Viewer blackening (Re: What am I up to now?)

[Greg Erker <erker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>This new viewer has an inner sliding box that is completely closed
>except for the 1/8" wide slide opening.  The box is all black, and the
>inside is flat black and has a full septum.  It is sized so that it is
>underlapping the wood viewer top plate at all times throughout the focus
>movement.  That gap between the two boxes is covered with black flock
>paper. The gap ends up being around 1/32".
>The only thing I did not do was to put an extra black mask for the slide
>to slip behind.

  Sounds excellent. Better than I thought
from the single angle photo.

  Is there a reason you use a 1/8" slide slot?
(easy to get router bit size?)

  I used a 1/16" router bit to make my slide
slot. I have had to sand it a bit larger to
handle the viewing of slides from other people
who have used masking tape or other thick methods
of mounting.

  So my viewer lens basically no light in
through the slot and doesn't have any play
for the slide to move if I look upward or
downward.

  Do your viewers hold the slide tightly
or will it shift if you look (say) 45 degrees
up towards a light or down towards a desk
lamp? Or Maybe you have a spring like the Red Button?

  I found the dark mask to be a big improvement
in my viewer. Especially with dark slides
(like my comet Hale-Bopp one) to control
extra unwanted light. I even considered making
a second slot that would allow me to change
the dark mask easily. Then you could have
the ideal mask for viewing 40x50's or 50x40's
or 50x50's by changing it.

  I decided against it since I didn't forsee
viewing the same format of slides in big
enough groups to be worth the hassle of changing
the mask.

>It probably does not meet your description of completely dark inside,
>but it is very dark, more so than the kit viewer.

  Sounds pretty darn close. Though I would
make a smaller slide slot opening at the
top than 1/8th.

>I find it very interesting to find out what everyone thinks is important
>in viewer design.  Thanks again for the comments Greg.
>
>Hey, I know what is needed: straight brushes along the slide slot
>opening.  This would mask all light.

  Some black velvet folded over on itself
might do the trick. Should be stiff enough
to support itself and soft enough to
seal the slide slot without damaging slides.

Greg E.