Introduction: Removable Tripod Dolly Feet
This is a project based on the great instructable by fungus amungus. See his work over here.
I loved the idea of making my gorillapod into a dolly, but mine is the video edition, and a bit smaller than the original. I use it with a glif to take video with my iphone. One advantage to the video gorillapod is that it has magnetic feet. I figured I could use some metal brackets and some bearings to make removable feet to make my tripod a dolly when I wanted it, and then remove them when I didn't want them. It worked out pretty well! I picked all this hardware up at the store for under $8.00.
Tools:
Screwdriver
Permanent Marker (optional)
Pliers or Vise (optional)
Dremel or Grinder (optional)
Supplies:
4 1" corner brackets
4 7/8" tub enclosure sliding door rollers (oval)
I loved the idea of making my gorillapod into a dolly, but mine is the video edition, and a bit smaller than the original. I use it with a glif to take video with my iphone. One advantage to the video gorillapod is that it has magnetic feet. I figured I could use some metal brackets and some bearings to make removable feet to make my tripod a dolly when I wanted it, and then remove them when I didn't want them. It worked out pretty well! I picked all this hardware up at the store for under $8.00.
Tools:
Screwdriver
Permanent Marker (optional)
Pliers or Vise (optional)
Dremel or Grinder (optional)
Supplies:
4 1" corner brackets
4 7/8" tub enclosure sliding door rollers (oval)
Step 1: Screw the Wheel Onto the Bracket
Screw the wheel onto the bracket through one of the holes. Make sure you put the wheel on the inside of the bend, so that the weight of the tripod isn't working to tip the wheel over.
That is it! You can attach the feet to the magnetic feet of your tripod. It will now roll as long as it is standing upright. To get some more flexibility you can round off the corners of the bracket. I will cover that in the next step.
That is it! You can attach the feet to the magnetic feet of your tripod. It will now roll as long as it is standing upright. To get some more flexibility you can round off the corners of the bracket. I will cover that in the next step.
Step 2: Round Off the Corners of the Bracket
Use a permanent marker to mark off what parts of the bracket you want to remove. Remove the wheel by unscrewing it, then just cut those parts off with a cutting wheel, and grind the sharp edges off with a grinding wheel. Takes a couple minutes for each foot, but makes a huge difference.
You may also want to use a little sand paper to roughed up the wheels so that they have better traction and to take off any plastic nubs left from the molding process.
You may also want to use a little sand paper to roughed up the wheels so that they have better traction and to take off any plastic nubs left from the molding process.
Step 3: Improvise
I'm sure that there are many more tweaks to make these things more useful. I already have plans to put plasti-dip on the wheels for better traction as the smooth plastic tends to slip. The wheels are also designed to fit into a channel on a tub, so one of those would let you set up a fixed route dolly shot. These feet are small enough that I throw them into a little cloth bag and they go right into my daily go bag with the tripod and mount.
Good luck with your own project!
Good luck with your own project!