P3D Re: Roll your own light box?

[Paul Talbot <ptww@xxxxxxxxx>]

Lawrence W Kaufman wrote:
> 
> Dana Nibby wrote:
> 
> > Looking for tips/plans on making my own light box - just need one large
> > enough for a Realist mount, and didn't want to pay $20+.
> 
> At last weeks NSA Southwest meeting,
> Robert L. had a small plastic light table
> with a ruler taped to it. The ruler acted
> as a ledge for the slide to sit on, as the
> table slanted up slightly. He said his wife
> picked it up at Michaels or MJD designs
> and they could be found at most craft stores.
> 
> I checked out one of the many new Jo-ann
> Fabric/Crafts stores popping up in So. Calif.
> and found American Traditional Stencils
> Embossing Light Table. The table was pre-
> priced at $14.99, but it was on sale for $11.24!
> It measures about 9" long and 6" high, so you
> can actually get four or so stereo slides on it.

I saw Robert's contraption at NSA SW in '97, and some months
later found the Stencils Embossing Light Table at Michael's,
marked down to $9.99.  I tried it, but found the small flashlight
bulb much too dim for my aging eyes.  Maybe I should have stuck
a DrT RB halogen bulb in there!  My current home-made "light
table" is an under-the-counter fluorescent fixture (about $6-$7
at Wal-Mart) placed a little below the top of a glass-topped
coffee table, with an 8x10 piece of plexiglass ($.97 or $1.97
at Home Depot) on top of the glass.  (I was looking for translucent
skylight-type material but didn't find any.  Anyone have a suggestion
where to buy it?)  I left the white adhesive backing on the plexiglass
and I turn it paper-side down to provide diffusion of the light.

Paul Talbot


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