Table Top Dollies

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tonacidigital

Well-known member
Mine is coming in tommorow. I will post footage this weekend. I always wanted that P+S Skater dolly but no way I could afford the 5-6 grand price tag. Thank goodness I stumbled upon Seth's creation. You can order at http://www.axisdolly.com

The cool thing is that you can expand it to work with tripods for dolly shots.
***update: test demo here: http://homepage.mac.com/tonesto/hvx/FileSharing42.html
 

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I don't even care if this is a plug. I've been looking (read: lusting) at that P+S skater dolly too. Please let us know what you think of this.
 
I know, I was joking.. anyways.. I notice a couple things that differ that Iwould like to see improved in the Axis, The wheel and degree is, one on top of eachother. That 2" can make a differnce. Also t they dont look like rollerblade wheels, with 5/8 bolts. so that concerns me, Alo What about creating a cheap but stable version on the head they have on it with a +/- 30 tilt. And those locking mechanisism, man so many people use those, ugly and big.. I would love to see REAL video of this in use, including pics with all the angles one can get. One more thing and not the last, but The letter, only one letter and only on the inside, so some shots will be hard to lamd marker if you cant see the inside due the confinement. these are just my opinions by looking and comparing.
 
The above looks different from whats on the web page. The axis on the web page looks to be modular which is pretty sweet. You can add and subtract casters, legs, spreader etc. Even the shape above is different from the web page.
 
ya the one you are refering to is for tripods. You can See where the tripod would sit.. The other is for the table tracking.
 
Hey guys. I was looking around and found this thread. I'm the guy making these. I won't list the site becasue I'm not here to plug, but I thought I'd address some of the comments.

First of all, I'm open to any and all suggestions, criticisms, comments, etc., so let them fly.

Also, tonacidigital, I hope things are going smoothly with the dolly. Let me know! I can't wait to see what you film.

The image pictured above was from the first version of the dolly. The dolly now available is much different. Let's see. SurJones, you've got some very good somments. The casters on this dolly do add an additional 2 inches to the dolly height, but there are three reasons I designed it this way. 1) If I put them inside the dolly body to lower the overall height, it would be an infringement on a company that you all know of's intellectual property rights (patent) and I'm not about to go that route. My patent wouldn't get approved if it had wheels built into the body. 2) It is far more expensive to construct the dolly that way, and my whole point in creating this dolly was to make it available to any independent film maker types that can't afford other more expensive and outrageously over priced products. 3) I wanted to make it multi-functional and expandable so it can be used with a tripod or as a small dolly. The body of the full size tripod dolly is actually the small dolly body now.

The caster design has been updated and has a dual wheel design now. Again the whole point of this design was to keep the product affordable, which is why a tilt mechanism isn't included, but I've actually designed one that will be available in a couple months as an accessory. Affordablity is also why the knobs are used for locking the wheels, but this design is actually far stronger than any other locking mechanism would be, even if it isn't as pretty. I see what you are saying about the letter. I tested it thoroughy, and it never got obstructed, however I'll make sure that on the next run of degree plates there will be "letters" all the way around the plate. A good suggestion. Thank you.

I just got back from Los Angeles last week promoting the dolly, which went very well, and it's been raining this week, so I haven't yet filmed the demo video to put up on the web site, but I will be doing that this week. I'll drop a note here when the video is online.

Again, the point of making this dolly was to make it affordable, but not at the expense of quality. There are a few asthetic things that could be improved, I agree, but it would increase the cost and wouldn't be as strong. It is stronger than any dolly 3 times its price. When the dolly is assembled for tripod use, I can actually stand on the center point of the dolly and it might bend an eighth of an inch, and I weigh 230 lbs. It is STRONG. Solid 1/2 inch aluminum, which isn't cheap.

Please, guys, I welcome the criticisms and suggestions to make this a better product, and I take them all to mind. This product will evolve in the future and I want it to be the best dolly on the market. So far, it's been going great. The response has been awesome.

I don't mean to ramble on, so I'll leave it at that.

Thanks... and this is an awesome forum! I'm going to try and get involved.
 
Hey guys, I'll be using this on monday for my music video. I'm shooting a scene where I am following the footsteps of the artist as he walks past his mom sleeping on the floor. I will also be using this to do some 360 pans for another scene. This came just in time as I am wrapping up the music video. I completed one version to meet the deadline for a local film festival..and I am now adding additional scenes to make the video even better. The video will launch in august.
 
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updated.. check out footage. I did this on bumpy, not so flat tile. On a perfect surface this puppy glides with perfection. I'll post better demos this weekend.

my take thus far? worth every penny. I love it..and the fact it expands to a regular full size dolly for your tripod is icing on the cake. This is the perfect alternative to the skater dolly by P+S.

download:
http://homepage.mac.com/tonesto/hvx/FileSharing42.html
 
Nice capture! I'm so glad you are happy with the Axis Dolly.

