03 Mar 2010, Posted by David Torcivia in Articles,Filmmaking,General, 0 Comments

DIY – The IKEA Dolly

IKEA, famed for their cheap (in every sense of the word) products, has apparently, unwittingly created an ideal dolly track. IKEAhacker Romain has found that an unassuming side shelving unit named IVAR ($15) makes an ideal, affordable, smooth, and lightweight dolly track.

The dolly itself seems to be a large board (perhaps laminate?) with metal S brackets: one end attached to the board, the center to a vertically aligned Rollerblade wheel (smoother than skateboard wheels), and the third attached horizontally to the bottom of the S as a guide. There are six sets of wheels to spread out the weight, but I am not sure if the dolly could take the weight of someone standing on it (though I assume it couldn’t). The setup is cheap, lightweight, and very smooth for a low-weight camera. A tremendously clever use of unassuming supplies.

[IKEA Hacker]