[photo-3d] Don Parks is the man! :-)

[Paul Talbot <list_post@xxxxxxxxx>]

Don Parks wrote very kind words regarding his experiences with
obtaining a special format stereo mount.  What he left out of
the story was that it never would have been possible without
the incredibly detailed scientific research that Don himself
did  regarding existing mounts, including:
  - taking many minutely fine measurements with calipers
  - compiling the results and comparing them to published ANSI specs
  - engaging in countless hours and kilobytes of e-mail correspondence
      with me on numerous mount design issues;

and also the detailed engineering design and testing that Don did,
including:
  - working out the details of the mount specification he required--
      which meant four sets of measurements (outside dimensions, small
      (front) aperture dimensions, large (back) aperture dimensions,
      and inside register dimensions), all tuned to the manufacturer's
      stated tolerance of .003 inches!
  - preparing an engineering drawing laying out all the specifications, and
  - testing and measuring the initial samples against the supplied
      specification and calculating the variations and required adjustments
      to correct the samples for a production run.

And that's just the details that come to mind off the top of my head!
There was a whole lot more involved than that!

Now you might wonder why this is relevant to anyone other than Don.
Well, Don used the experience and knowledge gained from going through
this process with me to help lay out the specifications for the new
line of stereo mounts soon to be available from RMM3D.com.  Pre-production
samples of these mounts have been distributed at NSA Mesa and through an
offer on this list.  These new mounts will be available in both heat
seal and self-stick styles.  Both will feature a guide for placement of
the film chips inside the mount, but will *eliminate* the unsightly light
leak of the tabbed guides of existing heat seal mounts.  Overall opacity
is superb also--much improved over the current "see through" style heat
seal mounts with the light colored adhesive.

Going through these experiences the past year, I learned more than I
ever thought was possible to know about stereo slide mounts.  And of
course the more I learned the more I realized how much I don't know.
The slide mount manufacturer, who has been producing mounts since 1955
and supplies stereo mounts to Kodak (outside the U.S.), also learned
a lot from Don's efforts!  In fact, without the detailed feedback Don
provided to them regarding the first samples of his special mount, I
suspect they would not have been able to produce anything remotely
acceptable when another U.S. retailer subsequently sent them some 7P
mounts with a request to (paraphrasing) "make something like these."*

So you see, we all have Don Parks to thank for the exciting new line
of heat seal and self-stick mounts that will soon be available from
rmm3d.com (initially 5P with other sizes to follow)...and even for the
new "Euro" heat seal mounts soon to be appearing elsewhere.

Isn't it amazing what the global impact can be of one man's choice
to work in an unusual format like twin horizontal half frame stereo!

Hats off and a thousand thanks to Don Parks for his dedication and
perseverance!

Paul Talbot

* Of course they did not learn everything that Don and I learned in
this process, so the other new "euro" mount, regrettably, does not
capture the full extent of Don's expertise.