DIY dolly/ slider?

B

brettzdamn

Ive been wanting to make a DIY dolly/slider for quite some time now. For some fun i decided to search on ebay for one and i found this.....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/320752766988?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

I saw a bid going for them so i thought what the Hell its cheap enough i might as well try it out right?

I won the auction for 18 bucks including shipping.

Has any one had any experience with these wheels?

I also found this youtube video of them but its made by the seller so idk how honest it is...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmRxEsQACdY

Let me know what you all think!

If i posted this in wrong spot feel free to move it for me. Thanks!
 
It looks like you're not bidding on a dolly but on 4 really crummy skateboard wheels that you have to assemble in a DIY dolly project.
I'd pass.
Have you looked at the Igus sliders?
I have one, pretty cool.
 
What it is, is the wheels and the metal platform if you look at the pictures on the ebay. If you bolt it on to a peice of plywood then use pipes as the track i think you might be able to get some pretty sexy looking footage.
 
Actually, that's not a bad deal. Skateboard wheels don't come for free. And you're not just getting the wheels, but bearings, and a mount. All that, for $25, that's kinda a good deal, actually.

The rest of the construction will be easy.
 
I just watched the video. That looks legit to me. I've constructed a skateboard wheel, PVC pipe dolly and track, and the wheels are the most complicated part. They've made it easy for you. As you can see in the video, you can just screw this into a pre-cut piece of plywood. And don't worry about weight -- you won't be riding on it, just the camera and tripod.

I think this would be a pretty solid purchase. I would do it, in an instant.
 
You guys are going to hate me, but I'm against all things DIY.

Every time I spend money buying stuff and making it myself (I don't do it often, but I recently bought the IGUS slider), I find that it takes a hell of a lot of time and in the end I save 50 bucks, and the end result always has some flaw that makes the final output less than desirable, and so I find that the entire effort and money spent to save that 50 bucks was wasted.

I'd save money and buy something else. Use the time spent on learning how to make this and then making it and drilling imperfect holes, on actually making money mowing a lawn or something and then use that money to buy a better slider/dolly. That's my brilliant idea :)
 
trueindie said:
You guys are going to hate me, but I'm against all things DIY.

Every time I spend money buying stuff and making it myself (I don't do it often, but I recently bought the IGUS slider), I find that it takes a hell of a lot of time and in the end I save 50 bucks, and the end result always has some flaw that makes the final output less than desirable, and so I find that the entire effort and money spent to save that 50 bucks was wasted.

I'd save money and buy something else. Use the time spent on learning how to make this and then making it and drilling imperfect holes, on actually making money mowing a lawn or something and then use that money to buy a better slider/dolly. That's my brilliant idea :)
Click to expand...

I hate you. :grumpy:

Kidding, of course. :) However, I think you've got the DIY thing wrong. With these wheels, the OP will save a whole lot more than $50.

The cheapest Igus slider I can find runs $160, and that gets you a whopping 40 inches of sliding ability.

With these wheels, I could build a dolly/track system for less than $50, and that would be about 20 feet of dollying ability (and it would only cost a few bucks to add another 8 feet). And it would take me about 2 hours to complete the project. And that's including time spent at Lowes, and in traffic.
 
I was just researching inexpensive dollies today, and found that kessler crane had really decent stuff for 1-2 grand.

Their systems are well engineered, precision machined, and have electronic control systems that will slide 20 feet during a 7 hour timelapse without the slightest skip.

For just 1k you can get the Philip Bloom Pocket Dolly, which looks really great for travel, and smaller shots.

I have to agree with some posters above, that when you make camera equipment from stuff at home depot, you don't usually get the same results as companies that do years of testing and refinements. Kessler seems quite reasonable. They have a super cheap 50' track system also.

http://www.kesslercrane.com/kflex-s/107.htm

and for higher precision and believe it or not motion controll (repathing)

http://www.kesslercrane.com/shuttle-pod-s/87.htm
 
trueindie said:
You guys are going to hate me, but I'm against all things DIY.

Every time I spend money buying stuff and making it myself (I don't do it often, but I recently bought the IGUS slider), I find that it takes a hell of a lot of time and in the end I save 50 bucks, and the end result always has some flaw that makes the final output less than desirable, and so I find that the entire effort and money spent to save that 50 bucks was wasted.

I'd save money and buy something else. Use the time spent on learning how to make this and then making it and drilling imperfect holes, on actually making money mowing a lawn or something and then use that money to buy a better slider/dolly. That's my brilliant idea :)
Click to expand...

What? The Igus slider takes about 12 minutes to put together. Drill a hole and thread it. Done. Come on!
 
Cracker Funk said:
The cheapest Igus slider I can find runs $160, and that gets you a whopping 40 inches of sliding ability.
Click to expand...

The Igus is for short pulls. You can get them longer, but it will be very very difficult to get a steady smooth slide. Sliders aren't dollies. They're originally conceived (by Panavision I think) for small adjustments on over the shoulder shots for dialog driven scenes.
 
yuppp and i only paid 18 for it! but ill let you all know how good/ or bad it is when i receive and put it together! Ill even put up some test shots!
 
brianluce said:
What? The Igus slider takes about 12 minutes to put together. Drill a hole and thread it. Done. Come on!
Click to expand...

I agree. And it gets beautiful shots too, when you just push and do a philip bloom kind of sliding shot of nature. Try pushing and rotating that tripod head to follow human motion. There is so much movement/rotation/tilt/ friction that you wonder why you bought the stupid thing. You ask yourself "Am I philip bloom? Am I going to remain content with sliding shots of flowers and mountains in the distance?" When you realize the answer is no, then you have to start thinking beyond the igus.

then you realize that the 150 you paid wasn't quite worth 150.

That's my experience. Maybe I just don't know how to use the damn thing
 
trueindie said:
I agree. And it gets beautiful shots too, when you just push and do a philip bloom kind of sliding shot of nature. Try pushing and rotating that tripod head to follow human motion. There is so much movement/rotation/tilt/ friction that you wonder why you bought the stupid thing. You ask yourself "Am I philip bloom? Am I going to remain content with sliding shots of flowers and mountains in the distance?" When you realize the answer is no, then you have to start thinking beyond the igus.

then you realize that the 150 you paid wasn't quite worth 150.

That's my experience. Maybe I just don't know how to use the damn thing
Click to expand...

You should be able to do that -- slide and pan/tilt. Are you using a large camera? Anything much bigger than a 5d will be difficult. Is your rig stripped down? Needs to be. No monitors, shotguns etc. Try pulling instead of pushing if possible, it's smoother. And try and use large muscle groups to move the carriage, for example, using forearm muscles won't work well. Dragging your hand along the rail also smooths the slide. Carriage properly torqued? Last, shoot as wide as possible. You can do it! And btw, I am not Phil Bloom either although I too used to make infomercials -- which is what his videos are -- they've got everything except "Wait! There's more!"
 
thanks for the tips Brian :)

I still use it. I just find that it's difficult to do all the things I thought it would do easily. But I'll heed your words next time I plan something with it.
 
hey, $18 plus shipping? where could you go wrong? Thats about the cost of supplies. Worst case scenario, you improve on the design. I knew some guys with a setup like this, they found the wheels made a bit of noise so they traded them out for roller blade wheels.
 
18 including shipping ;)

and yeah thats what im saaying worst comes to worst and their a peice of shit? im only down 18 bucks. And if they are really good Im up 982 bucks :lol:
 
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