Camera Slider / Dolly

Introduction

This is the first version of an almost fully 3D printed camera slider, using 10mm O/D carbon fibre rods and 4mm O/D PTFE solid rods as inserts for the bearings. I see this more as a proof of concept as my main aim is to make a small motorised version for time lapse photography, to be used with a GoPro primarily but also other small cameras and phones.

I wanted something light so it's good for hiking or travelling and this is also a way of testing the prototype bearings out.

There is a short video showing a basic assembly, as well as a quick video test and basic strength test. https://youtu.be/EmyTxzf4ODk

Printing

Everything is designed to be printed without support, you may have to flip/rotate some of the files to get them orientated (I sometimes accidentally use a different plane in Inventor).

I printed all of these at 0.2mm resolution with an infil of 30-40 percent. However, I would uses 50-60% for the end plates as the M3 bolts that lock the 10mm carbon fibre tubes, can split the layers if over tightened or if you have weak layer to layer adhesion. Turning the heat up to the upper end of your filaments temperature range can help with this.

I have also included .STP files as this might make it easier for anyone who wants to tweak the design.

Required Parts

Bearings

4mm PTFE rod - each bearing takes 4 x 30mm of rod, so 480mm in total. PTFE tube may well work here, but not tested as the rod was cheap from a UK supplier (far cheaper than Ebay or Aliexpress).

Carbon fibre Rods

2 x 10mm O/D x 500mm carbon fibre rods

End plates & Legs

4 x M5x20mm bolts (I used capped head here) 4 x M5 hex nuts 4 x M3x12mm or M3x16mm bolts (I used capped head here) 4 x M3 washers (these will help spread the load when securing the carbon fibre rods) 4 x M3 hex nuts

Fixing plate

16 x M3x12mm bolts (I used capped head here) 16 x M3 hex nuts

Assembly

This is pretty straightforward , there is a video showing the process for the main parts. The end plates can be mounted either way around.

The bearing holes for the PTFE rod have a small coil rotation in them, to help grip the rod this does however make it a tight fit depending on which of the 4 bearing sizes you print. A little trial an error will be needed here as to which one is the best fit, my PTFE rod measured 4.5mm. I have made 4 sizes for the bearings and the first number represents the I/D of the bearing or O/D of the carbon fibre rod, the second dimension is the O/D of the PTFE rod.

Pending feedback I can add some larger sizes here, just drop me a comment and will try and upload in a few days.

Future Improvements

As mentioned there is a motorised version in the works, I will also try and reduce the number of bolts used for the top plate and may go to a 3 point version to also help with this.

Different types of legs are also an obvious improvement here, over the very basic ones currently available. A quick release mechanism for the end plates and legs to allow quick assembly and disassembly.