Hi everyone, I've started on my 1st build. I wanted an antique look--think 20,000 leagues under the sea/Hellboy. So, I wanted a bellows design. This is what my camera looked like before I owned it. It is a flat plate camera from about 100 years ago. It is in the 1897 to 1909 time. I have not looked up its exact model, but I think it is a Poco bicycle camera.


Last weekend I made the lens board to hold the Lumen Labs varifocal lens. I picked the varifocal since it would fit the camera without modification. No modifications were done to the camera. I just made a mounting piece out of brass that fit using screws and holes orriginal to the camera.
Here's a look with the varifocal after I mounted it.

Here's another view.

Oh, here are some picts of the ground glass back of the camera. The lens works well. Here are a few pictures I took of the glass with my digital camera. Basically the projector lens working in reverse.

and

The dark edges seem to be an effect of my digital camera. In person the glass is bright edge to edge. In the 2nd picture I shot at an angle off center and it shows a bit better. Also in person, the image on the glass is sharp as can be.

This might be a new way to focus the lens for projectors. Focusing in reverse on something like ground glass, might work. One might be able to use tracing paper or transparent vellum. I'll check it out and report.

Well, I checked it out with a piece of transparent paper. I took off the removeable back and dialed in the focus with the varifocal lens. It worked quite well--a sharp image was generated on the paper. I bought the paper for 50 cents at Michael's Craft Store. This might be a good way to set your lens in place and then put the paper where the LCD will later go. I'm thinking when you see the clear image on the paper the lens will be in the right spot for the projector. This way no bulb is needed in the case or LCD for work done early on in the building process. I just pointed the lens at a window and it worked well. Whether it is the same distance to project I will know soon.

I have dry wood glue on my fingers as I type. I'm making the box to hold the lcd sled and working out where things will go. I have all my parts except the pro reflector.

I thought I'd share my inspiration for my old fashioned design. When I started, I looked at http://www.allinbox.com/allinbox.htm, and I thought a few designs looked like old fashioned Magic Lanterns. So, I looked up magic lantern projectors to get more ideas. (Magic lanterns used a flame to shine light through a large glass slide.)

and

and this one which should have a family resemblance to mine when I'm done.

I went to ASU Surplus today and got a La Cie external, scsi, CD-burner to tear apart for the power input plug. Then I was thinking another one might provide the dc power to run my fans. They were only 5 dollars, so I ended up buying two. (They also had a gigantic 14' plus, motorized screen for 150 dollars.)
Here's the La Cie

and its guts

It had an internal fan, a power light, and power to the CD-burner.

Now I have a quesiton, should I go back and get a third burner? There is a part of me that is looking at my next projector even though I am just getting into my first. Would this be a good power supply for the 10.6 that looks so good?

Thank you.... is this what happens. It's a bit like having one potato chip.

Yesterday I started putting the veneer on the lcd holding box. I have a woodworking shop near my house and they just happened to have mahogany veneer on sale. The box itself is a cigar box from Michael's Craft store. I had to build up the sides a bit, but now it is an exact fit. The electronics will stick out of the top.



A look at the lid.


Box pieces put together.

Well, I got started with my main box and had some good progress.

Here's a shot of the interior. You can see the ceramic tile I cut and placed in the holding tracks.

This last one shows the dc fan powersupply and the ballast holding box.

Wow, I've got a lot more to do. I need to finish my light box, install the fans, do the wiring for the ballast, strip the lcd, mount the fresnels, and work on the attaching points for the bellows. Being without my dremel tool for a week has had consequences.

looks like a beaut AZ. It will be fun to watch your progress
I have an old camera with bellows, but there a bit small to constitue destroying an antique
OTOH, I have found that not many antique cameras are worth much. They go on ebay for 10$ and less.

