Mechanical trigger help

[mdavis]

Hello, all.

I actually completed the assembly of Daniel's DIY Book Scanner soon after receiving the kit in January. (A process made very simple by Daniel's youtube videos.) All I have left now is to mount the glass, and unfortunately, build the triggers. I say "unfortunately" because this appears to be the least documented process of the whole build, as it seems most everyone opts for electronic triggering. For a variety of reasons, I don't want to do electronic triggers, I want to do mechanical triggers. I have the right bicycle brake handle with the two cables, I just need to be pointed in the right direction with regards to building the triggers themselves.

I've had this thing on my table for a while now, and I'm eager to finish it and start scanning. I'm an idiot when it comes to building stuff myself from scratch, which is why I'm asking for a little help... I don't need a detailed plan, but some kind of a shopping list that I can take to Home Depot/Lowes and come out out with the right materials to build some simple triggers without needing a lot of power tools to assemble.

I am willing to pay someone to help me with this or to build them for me...

Thanks,
Mark

[jck57]

You may want to try something like this: http://www.diybookscanner.org/forum/vie ... =14&t=2574
You can even use a hardware store hinge and a piece of scrap plywood.

[mdavis]

I see that you cut the wood so that one end is the same length as the side of the scanner. Is that for stability purposes or does the spring do a good job of keeping it stable? Any specs on that particular spring you used?

Thanks,
Mark

[jck57]

Yeah, just for stability because I didn't use hinges. 1.5" hinge with 1.5" x 3/4 plywood should work fine. I used a peel and stick rubber bumper to hit the shutter button. The spring has free length of 3-1/4", diameter of 3/4" and wire diameter .046". Auto parts houses carry cable stops: http://www.autozone.com/autozone/access ... p/_/N-25g8

[mdavis]

Well, thanks to everyone's help, I finally got this completed. It's taking some great scans, too. Scanned the first chapter of a book in less than 5 minutes, which blew me away. My mechanical trigger is a little bit more ghetto than jck57's, but it works great. I think I will want to track down a rubber tip to put on the head of the nail to increase contact with the camera button, though.

Thanks again to jck57 and of course, Daniel!

-Mark

IMG_20130609_173420_213.jpg (61.42 KiB) Viewed 8609 times

IMG_20130609_133054_756.jpg (105.27 KiB) Viewed 8609 times

IMG_20130609_173459_051.jpg (98.26 KiB) Viewed 8609 times