Re: Miser Panorama- Finally

[P3D Gabriel Jacob <jacob@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bill Davis writes

>November.  This has involved two surgeries and numerous hospital visits and
>stays, but it looks like all the worst is behind us now.  The treatment was
>quite effective, and she's gonna be fine.  Thank You, Lord!

Actually that should be Thank You, Lorddd! In all seriousness glad to hear
everything went well. It takes something like this to know what priorities
we have in life and as much as we love 3d it's not 3d for sure.

>THE MISER PANORAMA
>
>An article by Ray Smullyan in the December 1994 ISU journal "Stereoscopy"
>discussed various ways of building optically superior stereo slide viewers,
>and in the section devoted to improving View-Master viewers he suggested
>replacing the existing lenses with better ones but keeping the original
>lenses as "they are quite decent for Realist-format slides."  Well, if they
>are quite decent when removed, I thought, why not leave them in place and
>design a slide holder for Realist-format? 

Hmmm that's interesting, I never read the article but I have upgraded VM
viewers with 8 and 10x loupes for viewing VM reels. I have also converted
VM viewers to view 2x2 pairs by using the VM viewer "intact", that is the
lenses and body of the viewer are kept but the parts inside are gutted out.
I have done this way back in 1990. I have commented on this a few times on
P3D but most people offlist were skeptical. Works fine even with 7p. Glad
to hear you have done the same thing but on a grander scale. Now people
hopefully will realize I wasn't kiddding! I didn't realize what your project
entailed when you you first commented on the Miser Panorama.

>The image is certainly superior to the embarrassing Kodaslide I and shows
>less keystoning than my Guild Viewer.

Wow that is interesting! Didn't know the optics on the VM were that good
relatively speaking.

>The prototype is made almost entirely of View-Masters and heavy-duty
>corrugated cardboard, like that from a refrigerator box. I used a high-
>solids carpenter's glue to fill the irregularities of the cardboard.

Don't know if you have the cardboard painted or what but self adhesive
vinyl covering works well. It comes in many different colors and patterns
from wood grain to marble and is easy to apply. It's also pretty cheap
and can be found in most hardware stores and even drugstores.

>When complete, the Miser Panorama fits over a standard table or floor lamp,
>in place of the original lampshade. One merely spins the whole assembly to
>rotate through the views.  I

I wonder if one spins it fast enough and if the slides are taken accordingly
,can it be made into a animated 3d viewer? ;-)

>The thing that is holding me back is how to cut the plastic without melting
>or otherwise distorting the edge. I'm a bit stumped on that one.
>Everything I've tried has cracked, melted or warped the plastic. Any ideas?

Dremel tools works very well for small projects. Don't know if this helps.
Keep us tuned to what develops, maybe one day I will get the courage to
make one, though I think my SPOUSE would kick me out of the HOUSE if I
would LOUSE UP the lamp shade. ;-)

Gabriel 


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