Looks really nice, thats one classy looking machine you got going

Hey thanks,
When I bid on my camera on ebay I thought I was getting one where I could just use the bellows and not care about the rest. Not true anymore. It came in its original leather case with film holders too. The bellows is in "like new condition," so I'm not going to alter the camera. I hope this does not encourage anyone to to destroy an antique.

How I'm planning on using my camera is by popping off the back and then placing the LCD in a duplicate camera back that I made. The real camera back has these neat attachment pins and is light tight. The replica will attach the same way. The LCD is almost the same as the 5x7, so I think it will work well. Also, I got a hot mirror from one of the members here to not only protect the LCD but also to preserve the bellows. I think it will not age it too much being on the far side of the LCD. Oh, my hot mirror is also uv blocking. I'll see how it goes.

I put the ballast in place to take some measurments and align where the wires should go.

I also worked on my light box today. It's a tin tea box that fits perfectly.

I'm cutting it to hold my hot mirror on the front, and later I'll be cutting the back out to accomodate the reflector. I've got to dig out my jeweler's pliers to bend the metal exactly right to hold the glass. Oh, I'll be lining the metal edge that touches the mirror with fiberglass. On a few websites I've seen that hot mirrors should not be mounted with metal. (I don't know if this might be what is causing the cold mirrors to be loosing their coating--just a thought.)

Along the lines of making mine like a magic lantern, I ran across this article and photo of the oldest magic lantern .... I think it looks a lot like the long box designs.
http://www.luikerwaal.com/newframe_uk.htm?/oudste_uk.htm

From the same site above http://www.luikerwaal.com/index.htm

and a couple more lantern links.
http://courses.ncssm.edu/gallery/collectio...MLexhibit03.htm round lion
and
http://www.eastman.org/fm/precin/htmlsrc/p...tml#F1912.00006

Well, I’ve been steadily working on my case. I’m in the process of mounting electronics along with the fan and the switch. Additionally, I am getting ready to fix in place the mounting rails for the light engine. I have been avoiding the LCD as I have read everywhere this is a wise delay. Oh, am I tempted, but soon I’ll be ready.

Now for my question, the AG removal spooks me. Since this is my first build, should I wait on the AG removal?

Thank you,

Yes wait on it for now. Get everything built and adjusted and enjoy it for a while and then see if you want to fool with it.

Awesome man!

I have been planning my wuxga build for a while in the same design realm as this. I love the whole old/bellows/mystery contraption feel.

Keep it up!

Thanks, I figured that if I was making it myself, I should make the box something to look at too. Today I worked on it just a bit. I'm working on the switch. I bought an antique looking, push-button switch with a brass face plate.

http://houseofantiquehardware.com/s.nl/sc.9/category.35/.f

Oh

My

God


Thanks for the link man. I'm totally using that stuff on mine!

Well, I haven't posted in a while. I've been working at work (imagine that) and not working much on the project. I have done some little things though. I've cut out the LCD window in my sled holder and took apart the lcd. I used a picture frame to build the lcd sled. I'll see if I can get some pictures posted. What I've learned is that the time required increases as the level of detail does.

Ok, here are the shots.

This shows the lcd sled holding box.
and

Showing the miracle monitor opened up and here are a few more open shots.

Some of the guts.
One more for a close-up of the board.

But this one shows it after I used a hot knife to remove most of the white plastic holding it in place. The knife was an attachment to a woodburning/soldering iron kit I bought at Michaels Crafts. I also used the hot knife to cut one of my fresnels. It worked well but there was a bit of a distortion in the plastic near the blade. It didn't matter, however, since the area of the fresnel that I'm using is away from the edges by a good amount. I plan on cutting my other fresnel that way.

Now, I've got a few more shots.

Here is a shot of the lcd sled holding box opened up with the hinges attached. I had to remove some of the insides to accomodate the thickness of the sled. You can also see the clasps that hold it shut.

An outside shot of the box closed with the clasps.

Lastly, a shot of the case with the sled holding box in place. When I'm done, the folding plate camera box and its bellows should go on the end where you see some extra room.

