[photo-3d] Re: Mounting marathon

[<donaldparks@xxxxxxxxxx>]

DrT posted:

> DrDave's RBT-transfer method is working flawlessly!
> I am so happy!!!

     I agree with DrT's endorsement.  David gave me a personal preview of his
mounting technique, presented at the workshop in Mesa.  It helps when you see the
demonstration up close and then try it yourself.  The system works great and is
not hard to do yourself.

    I'd like to thank DrT for his review of mounting principles.  It continues to
amaze me how much very useful information I get from his posts on this P3D list.
The latest revelation was using and infinity spacer between the rails in RBT
mounts or the RBT jig for mounting in Spicer mounts.

> Your RBT mounts come with a little bag that contains the
> "rails" and a strange-looking yellow tool. Most people
> do not understand what this tool is for (neither do I!)
> But I have seen Ron Fross from our club modify this
> tool to apply a constant infinity mounting, which is
> the original intention of this tool.
>
> So here is what I did:  First I mounted a pair from my
> S1 and checked with an alignment gauge to make sure
> that infinity had a decent separation.  The maximum
> infinity separation in these gauges is 1.2mm but I am
> using a smaller value myself (sorry, I subscribe to the
> "less is better" principle).
>
> Once the pair was mounted in the RBT mount I laid
> the yellow tool over the rails and marked on the arms
> of the tool the spacing of the RBT rails.  I then cut
> the ends and trimmed then with a file so that this
> yellow tool FITS EXACTLY BETWEEN THE RBT RAILS.
>
> I have now created a tool that will allow me to space
> the rails to achieve a constant infinity separation.
>
> To finish the job I trimmed (with a file) the notch
> that makes the tool fit at the center of the mount
> only (I need to slide this tool around) and reduced
> the thickness of the tool legs so the film chips
> can run over these legs without a problem.
>
> Here is the nice part:  It does not matter how the chips
> are cut.  If the camera works by advancing a constant
> number of film perforations (sprockets) (this is true for
> all Realist-format cameras and for my S1 too) then this
> tool will always work for this camera!  (You might
> need to make a different tool for different cameras
> but a tool is always good for a given camera).
>
> This tool is very useful for beginner who do not have
> a good concept of the stereo window.  It will allow
> you to mount consistently in RBT mounts and, depending
> on the kind of scenes photographed, you will do very
> well in the majority of the scenes.  Small adjustments
> might be needed in some slides but the majority would
> be OK.

     Thanks again, George, for posting this discovery on the list.  There's more
of George's description that I didn't copy.  It's worth going back to reread if
you didn't understand the first time.  I can see how George has nearly automated
his mounting for the majority of his slides.

Don Parks

Dr. Donald J. Parks
Mechanical Engineering Dept
Boise State University