Clemd's DIY build in photos

[clemd973]

WARNING: I've included about 75 photos of my build from start to finish; yes, it is a lot, so if you don't want to sit through that many pictures, you might want to move on now. But if you stick around, I'd appreciate hearing your comments.

I took Daniel's "New 'Standard Scanner'" instructions and made a few modifications. Wanted to share my experience with anyone who was interested. I'm not a carpenter, and I know many of us aren't, but a close friend is so I enlisted his help...AND his tools. Sometimes it's not what you know, it's who you know. (Thanks, Ed!)

Let's get started.

Drawer slide placed on the base.

Daniel is right...countersink your screws.

Cutting the MDF for the cradle.

No, you don't have to have many tools to complete this build, but it sure makes it a lot cooler when your friend has a saw with a laser guide!

The underside of the cradle.

Remember to pre-drill your holes and not to tighten the screws too much in the MDF board. After this, we replaced the angled support braces with plywood. We kept the MDF for the book support because that type of board is very straight.

Drill press for ease and accuracy.

The upright support (back side)

The upright support (front side). The fender washers are a big help.

Upright support now attached to the base.

Cradle now attached to the base.

Cradle complete.

Cradle, left side.

Cradle, right side.

Drilling holes for the camera support arms.

Right and Left camera support arms attached.

Clamp lamps attached.

Beginning the Platen. Chose against the MDF here because it's a heavy wood.

Doubled the wood and attached it with glue and many screws.

Making the handle level. Decided to change from the Heavy Duty door pull to a more ergonomic handle. Will change back to the door pull later in order to incorporate the camera switch.

Handle attached.

Measure and mark your holes on the acrylic. Used 1/8" glare-free acrylic.

Even if you don't have a drill press, drill with a low rpm, and before drilling, place a dab of liquid soap over the place where you will drill the hole. (helps prevent cracking and lots of frustration)

Measure and line up the acrylic on the platen underside in order to mark where to pre-drill the screw holes.

Don't forget to pull back the sticky paper before screwing the acrylic to the platen.

Don't forget to pre-drill ALL the holes.

After the holes are pre-drilled, screw the acrylic to the platen.

Done.

Pre-drilling the holes for the platen drawer-slide spacers. This is a minor modification from the original plans.

[clemd973]

CONTINUING...

Attaching the Platen slides.

The spacers allow for the Platen to be attached with more screws since there isn't much support in the Platen itself.

Leveling the Platen before attaching it.

Padded feet at the bottom of the base to help prevent it from moving.

38.jpg (156.7 KiB) Viewed 19615 times

Replacing the handle with the heavy duty drawer pull.

39.jpg (6.42 KiB) Viewed 19615 times

Hot glued the Van de Kamp switch to the drawer pull.

Wrapped one end in electrical tape to add extra support to the switch on the handle.

Attached handle and switch to the Platen after I painted the scanner black.

Added a short cable to suspend the Platen in mid-air while not in use in order to protect the acrylic from getting scratched on the cradle.

Top hook.

Used a gate latch in the front and back to secure the scanner to a table I set it on.

Notice...I replaced the camera support arms with microphone goosneck extensions. This modification helps me get a better camera angle to decrease keystoning.

Left camera.

Right camera.

Camera support attachment for the gooseneck extensions. Attaches like to a tripod.

Attached each gooseneck extension with two conduit clamps.

Notice the keystoning with the cameras attached to the original camera support arms.

Again, keystoning on the other page.

Cameras here are attached to the microphone gooseneck extensions, which eliminated the keystoning. Note: these were test shots. A true project would call for more exact camera angle placement and rotation.

No keystoning, post processed with Scan Tailor; however, still a test-shot. Would need more exact placement to eliminate image rotation.

[clemd973]

CONTINUING...

53.jpg (90.87 KiB) Viewed 19610 times

Bracket for the LCD monitors.

Painting the LCD monitor black.

Both monitors attached to the bracket.

Rear of the monitors are exposed.

Nuts and bolts used to attache monitors to bracket.

Monitors attached to the upright support.

LCD's both work, I only had one cable for the demo in this pic.

Black bars at the top are 1/2" PVC, painted black, that serve as curtain rods for a black drape I use to block outside glare. Not pictured here are two 10W LED lights, which replace the clamp lamps, and the black drape. Will upload those pics soon.

61.jpg (107.47 KiB) Viewed 19610 times

Painting LED's black. I like uniformity.

