DIY homemade glide track / slide cam 

This is the best constructed small-scale diy slider I've seen online so far. Nicely done!

This is what I love about RU-vid... This is exactly what I was looking for, so that I can use it for a cheap prototype/proof of concept of what's probabbly going to end up in an industrial controller-system.... and I find it from a guy who's main content is about Photography. Absolutely brilliant! PLEASE make more rudimentary solutions to engineering problems!! Also, a hot tip, use amazon affiliate-links or things like that in your description. I will buy linear bearings. I would have liked Amazon to credit you for that purchase!

Out of most DIY videos for a slider, this seems to look hell of a lot more sturdy than most of the designs out there, Thanks.

Bro, thank you soooo much! I never thought the 16mm linear bearings were available to the general public. Now I'll be ordering some thanks to your video and definitely be making one based on yours!

Hey Jay, .......nah, that's more than just a beautiful garage, I think that is the world's best garage. Thanks for keeping it light. Cheers

so i have been looking for a ceiling mounted gliding system like this for 2 weeks from the "big " companies, well done succeeding where others failed !!

One of the best I've seen - props from the UK!

That's very cool, i can see this being motorized very easily. Also the hacksaw only cuts in one direction it seems like your trying to cut in both the push and pull but that is going to dull out the blade.

This is the coolest one I've seen yet! So simple, yet effective. Great job man!

You can get 1/2 inch stainless steel curtain rod for very little money that makes a much better material than copper which is way too soft. I also use a 3d printed bushing lined with hat makers felt glued to the inside, soaked in light machine oil, instead of the expensive linear slide bearings. it also is far less susceptible to small variations in pipe diameter or slightly rough surface.

Copper plumbing pipe comes in three different wall thicknesses as standard. Watch the OD (outside diameter is correct) newer pipe wall is not as thick as older pipe wall. Consider putting chopped fibre glass down the tubes and then pouring in fibreglass resin for extra stability of the tubes.

i'll admit, it is a little harsh in some spots. a made some modifications and used 4 bearings instead of two and that made things a bit better. But for the most part, it's pretty smooth. The only thing you need to watch for are scratches or dents in the copper pipes. That will cause a small bounce when the bearing goes over it. As long as its clean and smooth, you won't have any issues

Thanks man! That means alot! It truly is better to buy a professional one when you can afford it though. But this was fun to make and we use it for fun little projects. If you are filming weddings or commercial projects, you can find a professional glide track like we use for under $500

Please use hardened steel rods that have been hard chrome plated. the bearings gouge softer metals and form micro welds that will make a bloody noise later.

I made this using your design! This design has a lot of potential...BUT there are some considerations. The copper tube (mine spaced 5" on center - 4' long) twists side to side. Shorter tubes spaced father apart should remedy. Tube is hollow making quite a bit of noise. Maybe packing full if newspaper may remedy. Not for heavy cameras like the NEX-VG20. Either use 4 bearings or the longer lineal bearings with the chrome rods and pillow blocks for 16mm stock. Still a good idea.

Best instructed DIY video ever! Thank you x

Good job dude. The nea sayers will always have something negative to say. Great creativity.

With that long a shot, why not just set up a really dolly cart & dolly track? Yes, you can elevate it with apple boxes and planks, keep it true level. Cheaper version is to get a tripod, put track wheels on it and roll. Tip: for any size glide track, attach a pull cord to do your moves. Shoot left to right an visa-versa. When you see the footage you like vest, you can always reverse the movement in editing. Many big crane shot going up, were actually shot with the crane floating down(smoother).

Problem with using a recirculating ball linear bearing is the "precision" of the rod needed for continued reliability and "clean" no dust conditions. A cheaper alternative using something with specified straightness is a bosch or 80-20 type aluminum extrusion bar. There is a groove on 4 sides or 1, and with the cheap sliding nylon/delrin linear bearing you can accomplish the same thing. Make the camera mount out of wood or plastic and bolt to the linear slide. The bar comes in different stock lengths.

