Castor wheels on standard lighting stands?

Hi

I'd like to be able to move my lighting stands more easily around the

studio. The floor of the studio has recently been restored and I'm

now in position to use castor wheels on these stands.

 

I have essentially Manfrotto standard lighting stands (the one that

come with the Bowens kits sold in the UK) and I have many of them.

 

Is there any way I can adapt some castor wheels on these stands? or

would anyone have an idea how I could for a very limited budget

transform these stands to be able to move them around more easily?

 

Any non costy suggestion appreciated!

 

Vincent Leleu

ABCast Studios

How cheap do you want to be? The cheapest answer is probably to get some tripod dollies from car boot sales, nothing can be quite as cheap as that.... and most stands would fit, and tighten up on the clamps. Wheel sets are also available for some of the larger Manfrotto stands, I think the price is around £30.<p>Incidentally, I think that wheeled stands are a must - it isn't just weight and convenience, they also protect the lights from being knocked over if someone walks into them!

Manfrotto makes wheels for most of their stands, I have them on all of mine except the two I use for background stands. They can't be too expensive separately (I got them with the stands). They are an aluminum casting with a caster attached, slip on the end of the leg and are retained with setscrews. I can't imagine trying to do it any other way.

My stands are light duty stands I can't even find them on the Manfrotto web site. They are marked 367B.

 

I've had a look at the web site and Manfrotto seems to provide castors that fit 22mm diameter stands. They apparently cost over £50/set. I don't have £400+ to spend on castors.

 

Castors from a DIY shop cost £5 each. That would be £15/stand.

I think I will try do do them myself! Only I have no idea how to adapt them to the stands ;)

<i>Only I have no idea how to adapt them to the stands...</i><p>

And neither do I, at least for less than Manfrotto wants, and that's the problem. There are all kinds of furniture castors, some of which can be fitted to a tubular leg. Only problem is furniture legs are vertical, light stand legs are splayed. I say bite the bullet, put yourself out of your misery and buy them from Manfrotto.