So, I've got a few more things to do.
1. Finish the sled and install it in the holder. 85%
2. Cut and install the 2nd fresnel
3. Finish installing the brass pushbutton switch plate. 95%
4. Finish the wiring... 85%
5. Attach fans.
6. Finish lamp house 50%

I'm near the finish line... It feels good. I hope not to get carried away and mess up. I'm not one to rush, but even my patience is tested with all of this precision. I look forward to getting a screen shot up eventually because I know that is the real proof of work. A friend gave me his professional projection screen made just for lcd projectors. He bought a screen for his dlp projector and it came with 2 versions--dlp and lcd. He kept the one for his family and gave me the other.

Oh, by the way, all of the metal and the wood for this project was cut with a dremel tool. No big power tools were used except for a drill to pre-drilling holes. The tile was cut with a glass cutter and a phonebook. The screws were hand done. In a few tight spots my jewelers saw and spiral cut blade did the fine work.

Oh, and I forgot these when I built the sled.

It is one of the frame kits with two sides each pre cut to specific lengths. I liked the premade pieces but in the end I needed to use a miter box and make a few ajustments. There is a u-channel on the underside that L braces screw them together. It seems quite solid.

Now, here it is with some of the electronics inserted.
Also, it shows my new favorite tool... it is an elctronic hot knife/soldering iron/woodburning tool. You can see where I cut the white plastic off the back of the pannel. I also used it to cut my first fresnel. It was a bit slow but did exactly what I wanted. I was stressed about cutting it and did not want to mess up. I know I'll cut my 2nd fresnel the same way. Also, it does not generate any dust so I liked it for that reason as well. There was a slight distortion near the cut due to the heat but it was very localized. I don't think it was any bigger than half a centimeter.

And while I'm on a roll, here's an actual picture that the camera took with the lumenlabs verifocal less. A guy at the camera shop was amazed at the quality of the camera bellows and showed me an easy way to take pictures with the camera. I just used photo paper and then used a small amount of developer and water and fixer to develop the photo later. For the exposure I removed a lens cap I made, and I counted to 45 seconds. One note, I did have to invert the photo paper on my computer and flip it. Since it makes a negative on the photo paper--no film needed. (It is overexposed and slightly out of focus, but I've been playing around and it will take good photos. I haven't scanned any more but I'll see if I can get a good one. There are some scan lines from my scanner but it is an ok shot for my 4th ever photo.)

Now that is pretty cool. It even takes antique looking photos.

Thanks, I think it says a lot about the verifocal lens. Since I can get good images on paper, I think it will be able to project good images from the lcd. I really did not know the photographic stuff before working on the projector--never even developed things in high school like some kids did. It seems like the lens has a shallow depth of field, kind of like a portrait shot. However, I don't know the rules for optics. It makes me wonder what the pro lens would be like.

This project shows great sense of style. Good work! Can't wait till she's finished.

Hey thanks, I've been working slowly but It's progressing. I've got to reclaim my kitchen! So, I've got to speed things up. Dad's got a shop--boy, do I miss that when I'm working at home. Here's a shot from yesterday of the 2nd fresnel I cut with the hot knife.

Wow, I just finished stripping the back of the LCD. I cut the rest of the plastic away and then removed the foil. Under that was a white plastic sheet. Then I burned through that accidentally. Man I felt bad because I thought I ruined something. I was surprised to see there was a huge acrylic block under that layer. So, with great care, I removed that block. Under that were the optical sheets I saw in the other folks' posts that have stripped this model. Finally, I took them out and there was the LCD. I don't remember anyone else mentioning this block so I'll see if I can get a shot.

Here's a shot of the sheets.

The thick block is on the left.

Any more progress??

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. Yes, I worked on it during the last 3 day weekend. I've been busy with the swim season so the project has taken a back seat. I cut and drilled the bulb holder. Also, I stained and mounted some wood and attached some brass. I'll get some more picts up.