If you pull your camera along with a rubber band I'm betting you'll get very smooth acceleration curves.

i was lucky and my wife's uncle randomly had one in his little work shed. However you might want to check with a junkyard, metal shop, or browse online. Might be more expensive online though. Home Depot doesn't really have anything unfortuantely

I like this!...How's this working out for you? Does it feel like ball bearings on copper pipe or is it fluid with practice? I found linear bearings for about $20. each and am considering ordering some.

How is the noise? Is it real quite or can you hear the roll of the bearings? What about when moving longer faster shots?

Best one I've seen. Building it! Thanks dude.

I agree! The copper piping I got that day was actually on sale so I was lucky. But you are definitely right!

hello i want to make a rail system that i can put a chair onto and have the chair roll in both directions on the rail. can you point me in the right direction to create something like this?

Great Rails! If you wanted you could nickle plate the rails to a chrome like finish, there are kits available on the net.

The noise is not bad at all actually! If you have no audio effects, music, or dialogue, then you might hear a little bit of noise. For faster shots it does well, however for longer shots, you might want to look into a dolly or similar.

Find yourself an old throwaway inkjet printer or something with a scanner in it. Both of those have precision ground rods that will slide better than any copper rod.

Fantastic! Any ideas for a stopping/locking mechanism mid track?

Sir! You are Awesome! Thank you so much for this informative video you've done here. I am already making my list and buying everything i need to make my own Slide Cam.. i am going to build 3 of them. i am going to build a 21in, 30in, & 40in... Wish me luck!

That is a beautiful garage. I especially like the door to the inside. I'm about to buy a door like that. Nice organization. Makes me wish I had a garage. I do have a workshop though and it has a chopsaw. It cuts through those angle brackets easily (I got some 2" angle brackets on clearance for under $6 each). Used one of the angle brackets as a shelf next to the stove in my friend's kitchen. Covered the gap between the stove and the wall to keep stuff from falling down. I wonder if I can use some hollow aluminium tubes and the glides attached to wood for a vertical application. I want some glides for a sewing machine lift. Will those ball-bearing glides work vertically?

I just say, nice job! I like it! Evrey comment may be right, but the resalt is good!

Cool!! i like that!!! my question is, is there a shake between the linear bearings and the track?

Nice demo video! I'm gong to be building a bunch of different dollies, rigs, etc. for my own feature film. It's hard for me to adjust to dong things low budget, having worked 30 years on big film crews where everything was r]pro equipment from rental houses. People always say "location", nut often times it's "budget, budget, budget". Hopefully I'll still get that million dollar look for much less. Thanks for a great video!

hee looking good man! nice results! sweet vintage cam... Jacques

Hi, I'm planning to build my own cam slider with parts of your instructions here. Cool idea to use the copper for the rails! Have one important question though concerning the size of both lineair bearings and copper rail : In your video you're fitting the 16mm bearing on a 1/2 inch (= 12.7mm) rail. How much slack do you actually have to give it to have a smooth (motorized) glide ? I'm living in Europe (Belgium) and copper bars have standard sizes of 12, 15 and 22 mm. Advise kindly appreciated.

Nice! Linear bearings are slick. Is there a reason not to use steel tubing?

could i adapt this idea to hang a 40in tv/monitor on an 11ft rail in my bedroom?

Amazing project! but the problem is the budget must be over $50.00, the expensive here is the 16 mm linear bearing, i was wondering to get a cheap slider for 50.00 or 60.00... any suggestion please let me know,i have subscribed to ur channel...

Can I also get a copy of the instructions please if you still have every detail as in the measurements of the holes & etc. Thanks

All you need to do is go to amazon.com and in the search bar type "16mm linear bearing" and you will have plenty of options

awesome men! really simple to make it and profesional results

me encantó amigo!!! Very very good!!!

Awesome soundtrack choice! Go TBK

Nice video! I just got through making my glidetrack as well...

One of the best so far man! What about painting the bars though, would that have a negative impact on the slide?

So I went to everly films.com and couldnt find any instructions,so where do i find the detailed instructions please?

