LC 2000- an easy metal build

[stevede]

This is my LC 2000......
Imagine my surprise at finding a DIY book scanner in Home Depot. They just had it labeled wrong. If you want the strength of steel the easy way, get a prefab laundry cart.
I remember reading a previous posting's wish for a library cart sized scanner, at the time I found that, I had already come up with this independently... that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Favorite details: Middle side rails were trans located to bottom of cart for cradle slides. 3” Garage door pulley- ball bearings are quiet, strong and wide enough to clear front and back of the spine. Counter weight: ½ solid copper ingot from local mine, cut in half with chop saw ( lots of sparks..mwuhuh.)
Wooden spine: 20 y/o pressure treated lumber probably loaded with arsenic. Colored acrylic thermoplastic left over from days of “ hard” orthotics- Aged 17 years in garage. Foot pedal (on/off foot switch) from extinct nail grinder is connected to Frans van de Kamp USB cable via the lead designed for timers . Battery eliminators. Expansion slide on cradle is a section from a boom microphone stand. Glass mounts and Boom microphone arm stand-offs are EVA shoe soling material. I used a high strength contact cement called Barge used in shoe making to affix the Plexiglas to the EVA filler.

Cradle slides themselves are toaster oven- molded ½ round sleeves; Grab 'n Go mini tripod mounts and platen hook are all made with free hand heated acrylic thermoplastic. Cameras: Powershot A590IS on Korean minipod. Oh, yeah I'm also loaded with Eye-Fi cards. Pure magic.
In my younger days, as a photographer we found a great black out material is black velvet or velour. I wrapped all the chrome above the cradle level with it using double stick tape and I use a tent of it on the sides of the cart.

There is so much room on the cart that I have been unconcerned with camera distance, slide clearance or problems with light placement. This also makes basic measurements less critical in your basic set-up.
Anyway, the whole thing fits on my coffee table for scanning and rolls easily into a cupboard under the stairs.

[Misty]

That is amazing looking. I'm not sure I have anything particularly constructive to add, but - completely awesome. Great job.

How much did parts come to? How do you do the handle the platen raising/lowering?

[dwalt]

Ya, what Misty said! Do you have any pictures of what it looks like after the black velvet and curtains are added? This set up looks totally doable if the price is right!

[stevede]

Thank you for the kind words. I am fleshing this project out as I get my ducks in line.
I can report that the velvet I used is well, really hard to photograph. It is beyond black, so sorry about the photo quality.
Coming up in the future, I'll post some results from this machine. Please stand by.

[spamsickle]

I like this design. While I haven't taken the plunge on a split cradle yet myself, your innovative solution certainly adds to the options available.

I do worry about your slides. It seems like there's a lot of plastic-to-steel surface area, which could produce more friction than I'd like. How well does it work in practice? I suppose one could cut the "sleeves" down to "rings" to address it, if it's even a real problem.

I'm unable to spot the foot pedal you mention in the OP. I would expect a foot pedal to either raise/lower the platen, or fire the cameras (or both), but you seem to be raising and lowering the platen by hand, and if I'm not mistaken, the shutter button is one of those built by the guy in Scandinavia. Where is the foot pedal, and what does it do?

Anyway, dynamite design, I really appreciate the "using stuff that was laying around anyway" approach.

[daniel_reetz]

I'm with Spam- this design is awesome! Any chance you could share a short video (I can host it if necessary) so that we can see how it all works together?

It's very Scribe-like and I really like that.

[stevede]

Oh, gee, I'm afraid I mis- labeled a word here. What I meant to say was foot switch, not pedal. I'll edit that above. The switch is connected to the Frans van de Kamp USB cable via the lead designed for timers and works like a charm to focus/shoot.

Spamsicle, The cradle glides seem to slide pretty well. I used some treadmill wax to make it slippery. The sure thing is still ball bearing slides, though. Sometimes you invent for its own sake, and it works ok. Oh, and the foot switch is the little gray rectangle at the end of the wiggly black cord on the left side of the scanner in the first picture of the thread.

Dan, Happy to do that, but as I said, it's not a foot-powered platen. darn. But you all have got me thinking....

[stevede]

A quick shopping list:

Laundry cart with large locking wheels-- $49.00
cable ties 5.00
24” pine 2 by 4 1.00
590 IS canon camera x2 150.00
Korean mini-pod x2 22.00
Aluminum picture frame 18.00
FVDK usb cable 30.00
industrial double stick tape 10.00
Plexiglas 18”x24” 26.00
box o metal screws 6.00
Drawer glides 21” 23.00
book shelving anchor 10.00
LED x 4/Buck puck 60.00
Thermoplastic 80.00 18 years ago
substitutions for cradle might include Masonite, Arborite, etc. I would try conventional bearing for cradle due to time cost of bending acrylic slides.
EVA foam 3.00
footswitch off/on- part of old appliance
microphone arm 16.00
Black velvet 2 meters 60.00 ouch. Try damaged merchandise or maybe an old coat or dress from thrift shop.
(much of the above was on hand and otherwise junk) total: $569.00 My cost probly $400.00
well, that's a start anyhow.

[clemd973]

Impressively creative!!! How'd you ever think that up??? I'd be really interested in seeing the video as well. Two questions, though, 1) what's your lighting source, and 2) ergonomically speaking, how's it work out for you...looks like you might have to sit on the floor to operate since it appears to be pretty low to the ground? Quite an awesome build. Thanks for posting. Please update with some pictures of your lighting source.

[clemd973]

Just re-read your original post...saw that you put it on your coffee table for scanning. Sounds better than sitting on the floor, lol. Store it in the cupboard under the stairs??? Kind of a tight fit with Harry Potter in there??? LOL. Still, what's the lighting source? Thanks.