One note of bad news. I broke my bulb. It happened after shipping, since I inspected the bulb and it was fine. I think I broke it when I was putting it away in the bubble wrap. The box lid was open and I pressed it down. I'll have to order a new one.

Oh, I also wired the and installed the switch and mounted the fan. I built the base and attached the feet. In addition, I finished mounting the lcd electronics and reconnected the ribbon cables. So, I guess I have been busy. At one point I just wanted it out of my kitchen.

Is this jsut an attachment for a soldering iron I might try to find one looks simple enough

Yes, I think it is. It just screwed into place. Then, I did the soldering with the other tip when I needed to put some wires together. I have not seen the blade sold separately, however.

The positive side of using the tip is that there is no dust. It cuts exactly where you want. There is no vibration from a saw and seemed low risk because you can control the level of force.

The negative side is that it is slow... and it has a small distortion near the blade due to the heat. The lcd won't be near the edge for me, so I picked this method.

Here's an update and I was able to get some pictures. Well this is what the final projector should look like. I just have to insert the lcd into the middle box. You can see the middle box connects to my bellows camera and then it backs up to the chest where the light house will be located.

In this picture you can see the open slot in the top of the lcd box where the electronics will be mounted.

Also, here is a shot of the back where the switch is mounted. There's still a bit of work to do but I think I can see the finish line.

Tons of style points there! One of the coolest PJs ever, in my book. If it performs anywhere near as well as it "vogues" then you have yourself one hell of a conversation piece.

Hey thanks, I have high hopes for it. I have a few things in my favor--I think. The front lens is able to move backwards and forwards. (also up and down) Additionally, inside the trunk there are rails that will hold the light house so it can be adjusted. From everything I've heard one key is to make things adjustable. I measured carefully so the lenses should work.

I have just a few more things to do before I can test it. I have to put up some flashing to protect against the heat. I also have to finish installing my lcd sled into that middle box. My lamp house is almost done but it needs to be attached to the adjustment rails and wired up. Unfortunately, I also have to order a new bulb. I broke mine.

Thanks,

WOW that thing looks crazy, Looks like Doc Brown invented it full with flux capacitor hehe Nice build very original

Cheers Mate
Spank

Thanks, I can't wait to get it working and take some screen shots. I haven't had time the last two weekends because I've been trying to finish another project. If you want to see my real Doc Brown project check out the Mad Science area. I've posted the solar hot air heater I built. It has been on the back burner, so to speak, over the summer and fall. Now, that it is getting chilly in AZ, I've been working on the ducts and fans to install the heater. Today might have been the last day for shorts and T-shirts for me.

Wow, very impressive project. I don't know if you're already familiar with the steampunk fashion "movement", but this projector is a fine piece of workmanship that would fit in perfectly in that pseudo-victorian vein.

You can see some good examples of steampunk-style technology here on the Brass Goggles blog. I have already submitted this forum post to the blog - but if you decide to create a project website for this projector after completion I am positive that submitting it will lead to it's discussion on the site. (If you have ever had thoughts about internet fame, this would be the thing to do. Brass Goggles is read by the writers of many other technology and culture blogs, and I am pretty sure that they would pick up and repost links to anything you put up. If you decide to do this, secure plenty of bandwidth and throw up some ads!)

I have deeply enjoyed your work so far and can't wait to see the end result.

It's TOSHIBA LCD LTM084P363 800*600

Wow, thank you for your interest. Now that I have my heater done and installed I'll be turning my attention back to my projector. I think from what I've seen I've been a steampunk person without knowing it. I was always captured by that old fashioned style. The Time Machine and 20,000 Leagues were favorites of mine. As a kid I had a huge fascination with airships and archaic technology. My favorite ride at Disneyland was the Swiss Family Robinson's Tree-house. Ultra cool--thanks again.