Texanite's Acrylic Skater Dolly

thekreative

thekreative

Veteran
I just got Texanite's skater dolly in the mail today and thought I should write a review. Man is it awesome. The look is very professional and the material is top notch. He made it in the RedRock blue that I wanted so it will match all my gear once I've stopped shopping. The etched dials are amazing and it is super heavy duty. My Letus rig with monitor causes no flex at all. The P&S chart works perfectly. Smooth smooth smooth. He said he might start making more so you might want to bug him for one.

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Ferris: "It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."
 
miloca said:
How much did it cost?
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Hey there miloca. There's not really a fixed price as I'm not really selling these, if that makes sense. I basically put a few together during a prototyping process, and have been able to sell a couple which then allowed me to buy more materials and try a couple other things. There are just some things that are trial and error and the costs of having the acrylic cut built up and I was surrounded by parts, so I've been lucky enough to have some people help me through that process.

There's a great Acrylic skater thread here which has plans, instructions for builiding your own as well as a cost breakdown. My designs have been based on that and Teddybear's original plywood skater thread here. Those were the ones that initially inspired me to jump into trying to make my own. I'm changing and adjusting things all the time but both those threads have tons of info.
 
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The 501 I'm using is pretty good. Just remember that you want the camera really locked down so larger than a photo head but you don't need fluid. I.E. 501, plus they cost almost nothing for the older version like mine.
 
what the heck, me too... and i should put a pic of my dog as my avatar too.
 
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Thanks y'all. There's not really a wait list, although I'm still tweaking the design (kreative's pictures made me realize I've got to get rid of those ugly hex-nuts on the bottom!) so over the next few months I may have another test-build to get rid of. I'll post something if I end up with an extra skater up for grabs.
 
The downside is that these are still DIY and, like any DIY project, are a time-suck and kind of a pita to put together. There's toxic acrylic cement, clamps, there are a bunch of overpriced hardware parts that my local places only sometimes carry and no matter how precise the words 'laser cutting' sound, it's not and there's actually hand-tool work required even after the parts are cut. I could get a bunch made, but there's hours and hours of work to just put each one together and it's just tough to make it worth the time.

I'm wanting to put together a smaller, less intensive version but every time I get something cut, it's hundreds and hundreds of dollars just for testing. So every time I try to figure out how to make something work better or fit better or look better, I basically have to spend a chunk of money to get a new set of parts made. The good news is that every time I want to try something, I end up with an extra dolly, so it can be sort of win/win :)

Thanks
 
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Why not just sell them as incomplete kits? This is the DIY section after all!

That way it's better for everybody. Less work for you, and cheaper for us. Let us worry about putting it together and polishing. Besides, I would be interested in making my own set of upgrades to the design.
 
infurno said:
Why not just sell them as incomplete kits? This is the DIY section after all!

That way it's better for everybody. Less work for you, and cheaper for us. Let us worry about putting it together and polishing. Besides, I would be interested in making my own set of upgrades to the design.
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I second this.
 
We have some breaking news to pass along to our viewers. A large crowd has gathered outside Texanite's residence, and they are all chanting "We want kits, We want kits". We have just been informed that the National Guard has been called in as a precaution. Full story and video at 11.
 
Tommy K said:
We have some breaking news to pass along to our viewers. A large crowd has gathered outside Texanite's residence, and they are all chanting "We want kits, We want kits". We have just been informed that the National Guard has been called in as a precaution. Full story and video at 11.
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Sorry I haven't been around much, I've been fighting off the crowds at the Texanite Compound! :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

I haven't had anything cut/made in a while but just wanted to say that there's not much cost savings on a kit since it costs about $300 (give or take) just for all the parts, supplies and the cost of getting one of these cut. I've probably linked to it before, but the 'original' acrylic skater thread has a pretty specific breakdown of costs. I think he spent something like $250 and that was doing ALL the cutting himself!

The other issue is that, as much as laser cutting sounds really precise and specific, it's not. Depending on the laser's power (heat?) the amount of material that's burned away has been different every time I've gotten stuff cut. Also, the acrylic itself almost always seems to vary in thickness (1/4" isn't always 1/4" thick) depending on which batch (or brand?) of acrylic that they have and I'm still hand-sanding parts to get them to fit perfectly. So the idea of selling 'kits' makes me nervous when somebody might get a bunch of parts that don't fit together just right and then they don't know what to do.

I'm working on a rocker mount and will hopefully have more pics in the near future.

Thanks!
 
I think the entire purpose of a skater dolly is to enable a camera to circle around an object (and thus the wheels have to be able to rotate).

what you are suggesting is a miniature track dolly
 
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