Turing: Currently I don't have one for sale, but I am working on one right now as an accessory. The thing is after I speak with customers, most want to make one their selves since it is less expensive, especially with the size and weight of a platform contributing to high shipping costs.

The accessory I'll be offering on the web site will be 4 small "legs" which you attach to a cut piece of wood (most people cut a 4x8 sheet to the size they want). They will be adjustable by twisting the leg which will increase/decrease its distance from the wood allowing leveling. I've chosen to offer the legs without the board because the cost to ship the platform could be 2 to 5 times the cost of the platform. Shipping on just the legs will be very low. Also, this way you can have the size platform you want. I suggest purchasing 3/4 inch 4x8 sheet finished wood (many kinds have a smooth surface) at Home Depot. Make sure it is a hard wood, which is a bit heavier, but not fiber board as it flexes easily, and have them cut it there. My suggestion would be to have them cut it length-wise down the center, and cut one of the pieces into 3 and 5 foot lengths. This way you have 8, 5, and 3 foot options at 2 feet wide each. I currently use shims to level. I also bought spray glue and felt and adhered the felt to one side of the pieces of wood, which I place face down on anything I don't want scratched. It works perfectly.

The other option I use is I bought an 9x9 sheet of white laminate from Home Depot which rolls up easily and lays flat easily. It is very smooth and is great to use on top of surfaces that aren't quite smooth enough. It is light weight and easily transportable. It is also a very nice material to have in the background for product shots.

I'll keep you up to date as accessories are released. In the meantime, good old shims should do the trick. If you need something sooner, I can fabricate something for you, but it won't be inexpensive. When the design is done and I manufacture several of them, you'll benefit with regard to cost.

Thanks for your interest, and please don't hesitate to ask any questions you have!

Seth Wise
www.axisdolly.com
 
Chayse,

The Axis Dolly runs on 1-1/2 inch pipe or on smooth surfaces (without track) depending on the casters you use. The track casters can easily be used with aluminum angle with a simple modification, too. The track option is great and works like a standard track dolly, but you are pretty much limited in that case to the shape of the track, which is usually straight.

Thanks for your interest.

Seth Wise
www.axisdolly.com
 
AxisGuy said:
Chayse,

The Axis Dolly runs on 1-1/2 inch pipe or on smooth surfaces (without track) depending on the casters you use. The track casters can easily be used with aluminum angle with a simple modification, too. The track option is great and works like a standard track dolly, but you are pretty much limited in that case to the shape of the track, which is usually straight.

Thanks for your interest.

Seth Wise
www.axisdolly.com
Click to expand...

Pretty cool. How does it handle on snow? Has anyone used this product in the back country or on ski hills? Do you sell the track?
 
AxisGuy- Looks very smart . . . nice work! If you ever decide to make a basic version out of plywood at a "entry level price point" for us 'po folk I'd be interested. In the mean time, sell a million of 'em!

Best.
 
Hey guys. I thought I'd address some of your questions.

Chayse:

I'm not sure what you mean by how does the dolly handle on snow. The dolly does need a smooth surface or track to run on. The same goes for back country or ski hills. In those cases I would suggest either setting up a track or using a piece of plywood as a smooth surface. I also offer pneumatic (air) casters which are great for smoothing out uneven surfaces in out door use. They use 10 inch pneumatic wheels which easily smooth out small bumps or cracks in roads, concrete, brick surfaces, etc.

I'm not currently offering track as it is available at any hardware store like Home Depot and it will be far less expensive for you to buy from there than pay high shipping charges from me (it's long and could be heavy). It will be probably 3 or 4 time less expensive to buy 1-1/2 inch pvc from Hope Depot.
I will be offering aluminum angle track sometime in the next few months.
I'm not sure if I answered your question about using it in the snow, so please elaborate if I missed your point.

Dregenthal:

I really thought this was an entry level price point. There are several reasons I'm not planning on making a version out of plywood. 1) Wood tends to warp with time even if you take care of it. 2) The integrity of the unit would be low. Wood is far less strong and could break, crack, or bend far mor easily. 3) Making the body of the unit from wood would only save you, the customer, about $100. It doesn't seem like a big enough savings to me to make it worth while.

The other thing is I refuse to sacrifice quality. I'm really not making much on the Axis Dolly. I want to offer a superior product at a great price point. Right now, with the special pricing I'm offering right now on the full system, I'm just about breaking even. I'm in the black, but just barely. I don't want to reduce the quality of the dolly to increase profits. I want to keep a kick *ss system within independent film makers' budgets. The price is now $999 for the full system on special. The price will normally be $1299 for the full system. To give you guys an idea, my accountant told me that we should be charging $2499 for the full system, but definitely no less than $2000.

If you want a small linear dolly (no curved movement) I am offering one at $399, and am offering it at $299 to the first 5 buyers. It is of the same quality of the Axis Dolly. I've included some photos below. It isn't listed on the web site yet, so if it is more along the lines of what you are looking for, email me from the web site.

Thanks,
Seth

axisL4.jpg


axisL2.jpg


axisL1.jpg

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