Hey Guys and Ladies!! I am building a camera dolly. I have seen a lot with the skateboard wheels. I was at sports store and found 16 kid roller blade wheels for $16 ($1 each, cant really beat that). So what one is better or have you had more luck on?

Will this dolly be built to run along PVC track or something similar? If so, I would go with skateboard wheels. They're wider than roller blade wheels and circumferentially smaller, so they can handle the 90 degree mounted angle better and fit a wider range of pipe size.

I used wheels off those tiny little skateboards (I guess they're made for infants or something?). I found some in a sports equipment store for $5 apiece, so that's $1.25 per wheel. Whene I bought them, I thought I could use the axles, too, but I ended up buying new bolts and nuts from a hardware store.

Yes this dolly will be on a 15' Run of PVC pipe. The cheapiest skateboard wheels i can find in $14.95 for a set of 4.

if you want some cheap wheels, you may try going to a skate shop, and see if they sell any used ones (won't make much a difference to you, unless they're in really bad condition). just make sure you have beargins too, otherwise you're screwed.

Not sure if it is the same with Blading wheels and Boarding wheels, but when I bladed I ruined more than my fair share of bearings (inner part of the wheel) from skating in the wet at an outdoor skate park (something about the oil and water not going to well together) so you might want to take that into consideration when filming.

As I have never owned a skateboard before, I'm not sure if the situation is the same.

Yea am looking at $60 just for bearings, and those are the cheap ones!!!!

quote:

Yea am looking at $60 just for bearings, and those are the cheap ones!!!!

how many wheels do you have?

if youwant to go really cheap check out blankdecks.com

they've got some abec3 bearings for $5 a set (8 in all, two per wheel), and then a set of wheels for $10. That'd be $15 for the wheels and then whatever for shipping (It looks like $7 for shipping)...so it'd be $22 in all, which still isn't that cheap, but it's better than the $60 for bearings you were looking at.

The idea is 16 wheels, 4 in each corner. I have seen on some bigger dlooies that had like 32 wheels. But 16 is the number am going for. When i get all done all post the pics on what it looks like.

How do you plan on attaching the wheels? If you're buying only skateboard wheels, you'll have to buy trucks too, which can cost just as much and more than the wheels at skateshops. Unless you already have something rigged up or in mind, I'd still suggest buying them, they're very sturdy, adjustable, and screw right into the underside of whatever you want on roll.

Will this be a platform dolly so that someone can ride it around or will the operator just push it? I built a push dolly for about $35 with axles made from bolts, nuts, and washers. Pictures below.





I don't know who that moron is.


I also have a platform dolly, which runs on 16 wheels, but it's big and unwieldly, and I just plain hate using it.

In other news, I just finished building a vertical track in my house which allows the camera to rise up out of the floor and ascend to the rafters. I live in an unbelievably decrepit house, so I had the freedom to punch out some floor vents and drill holes in the ceiling. Someone has to stand in the attic and operate a pulley system to manuever the camera. I might post some pictures, or maybe link to some footage, later on, and probably in a different thread.

Cane! Sugar!

Dam Dirty Apes!

Yea it would be a platfrom that someone would ride on, and would be bolted together. Looking forward to seeing any pic or footage of that!!