Re: Alternate methods of VM mounting

[P3D Bruce Rosenberger <BR3D@xxxxxxx>]

>Subject: No way......

Clifford L. Davis asks:
>No way am I going to spend outrageous amounts of money for a MARK II or
>Viewmaster film cutter.
>I am quite positive there must be an alternative.
>Does anybody on the list have any alternative methods of making
>viewmaster reels without those clunky expensive cutters?

Cliff,
Sorry, I'm a little behind in my Digests, but I wanted to respond to your 
question. 
My first roll of film from my View-Master camera came back from a one hour 
photo joint 'mounted' even though I had expressly requested 'DO NOT MOUNT.' I 
sat at home very depressed with the slides in my hand until I was able to 
figure out a way to view them. I took apart a broken View-Master (one of the 
red/white ones). I then made a 'sandwich' out of three layers of illustration 
board. The first and third layers were cut to the shape of the VM and 
rectangular holes cut to match the size of two of the four images on the 
slides. The middle piece was cut as a 'pass thru' for the slides. I then added 
a box, with the bottom cut out and wax paper for a diffuser, to the outside of 
the unit. Passing alternate slides thru the 'pass thru'  gives you two of the 
pictures in stereo. pushing the next alternate slide (1,3,5,7,9, etc.) gives 
you the next pair. Then you can start the process over with the opposite 
alternate slides.
It's not perfect, but at least you can view the slides! 
The point I'm making is that I think with a little modification you could make 
a workable viewer out of this idea. (They're not "reels" though...)
I also tried cutting the chips by hand and trimming with an exacto knife. It 
works for viewer viewing, but looked awful when projected.
The other suggestion I could make is to have the chips mounted by one of the 
services. I've used Gene Garza in the past and he does an excellent job! 
(address avaliable in the 'services' listing.) I'm lucky in that a friend owns 
a cutter but hates to do the cutting so he leaves the cutter with me and I do 
his occasional rolls for him.

Hope I've been some help...
Bruce


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