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FilmTools Sound Cart question


Bob Marts

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A question for those who have used a  Filmtools Cart ( http://www.filmtools.com/fivejusoandv.html ) with a rack case mounted on it:

How is the balance on it when it is tilted back on the rear wheels? Can it be rolled around easily or does it work out better to keep all four wheels on the ground?  How stable is it in this configuration? -

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A question for those who have used a  Filmtools Cart ( http://www.filmtools.com/fivejusoandv.html ) with a rack case mounted on it:

How is the balance on it when it is tilted back on the rear wheels? Can it be rolled around easily or does it work out better to keep all four wheels on the ground?  How stable is it in this configuration? -

I should restate my question.

Assuming that the case is well attached to the FilmTools cart, I'm wondering if the wheelbase is wide enough so that it doesn't feel top heavy and if it generally balances back on the rear wheels to let you easily roll it around on rougher location surfaces rather than a stage floor.

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A question for those who have used a  Filmtools Cart ( http://www.filmtools.com/fivejusoandv.html ) with a rack case mounted on it:

How is the balance on it when it is tilted back on the rear wheels? Can it be rolled around easily or does it work out better to keep all four wheels on the ground?  How stable is it in this configuration? -

Hi Bob,

I bought one back in the day and totally regretted it. Weighs a ton and not stable at all. With a rack case all the weight is on the swiveling wheels. If you put a big battery between the bigger wheels that would help shift the weight back, but I think it is a bad base for a cart-based system. Some of that painful odyssey is in this old and interminably long thread...

http://jwsound.net/SMF/index.php?topic=1948.msg13260#msg13260

Good Luck,

PG

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Paul,

Thanks for your honest opinion.  I now remember your thread. Is there any better approach to putting SKB cases on wheels?

I want to try a case-based cart for a number of reasons but I'm hoping I don't have to make a frame from scratch  (looks like that may be the only way).  I'm pretty familiar with all the examples in Jeff's gallery. I've been using  modified upright PSC cart for years and I like the bicycle tires on it for their easy rolling. I guess I'll go in that direction for wheels on a case cart.

-- You did put together a very handsome cart, though!

Bob.

PS - I'd be cool to come up with a Cart Calendar - a different cart for every month.

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Paul,

Thanks for your honest opinion.  I now remember your thread. Is there any better approach to putting SKB cases on wheels?

<snip>

Bob.

PS - I'd be cool to come up with a Cart Calendar - a different cart for every month.

I don't know much, but I'll give my opinion. The best case cart bases I've seen have been the ones built here in LA by sound mixer Brett Grant-Grierson, but I have heard that he is no longer building carts. Backstage also makes bases for carts. Robert Sharman designed his and they built it to order for him. It's very nice, imo. I'll let David Waelder answer whether Chinhda will still make a cart for cases.

For now I have gone with Rock'N'Roller R12 in the short position. This is still vertically inclined with a just-small-enough footprint that it is still very stable. Mountings for antennas is a bit of a challenge on the wimpy vertical handles, admittedly, but the base is great. I personally prefer four pneumatic (or pseudo-pneumatic) tires and no tilting to move. These are 10" in back and 8" for swiveling wheels. A smaller footprint can be achieved with the bicycle-type tires and tiny front wheels approach, which you mentioned you prefer. My magliner is now my follow cart on two-cart jobs.

Hopefully you'll get some better ideas from others, especially for the bicycle tire approach.

Good luck!

PG

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I'll let David Waelder answer whether Chindha (sp?) will still make a cart for cases.

I honestly don't know.

It's Chinhda, by the way.

He made only one case cart that I know of, about four years ago. He's not interested in making custom carts to order. That consumes a great deal of time and one can never charge enough, even at his prices, to fully compensate for the time and effort involved. (He does, of course, make alterations to suit different equipment packages and client requests - just not completely custom layouts.)

However, there have been a number of requests over the years and he has spoken of making an alternate version of the design to facilitate SKB or Euromodule cases. He's working on a new batch right now and I may have better answers around the end of December or beginning of January.

David

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Is there any better approach to putting SKB cases on wheels?

I want to try a case-based cart for a number of reasons but I'm hoping I don't have to make a frame from scratch  (looks like that may be the only way).  I'm pretty familiar with all the examples in Jeff's gallery. I've been using  modified upright PSC cart for years and I like the bicycle tires on it for their easy rolling. I guess I'll go in that direction for wheels on a case cart.

Bob.

you might wanna check out this old thread on my SKB cart with no extra frame but attached bicycle wheels:

http://jwsound.net/SMF/index.php?topic=1488.msg9760#msg9760

there are some more pics on my website:

http://www.schallrichter.de/soundcart.html

balance is brilliant and I can separate the two cases in a minute.

Best, matthias

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I had forgotten what a nice cart Matthias Richter has done (and pleased to know that the Discussion Group is such a great archive of information and images). I particularly like the way Matthias did the large wheels directly to the case --- properly engineered this makes for no need for a frame/base for the case-cart. If I were to do a case based cart, that is the way I would do it.

-  Jeff Wexler

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I bought one back in the day and totally regretted it. Weighs a ton and not stable at all. With a rack case all the weight is on the swiveling wheels.

Yeah, that is the price you pay for a rack-case cart. Aside from the weight, then there's the issue of not being able to get access to the equipment on the sides. Jeff had warned me about this, but I found out the hard way he was right -- if you run into an emergency and have a quick rewiring situation or component swap-out, not having access to the sides can be frustrating.

The weight was the big issue why I finally ditched the SKB rack case and went to a lighter conventional aluminum cart. Much more maneuverable, especially up stairs and in unpredictable outdoor situations.

--Marc W.

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I had forgotten what a nice cart Matthias Richter has done (and pleased to know that the Discussion Group is such a great archive of information and images). I particularly like the way Matthias did the large wheels directly to the case --- properly engineered this makes for no need for a frame/base for the case-cart. If I were to do a case based cart, that is the way I would do it.

-  Jeff Wexler

thanks for the flowers Jeff!

I have done some minor improvements:

the plate inside the lower case has been replaced by a bigger one, the top two poles too. Just feels safer.

the front door of the top case works as my laptop table now. Table folds into the door, door can be taken off completely if needed, door is lid by a led stripe, laptop can be hooked up with the new m-audio firewire interface (playback, recording isos, backup system)

Cooper mixer got his own led now to have better view in side the case where the gain pots are

little x-mini loudspeaker sits inside the cart and is powered by a 12V-USB adapter

Matthias

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