OK, I just finished building my circular track and dolly, replete with bendable (but still cheap) track, angled wheels on pivots, and a five-disc CD changer.

I'm driving to the desert Kerouac-style tomorrow morning, so I won't be able to post anything for awhile. When I get back, though, I promise pictures of the track in all its glory in all my backyard. And, if there's interest, I'll put some instructions up here.

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five-disc CD changer

ohh, you didn't go for the dvd player with individual lcd screens for each passenger? Darn!

Looking foreward to some pics. And perhaps sample footage????

A five disc CD changer? What is that and what do you need it on a dolly for?

Also looking foreword to pictures, and if it looks good instructions (with budget?)

VERY interested. Keep us updated.

I'll try to post pictures Saturday. Just got back from the f***ing desert.

Haha Harris, wtf. Why did you go to the desert? Me thinks you did some peyote buttons? Am I right or am I right!!!! You've got some explaining to do. Seriously, I want to hear all about it. I've always wanted to do some Jack Kerouac type stuff.

OK, here we go.

The platform is a piece of super-thick plywood, cut into about a 28” x 40” chunk. I cut four holes in that, one in each corner, with a drill bit I’ve never seen before that my dad found in his garage. It drills 2” diameter circles through wood up to 1” thick. Pretty cool stuff. I’m sure you can find the bit at Lowe’s.

Into these holes you’re going to fit the stem portions of four PVC T-joints, which are, conveniently, of a 2” diameter. The fit should be pretty tight, but not so tight as to prevent a little swivel. Sanding down the cuts in the plywood will help.

Then, you need to find a long metal bracket. The one I got was about 4’ and full of holes on either side. I have no idea what its actual purpose is –- probably for building roofs or something. Anyway, I got it from Lowe’s. You cut this piece into four pieces, anywhere from 7” to 1’ long, and you jam them through the middle of the T-joints so that you have metal L-tips poking out from the plastic. Use a hammer; it can be difficult.

Mount the wheels on the metal ends poking out the T-joints. The wheels are skateboard wheels, mounted via bolts, nuts and washers. All of this, minus the skateboard wheels, I bought from Lowe’s.

That’s about it. I used a hinge to attach a stripped 2x4 to one end of the plywood so that someone can more easily push me around on the dolly while I film or sleep or whatever.

And finally, I used a 100' coil of PEP 1" pipe, which is quite flexible, though it easily retains a steady curvature. I cut the length in two, though not quite in half, because obviously the outside piece of track will need to be longer than the inside. It might have been a good idea to use 1-1/4" pipe or even 1-1/2", but that would have been more rigid -- and more expensive.

Yeah, I give feeble instructions. Maybe these pictures will help. Cane! Sugar!




The wheels and bracket and T-joint, all thrown together.





Another angle.





That's the hole I drilled.





A close-up of the wheels gliding on the track. WHOOSH!





Thar she blows in all her glory.





A slightly closer shot.





Hinge holding the pushy stick to the plywood.





Here's just the plywood and pushy stick, with no wheels.





Be careful about this. After a few uses, the brackets bow out from the weight of whoever is standing on the plywood. For now, it works to keep bending the metal back into place, but that will wear before too long. I weigh about 180, and the tripod and camera I used weighed about 20 together, so, in a perfect world, that's approximately 13 pounds on each wheel.





And here I am with Spring Heeled Jack in the desert. It was vast and empty, like my soul or something gay like that. I bought a kickass hat out there, too.

- Harris

Dam Dirty Apes

wow very nice system you got there

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I Am Reatardedededededdddeeeeddddeeeeedddd

Very nice! May I ask approximately what a 100' coil of the PEP pipe costs? Is it an irrigation pipe? Where would one find it?

You know, I think PEP may actually be a brand name, but I'm not sure. It's used for plumbing, like PVC, but it's more flexible. I bought mine at Lowe's for about $30, I think. It comes wrapped up in these big coils.

That bit that drills a hole in stuff is called a dremel, harris. Boo ya!

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Be careful about this. After a few uses, the brackets bow out from the weight of whoever is standing on the plywood. For now, it works to keep bending the metal back into place, but that will wear before too long.

Why not try a piece of hollow square section steel and drill holes in 2 adjoining faces to allow access to the bolt heads with a socket wrench? That would be much stronger than an L bracket.

The bit is probably a forstner bit...

I'm going to make my dolly before the next project I shoot.

Any suggestions for cheap skateboard wheels and bearings? I don't want to spend more than $40-50 on that part.

thats a lovely looking desert! Whatd you film???

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That bit that drills a hole in stuff is called a dremel, harris. Boo ya!

You're a dremel.

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Why not try a piece of hollow square section steel and drill holes in 2 adjoining faces to allow access to the bolt heads with a socket wrench? That would be much stronger than an L bracket.

That's a good idea. Might take some work to make it fit through the T-joints, but it would be much stronger.

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thats a lovely looking desert! Whatd you film???

Just candid vacation crap mostly. I didn't go for the purpose of filming. Mostly I wanted to see how long I could survive sleeping in freezing rest area parking lots and eating nothing but Little Debbie's. It lasted five days, and I'll never touch another Little Debbie as long as I live...

Just kidding. I love those damn things.

candid vacation crap is where its at!

Evan, you can pick up cheap crappy skateboards at wal-mart or where ever for $10-$20, i think you need two sets of wheels, so that's be $20-$40 for those...or you could just kick the crap outta some skater kids, they're getting younger everyday...so find some 11 year olds or so and there you go.

[edit] didn't thinkabout it long enough...you're gonna need 4 sets of wheels it looks like. so it looks like you might need to sink as low as the $10 boards, lol

Yep - 12 or 16 wheels are necessary (for a triangular or rectangular setup). Those cheap Wal-Mart boards don't have bearings, either, but cheap plastic bushings. Trust me, I always check Wal-Mart for cheap projects

Cheap wheels on eBay are $10 for 4. I'm sure bearings look like at least $5 for 8. That would be $50 for wheels and bearings, but counting shipping, probably closer to $60-65.

For my current project, I figured out I can shoot it from a slowly moving car driving parallel to the actor...

you sure they don't have bearings? i thought they did...

From what I read on the website, they use plastic bushings.

Sorry I missed your question earlier, Evan. I didn't see it at the bottom of your post there.

The wheels I used came off miniature skateboards. I found them at Wal-Mart for $5 each (that's $5 for one mini-skateboard with four wheels). I can't remember whether I found them in the toys section or the sporting goods section, and I know I haven't been able to find them at every Wal-Mart, so you might have trouble locating them.

The bearings I made with nuts and bolts from Lowe's. They're cheap. I think a 5/16 bolt fit the wheels I had perfectly, so I stuck one of those through each wheel and secured it on the opposite end with nuts. See the image of the bent bracket.

In total, I probably spent just under $30 for the wheels and bearings.