First, here are some of the simple modifications that made life easier.
Light Management / Dust Prevention / Storing Space
Very early on I realized I needed to prevent outside light from influencing the quality of the scans produced. Unless used in absolute darkness, reflections on the platen causes glare, and ambient light causes brightness inconsistencies.
Additionally, I realized I also needed a surface to permanently store this beast. I obviously could not let it permanently occupy my crafting workbench.
It's also a dust magnet—especially the glass platen, ironically. It's the most dust-crucial piece but attracts the most particles.
Here was my answer. A television armoire! I was able to find it cheap enough on Craig's List and have it delivered.
This killed several birds with one stone. (Hard to tell how exactly how many what with all the screams of agony and blood.) But among the list...
- This gave me a covered surface to block out light
- The surface is low enough to scan while sitting.
- The double doors extend and swivel, blocking light from the many windows I have.
- It prevents dust from collecting while being stored.
- It provides additional storage below.
As you can hopefully see, even with all windows surrounding it open, the scanner is shrouded in eternal darkness. Emo scanner.
The scanner has been sitting in this armoire for three years and barely collected any dust. Ironically, the glass platen seemed to attract the most, so I think creating and placing a fabric cover to lay over the platen will greatly help.
Shroud
Before this, my first plan was to create a shroud. I still plan on making it, though at the moment it's not a high priority. If anyone shows interest I might continue, so here was my progress on that...
I determined the area needed for shrouding was anything between the light-source and platen. I also wanted the shroud to be easily removable. But with the odd shape, and wanting to make something fitted to the frame, I didn't want to just drape a piece of cloth around it. I realized I could use the aluminium extrusions to mount snap buttons.
These are cheap and easily obtainable at any sewing store. They can be anchored on with screws and square nuts (bought through the same store Tenrec gets their parts from.
This was the pattern I drafted for the back and front pieces, showing where snap buttons would be placed, including the seam allowances. The front piece, if made, would need to flap back in order to see the book.
Better, Smaller Counterweights
The large counterweight bag obstructs the view of the platen while working. I improved this by using something heavier. Much heavier. I had some lead tire strips laying around, so I measured how many I needed to achieve equilibrium, then divvied up the difference by slicing up the canvas bag provided into two small ones I hung from velcro straps under each pulley rope.
This reduced the size drastically and opened up visibility of the machine. I can now see what I'm doing under the pull-down bar. Eventually I'd like to replace these all together with tension springs connected between the arms and the feet of the machine.
Cradle Bedding
The angle of the cradle does not perfectly match that of the platen. Additionally, the cradle mid-section cannot be made into a perfect V. There will always be at least an inch-wide gap between the left and right wings, so any volumes thinner than that have a tendency to shift around. My solution to both these problems was to create a simple, fluffy bedding to place into the cradle.
I cut some black synthetic fibre automotive flooring for bedding for the cradle. It has a robust 1/4" pile, and has a very durable 1/8" thick backing. This gives a total surface depth of 3/8" which keeps the pages very secure and flush against the glass. The added value to this is the cushioning provides better pressure tolerance when pressing books up against the platen.
Book Placement Spacer
Another minor problem is that books tend to shift on the cradle's Y axis mid-scan-job; and though the bedding helps, shifting is inevitable, so I created a simple spacer by placing a piece of cardboard and electrical tape near the top. This will work for now until I come up with a better solution. Ideally, books need to be positioned in the middle of the bed, so an adjustable spacer would work better.
In the next post, I'll go over some of the things I'd like to do with this that frankly are beyond me...