Don't forget the bracket.

My build now complete, showing the LED's and the black drape used to block out outside glare.

LED's finally attached. 2-10W LED's attached and shining on each page. I am going to add one extra for a total of 30W of LED light...very bright. A little bluish though...cameras need to be on "Cloudy" setting.

Light cord fixed with coaxial cable clips.

Both LCD displays working properly. Don't forget to attach the Right camera to the Left display and vsv.

Voila! C'est fini.

Thanks for sticking around and checking out my build. I look forward to uploading some of my scans soon to the "Book Projects" thread.

Clemd

[spamsickle]

I'd like to see pictures from somebody showing this "split cradle" in action. Semi-thick book, front of the book, middle of the book, end of the book, just to see how it looks edge-on. I'm still using my old "V" and throwing a piece of PVC pipe in it, but I'm considering this new design. Would just like to see somebody else's results before cutting wood.

[seltzered]

Very cool build, are those canon a480's ? I just ordered a blue/red set myself!

[clemd973]

I'd like to see pictures from somebody showing this "split cradle" in action. Semi-thick book, front of the book, middle of the book, end of the book, just to see how it looks edge-on. I'm still using my old "V" and throwing a piece of PVC pipe in it, but I'm considering this new design. Would just like to see somebody else's results before cutting wood.

Out of town for Thanksgiving, but will upload some pictures of the split cradle in action when I return - beginning of next week. It's well worth the modification if you aren't using it yet. Another benefit is that it helps at the beginning and end of the scanning process when one side has more pages than the other. Of course, the sliding base accommodates for most of that, but the split cradle helps it lie flatter.

[clemd973]

Very cool build, are those canon a480's ? I just ordered a blue/red set myself!

Yes, they are A480's. I began by using A1000's but went with the 480's because they have a separate A/V out - the A1000's didn't. I connect the cameras, via the A/V out, to the LCD monitors to better view the pages. Hopefully, I'll be able to upload some pictures of that part as well. The Red and Blue combination works well in keeping things straight: Red on Right, Blue on Left. Wish the SD card slot was on the side, though, so that I wouldn't have to take the cameras off the mounts to remove the cards. I did, however, buy a 15' USB-A to USB-B transfer cable. Simply unlock the cards, put them back in the camera, and plug the transfer cable from the camera to the Mac. No hassle with card readers that seem to crap out after a while.

[daniel_reetz]

This is an absolutely excellent build log, thank you for sharing it (and your improvements). May I use these pictures on the blog? (I don't always ask this, but I figure I should start...)

[clemd973]

This is an absolutely excellent build log, thank you for sharing it (and your improvements). May I use these pictures on the blog? (I don't always ask this, but I figure I should start...)

Thanks, Daniel. Yes, you may use these pictures. I will be adding a few photos to this log in a day or two. I just received two 10W LED wall-wash flood lights to replace the clamp lamps: The specs: Shell Material : High Strength Aluminum, Cover Material: 5mm High Strength Glass, LED Emitter: 10W Led, Color Temp: 5000~6500K(white), Work Voltage : 100~240VAc 50/60Hz, Power Factor : >0.90, CRI: >80, LifeSpan Time : > 60,000 hours, Dimensions : 114mm(W) x 86mm(H) x 88mm(T). It's a blinding white-light that seems to work well under the "Cloudy" preset on Canons, and they output a much lower heat temperature.

If anyone is considering purchasing some of these LED's, know that the seller referenced in the supplied link above is very prompt to reply to questions and has fast shipping. The only downside is that they come from Hong Kong so it takes a couple of weeks to get to the U.S., and it comes with a standard European 3-pin plug for which you will have to purchase an adapter - UNLESS you specify in your order that you live in the U.S. and would like them to send you the 3-pin U.S. adapter along with the lights (they should provide that to you at no charge). This seems to be the best price, at least on eBay, but a little more diligent searching may provide the same light at a cheaper price.

[russca]

Hello everyone. I am a total noob when it comes to DIY book scanners. So, please forgive my questions.

Clemd, in your built SDM remote has 3 wires coming out of it but the seller's line up shows only 2. What is a third one for? I wanna order the right one.

Another question: Are you gonna post bill of materials? Would be nice to get exact list of parts [items, quantity].

bookscantrigger.jpg (35.2 KiB) Viewed 19422 times

Thanks