As mentioned on numerous posts, like every other photographer these days I’m making the leap into video.  While equipment is relatively affordable things can quickly add up especially when you start getting into the numerous needed accessories.  I knew a dolly was going to be a necessary purchase pretty early on and I had been eyeing the great kit offered at Microdolly, but at around 2000.00 it was a bit more than I wanted invest this early on.  Through word of mouth from my assistants I heard of a photographer that built a dolly for 18 Euros via the blog Ikea Hacker with the use of the Ivar shelf from Ikea.  This is not an original idea on my part.  We gathered the photos and some info in the comments on the blog and set out to build our own version. The info provided was pretty rough so I thought it would be useful to post how we built our version.  Straight off the 18 Euro price tag is not at all accurate, the Ivar rail you need from ikea costs roughly that alone.

This is what we came up with and what you will need to build your own dolly:

Item:                                                                Price:

- (12) 6″ corner brace “L” bracket              $ 36

- (30) 5/16″  bolt  2 in. length                    $ 5

- (6)   5/16″  bolt  1 in. length                     $ 2

- (24) 5/16″ washers                                     $ 4

- (54) 5/16″ nuts                                            $ 5

- (12) roller blade wheels w/ abec 5 bearings      $ 80

- (1) Ikea Ivar side unit 20 x 89″               $ 25

- (1) flagpole holder                                      $ 8

- (2) grip tape                                                $10

- (1) MDF board                                           $ 40

- (1) broom stick                                           $ 3

Total:                                                             $ 218

And a few photos to help with the building process:

The parts.

Greg cuts the MDF to size.

The wheel assembly.

Attaching wheels to the base.

Wheel assembly attached to base.

Wheels set to the Ivar rail, a little nub is placed to keep from pushing past the edge.

Grip tape to add a little more friction for the tripod.

A flag holder to attach a broom pole into to serve as a push bar.

In conclusion, the dolly works amazingly well, and while not dirt cheap to build, its a great alternative to buying one.  The thing is heavy so I’m not sure you’d want one of these for regular location work.  The Ivar rail doesn’t collapse either, so again a pain to get around.  In studio though I’m very pleased wit the results.

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