The Official DIY Book Scanner Store is open, and there are now kits in stock! Here are the design files. Read the complete store post for more.
I ship primarily to the US, but if you're international/elsewhere, send me a PM or email.
The kits are currently selling for $475 and include an LED light.
The kits are cut from true Baltic Birch (18mm).
The complete hardware list is available on the kit page.
I typically ship twice per week; Tuesday and Thursday.
Unlike the betas, these kits do not include a mechanical trigger -but you can still buy it separately.
SO many pieces! Here's a shot of the hardware you'll be getting: [50] 1 5/8" drywall screws
[40] 5/16" washers
[14] 2" 5/16" bolts
[2] 8" threaded rods
[2] Wing nuts
[1] 12" threaded rod
[1] PVC pipe section
[8] 3/4" drywall screws
[4] 1" wood screws
[2] Wood pulleys
[24] Skate Bearings
[8] Small Felt Pads
[8] Chrome-plated angle brackets.
[2] Long felt strips
[4] 2.5" fully threaded 5/16" bolts
[1] 10W LED light with US plug.
This is what the extremely high-quality Baltic Birch looks like when it comes out of the machine: I'm proud to say that all the wood parts are made right here in Los Angeles on wonderful, peaceful robots. I'm going to copy/paste the store text here - later I will update it into a cohesive post.
Hey! This is the official Do It Yourself (DIY) Book Scanner kit. This is going to be long; get yourself some coffee and settle in.
First and foremost, this is a beta. It's not a consumer product like you might buy in a store. It requires that you Do Some Things Yourself! It's made for book lovers, tinkerers, and builders. If you're not a builder or tinkerer yet, this is a good place to start. But don't buy this kit if you don't want to learn how to build things - you will learn a lot as you build it. Getting to a complete, working scanner will require some perseverance on your part - building this kit is just the first step. Configuring it, and figuring out the best software workflow are individual to your project and also require time and effort.
The good thing is that there is a large community of people, including me, who will help you at http://www.diybookscanner.org/forum; the bad thing is that I cannot offer personal help via email for every question you may have. Also, I personally offer ONLY hardware support. Software is not my strength. For that, you'll have to use the forums.
Another thing I have to cover right away: the first batch of these kits included an experimental mechanical bicycle brake camera trigger system (which is also mentioned in the video below). Honestly, most people found it unsatisfying. It is no longer included in the kit. If you really want it, or you feel comfortable tinkering with it to get it right, you can buy it separately. I'll make them available soon.There are many other options for triggering your cameras. You can do it with software, with hardware, and with custom firmware. We can talk about triggering on the forums. Contact me if you have any problems registering there.
THE BIG IDEA(s)
DIY Book Scanning is using cheap cameras (like Canon Powershots) and Free software to digitize books quickly and effectively. With a a scanner of this design, people have been able to copy 400-1200 pages an hour for post-processing.
This scanner is the result of three years of intensive work by myself and my crew of over 3,000 collaborators, who have contributed hundreds of ideas, thousands of hours and lines of code, and millions of pageviews to the DIY Book Scanner project. In this hardware design, I tried to collect the best parts of that effort, and make it manufacturable and Open Hardware to the core. Endless nights, weekends, and several cross-state moves later, here it is.
I made this design specifically to be installed in "Hackerspaces" which are new community workshops for builder-types to come together and share skills. The dream is to put one within driving distance of every person on Earth. It may take a few years, but I believe the dream (and the hardware) are compelling enough to make it happen. For now, I'm selling one to all interested parties with the intention of building a community around this design - one that can help me vet the hardware, prove the design, and smooth out the software so that we're all scanning books with a minimum of fuss.
In the fullness of time, I hope they become so widely available at community spaces that I can stop selling them.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
1. All the wood parts.
2. An LED light that is bright enough for most compact cameras.
3. All the fasteners, bearings, a handle, felt pads, etc.
In total, the kit is over FORTY POUNDS (40lbs) of hardware. The package that will come to you is 23x27x7 inches in size. It's a surprisingly heavy box with a surprising number of parts in it. Wood parts! Cut from GORGEOUS, EXPENSIVE, FLAT Baltic Birch Plywood.
They'll come packed like this:
And the fasteners, hardware, felt, bungees, and LED light all laid out:
[50] 1 5/8" drywall screws
[40] 5/16" washers
[14] 2" 5/16" bolts
[2] 8" threaded rods
[2] Wing nuts
[1] 12" threaded rod
[1] PVC pipe section
[8] 3/4" drywall screws
[4] 1" wood screws
[2] Wood pulleys
[24] Skate Bearings
[8] Small Felt Pads
[8] Chrome-plated angle brackets.
[2] Long felt strips
[4] 2.5" fully threaded 5/16" bolts
[1] 10W LED light with US plug.
Whew! That's a lot of hardware. It weighs a lot and the box is large. So keep in mind that shipping is expensive, between $45 and $120 depending on where you are.
FYI, some of the parts may have splinters or need some sanding. I do personally sand every part but not to a furniture-finish. Not everything will be absolutely perfect; occasionally there may be a part that doesn't fit right. It's normal to have to sand a little, but fit issues are something you should contact me about.
The Kit DOES NOT include:
1. Glass (11x14" panes, available cheap at Home Depot)
2. Paint (Flat black, also available cheap and local)
3. Cameras (up to you; people are testing many different models of cheap Canon cameras now)
Some people were bothered that glass is not included. I apologize; I tried shipping glass repeatedly; the weight of the wood and the brutality of the shipper (USPS) smashes it, even when well-packed. It would cost a lot of money to pack well enough to include glass.
I have a complete Shopping List online here. The kit already includes most of it, but you can see details on the glass, paint, and other hardware. Here is a similar document for cameras. They're editable - please update them with your experiences!
This scanner is Open Hardware. That means you get the design files with it and you can use them almost any way you like. I strongly recommend checking the design files out here if you are at all interested.
HERE is the assembly manual for the LAST VERSION. It is currently being updated for this version. THIS PRODUCT PAGE that you are currently viewing, has the latest information on parts counts. Please do not use the parts counts in the manual, please use THIS PAGE. That said, the manual is still accurate for ~90% of the assembly that you'll be doing. Read it.
I've put up a TON of videos about this scanner, including a complete series on how to build one. If you have time, watch this overview video on the very first prototype of this scanner. Some things have changed, and many problems have been solved, but the basic truths of this video are still correct:
OK, if you've seen all that, and you still want more...well, there is a lot more.
Here is some very important context for the project and why things are the way they are:
Daniel Reetz - "DIY Book Scanning" from adafruit industries on Vimeo.
If you're still thinking about buying a kit, or are wondering about design decisions or considering building one yourself, I strongly encourage you read these two very important and very long threads where I built the scanner from scratch:
"A DIY Book Scanner in Every Hackerspace/DIY Kit"
"Daniel's Work Thread: Toward a Hackerspace Scanner"
PS. The assembled dimensions of the scanner are roughly 26x20x36 W*D*H.
Thanks,
Daniel