Would you be willing to send them my way too? And do you have a budget solution to adding a motor? I was checking out the "Dynamic Perception MX2 Dolly Controller", but that's a chunk of change too.

where did you pick up the aluminum plates from? I can't find them anywhere...

you could probably use delrin instead of the aluminum plates. i bet you could even use acrylic.

i just looked too and didnt see them. is there a chance you can send them to me as well?

I've been looking everywhere for those copper caps, but i can't find where to buy them? Where should I look?

Hey can you make a curved or 360 glide track?

Awesome video!

Those are copper pipes. Rods are solid.

anyway i can get those too?? please and thank you!

Can you please put the link of linear bearing which you got from Amazon.

$250? Ouch! I built one similar to this but I sanded down the cooper pipe with some 400 grade sand paper. Made it a lot smoother. As for as noise is concerned if you are using the on camera mic its going to pic it up. Even the professional ones make a little noise while sliding. So you may want to use a seperate mic. $250? Wow .... I feel your pain!

i tried using the VXB 4 linear bearings 16mm (rounded) from amazon $25 on a cooper 1/2" pipe $11... and it didnt worked! pipe must be solid otherwise it is noisy and cranky... doesnt slide properly...i gues i have to buy the 16mm stainless rod at $35 each from vxb as well... check that other video of the guys that used those rouded lenar bearings and rod its on the sidebar here...!

is not convenient to use 4 linear bearings for greater stability?

I actually took the instructions down :/ But I can definitely send you an email with what I used to have up on our site. I'll send you a message on youtube as soon as I find them. Thanks for watchin the video!

recommend filling copper pipes with sand for sturdiness.

this is cool but has anyone considered using this "l e johnson pocket door track" to make a slider?

i love you man. thanks for the video

Why not aluminium pipes?

does anyone have a rough price for this?

Nice, Have the exact same camera at home. Nice!

Black Keys- Everlasting Light

For the copper pipe, is that inside diameter or outside?

$250 is hardly painful. Call a rental house and find out what such a rig costs to rent for a week. You have to be willing to invest in your gear and rigging. I know many people who spend more than $250 a month at Starbux, yet they whine about camera gear costing too much to make. It's really just a matter of setting your priorities. Tip: skip Starbux and buy yourself a cheap French press and a pound of great coffee. When you finally start shooting, the crew can make coffee with the press, yeah!

thank you,much appreciated,and great video btw

hey, there ? I need your suggestion.

Thanks so much! That means a lot!

I've just spend 250$ to build this thing, with even the longer version of the linear bearings, and it works worse than sliding an elephant across a concrete floor... It cannot be used for anything that has to do with sound, because the noise is enormously loud. The image is useless as well, because there are so much resistance in those bearings, so when you pull it suddenly moves, and when you push it, it stop immediately. I have built it with precision, nothing is skewed, anything I can do????

Use a simple rubber Band, to pull the camera and the slide will be 10 times smoother!

Very nice ........ nice start for a " hack it " CNC ......... not suggesting it will be as accurate as the Chinese stuff ......... but then the carbon foot print from " Home Dept " is no were near so big .

what the name of song man ?

This method is good.

well done!

Hell, at the price of a 3/4" stick of copper it might be cheaper to by a pro model...LOL! If it was really made with copper rods those would be like 200 bucks each... true story.

end credit is awesome

Thanks so much!!

Nice, dude. Very nice.

Nice.....and easy

I'd also like some instructions, Thanks!

Please Everly Films take me the URL of the 16 mm Linear Bearings in amazon.com thanks

Excellent

how i will run with motor

Just buy a tile cutter for $9.00 that will do it!

CamCorder-how out dated. Good idea👍👍

Nice, thanks

Awesome

Great project, i'm sure something exactly like this froma a reputated vendor would cost 10x more (or more), LOL.

Hi Jay, do you think this solution would be strong enough to use on a wall to attach a tv mount to? or Prob better to use steel curtain rails instead? Sorry its a bit random but I've been trawling the net for a solution. I'm trying to achieve the following........ ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5x66mjRca88.html

How about letting people know the measurements

Love them :D

Great vid! do you think you could hook me up with those detailed instructions as well?

OnlineMetals >com good place.

Thanks for this man! Subbed to your account :)