adding feet to it? Any thoughts-I'm definitely considering this. I must tell you I owned a pocket dolly from Kessler, (it was fantastic!), but I wasn't utilizing it enough to justify/offset the cost. So I had to sell.
I would love to give this a go- possibly build off of it, maybe build a crank/pulley system, add rubber feet, etc.

I love it, great work Marce

Z
 
alignment1 said:
How about adding feet to it? Any thoughts-I'm definitely considering this. I must tell you I owned a pocket dolly from Kessler, (it was fantastic!), but I wasn't utilizing it enough to justify/offset the cost. So I had to sell.
I would love to give this a go- possibly build off of it, maybe build a crank/pulley system, add rubber feet, etc.

I love it, great work Marce

Z
Click to expand...

Mine is 6 feet long. Will set it up for a tripod on each end and I'm thinking about different feet options ...........
 
alignment1 said:
How about adding feet to it? Any thoughts-I'm definitely considering this. I must tell you I owned a pocket dolly from Kessler, (it was fantastic!), but I wasn't utilizing it enough to justify/offset the cost. So I had to sell.
I would love to give this a go- possibly build off of it, maybe build a crank/pulley system, add rubber feet, etc.

I love it, great work Marce

Z
Click to expand...

Thank you very much! Nice to know some people have gone this route - and the 80/20 folks just reached out and asked if they could publish my photos so we may see more of this type of setup soon. 80/20 has a plethora of parts to choose from so you can pretty much make any length of slider that will suit your needs. Let me know if you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to help!
 
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skeptismo said:
Pretty cool. How heavy is the rail and carriage together? I'm looking into making something portable.
Click to expand...

The components are all aluminum so it's fairly light and easy to transport. My brother has several friends who are professional skateboarders, and when their videographer saw the slider he immediately asked if he could have it. ;-) He said it was longer and lighter than what he had used in the past.
 
media408 said:
Thank you very much! Nice to know some people have gone this route - and the 80/20 folks just reached out and asked if they could publish my photos so we may see more of this type of setup soon. 80/20 has a plethora of parts to choose from so you can pretty much make any length of slider that will suit your needs. Let me know if you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to help!
Click to expand...

Can you provide link to pics?

Thanks
 
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