will1384's Book Scanner

[will1384]

I wanted to get the images out of the camera without dealing with the battery door, batteries falling out, and
without moving the camera, so I cut a slot into the battery door so I could get to the SDHC card

THIS IS SO COOL!

Tell us more: How well does it work? Do you push in on the card and then it pops out? I think this would be a totally awesome solution!

It works perfectly, I do have to use a coin like a penny to push up to remove or add the card because of
how recessed the card slot is, but other than that its perfect, I have to do something similar on my cell
phone to remove the micro SDHC card, on my phone the SDHC card slot is on the side, but the card slot
is so deep into the phone there is no way to push the card in or remove with your fingers

I will say it was hard to cut the slots without messing it up, I used a hot blade to make the first cut,
and then used a Micro/Mini flat metal file to clean up and slightly expand the cut as needed.

[StevePoling]

How about a Dremel cut-off wheel? Did you try that?

[will1384]

How about a Dremel cut-off wheel? Did you try that?

No, but that's a good idea, you just need to be careful and go slow, I have a Dremel
and never even thought to use it LOL


On another note I still need to line up the platen and / or the cradle, one side
always seems perfect and the other side always seems off LOL, I noticed some of
that just after I assembled the book scanner that a lot of stuff was "close but not perfect"
and that I had to use some washers here and there to try and line things back up.

I may end up disassembling the cradle, draw slides, and part of the platen, and may
replace anything not cut perfectly

[StevePoling]

I've found that I can hold the part more steadily than I can hold the Dremel. Years back I bought a little Dremel drill press, but I often use it as a ghetto milling machine. Here's a similar unit: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=dremel+drill+press&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=12260318092311507054&ei=BYZrTMaZHpaLnAfQvrT0Ag&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDQQ8wIwAQ#

If I can get around to it in the next day or so, I'll take document the steps I take. Thanks for a GREAT idea.

[Tim]

Years back I bought a little Dremel drill press, but I often use it as a ghetto milling machine.

If you end up doing a lot of milling with it, you might like a milling vise like these. Of course putting the Dremel on the drill press with that could be accused of over engineering, but it would be fun and allow precisely made parts. I was thinking the same thing though, more of a plunge cut with a cutting bit rather than a cutting wheel in this case.

[will1384]

I found something that helps line up the camera, I was able to turn the "GRID" on in the
camera menu, and it was still hard to line the camera up, my girlfriend said make a test
pattern on a piece of copy paper, use a ruler and draw some lines, divide the paper in
half both ways making 4 squares, and then divide each square in half, using that that
made a huge difference

Here is what I made up, a printable test pattern, made for an 8.50 x 11
piece of copy paper, just fold in half, to make it 8.50 x 5.50



Update 08/23,2010
I just redid the image, and made the lines thinner, and re-sized a bit to help it fit a 8.50 x 11
piece of copy paper

[univurshul]

Yes! Accuracy. Makes your ebooks look that much better. Best of success on your scanning.

[will1384]

I have used the book scanner on a few things, and the biggest problem now is getting the cameras
perfectly set-up, lets say I scan a small book then a large book, I have to raise the cameras up,
then readjust, back and forth, and its hard, even with grid lines on the camera and grid lines
on print-out setting on the cradle.

I need to figure out something different for mounting the cameras

Here was my first idea



Second Idea



And what I am using now



It works, but I need something better, I am thinking about trying a factory made "camera clamp"
might be a tad easier to use

[spamsickle]

I was using custom mounts at one point, but have returned to using tripods. Once they're set up to be equidistant from the pages they're shooting, and I've resolved to center the books I'm scanning in the same place on the cradle, the only adjustments necessary are height, tilt, zoom, and focus. Also, see my "CHDK Goodies" thread in the software section for a custom grid that makes the alignment of books easier: http://diybookscanner.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=584

[will1384]

I was using custom mounts at one point, but have returned to using tripods. Once they're set up to be equidistant from the pages they're shooting, and I've resolved to center the books I'm scanning in the same place on the cradle, the only adjustments necessary are height, tilt, zoom, and focus. Also, see my "CHDK Goodies" thread in the software section for a custom grid that makes the alignment of books easier: http://diybookscanner.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=584

It did help, but I had trouble seeing the colored lines, so I modified your "diybscan.grd file, I added
a few more lines and made all the lines white because I have a cradle covered in black

Here is what I did

Code: Select all

@title DIY Bookscanner Grid
@line    0,   10,   359,   10,   0x11
@line    0,   20,   359,   20,   0x11
@line    0,   30,   359,   30,   0x11
@line    0,   40,   359,   40,   0x11
@line    0,   50,   359,   50,   0x11
@line    0,   60,   359,   60,   0x11
@line    0,   70,   359,   70,   0x11
@line    0,   80,   359,   80,   0x11
@line    0,   90,   359,   90,   0x11
@line    0,  100,   359,  100,   0x11
@line  10,   0,  10, 239, 0x11
@line 350,   0, 350, 239, 0x11
@line  20,   0,  20, 239, 0x11
@line 340,   0, 340, 239, 0x11
@line  30,   0,  30, 239, 0x11
@line 330,   0, 330, 239, 0x11
@line  40,   0,  40, 239, 0x11
@line 320,   0, 320, 239, 0x11
@line  50,   0,  50, 239, 0x11
@line 310,   0, 310, 239, 0x11
@line  60,   0,  60, 239, 0x11
@line 300,   0, 300, 239, 0x11
@line  70,   0,  70, 239, 0x11
@line 290,   0, 290, 239, 0x11
@line  80,   0,  80, 239, 0x11
@line 280,   0, 280, 239, 0x11
@line  90,   0,  90, 239, 0x11
@line 270,   0, 270, 239, 0x11
@line 100,   0, 100, 239, 0x11
@line 260,   0, 260, 239, 0x11

Thanks for the help

When I was searching for a way to modify / edit / make GRD files for CHDK, I found a good
page about CHDK grids over at the CHDK Wiki

http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/Grids