A new scanner design using plastic tubing

[bsbob]

If it helps, I'm in the process of building one.
http://www.diybookscanner.org/forum/vie ... =24&t=3002

I went with Canon Powershot a1400 cameras.
And just got some little flood lights, 20W.

Trying to figure which type of platen, glass or acrylic, and how to hold that.

[davidlandin]

First of all, thank you David for creating this design, for documenting and sharing your work, and for answering all of the questions with detail. I'll repeat what others have said, that I'm not a skilled engineer or builder, but since your design seems the most feasible for me, I'm going to try to build it, because I need a scanner, since my current method has severe limitations. Let me explain them.

For the past month, I've been capturing books using an iPhone set atop a glass end table that has a shelf underneath. Since I have to lay one edge of the book flat and hold the other page up at 90 degrees, flip the book for every shot, then turn the page, I'm only able to capture one page at a time, at about 6-8 pages a minute, which averages out to about 400 pages per hour. This set up allowed me to scan without purchasing any equipment, and by putting it through ScanTailor and using its dewarping features, though depending on a few factors, most especially the tightness of the binding and the layout of the text on the page, I can get good results; here's one of my best, as the book was loosely bound and therefore laid flat on the shelf: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BydsbV ... sp=sharing.

However, results are far from consistent, and in the worst cases I spend a lot of time post processing without ideal results, such as choosing between having warped pages or having page numbers; the former is annoying at the very least, and the latter is unacceptable, since I'm using the scans for academic citations. The biggest limitation is the inability to scan paperbacks; they just bend too much without pressure.

So, after contemplating this build since February, I'll be heading over to Home Depot today to buy most of the materials for it. I'll try to take some pictures as I go along to show you. I also expect to have some questions, so I both apologize and give thanks in advance.

Thanks again your sharing your creativity with us.

Thanks for your nice words. I'll be happy to try and answer any questions you may have. You may have trouble finding black plastic tubing. However, white or grey will do, and I have used matt black enamel spray paint on lots of shiny parts. These cans of spray paint are inexpensive, and the paint dries very quickly. It's probably best to do the spraying outside though, as it is a bit fumey.

Have you looked at YASW "Yet Another Scanning Wizard"? it is very good at helping to remove keystone effects, but Scan Tailor is better in some respects. Warped pages are a real problem, but hopefully that will be removed if you start to use a transparent flattening platen to squash the pages flat. However, the examples you have posted look really good and clear. So well done!

Please post some images as you go along with your build. You can do this by clicking on the reply button then on the Upload Attachment tab below.

Have fun!

David Landin

[jdealla]

You're right about the black pipe; there was none of it, so I ended up settling for the white. If it all goes well, I'll sand it and spray paint it black. But I'm still a ways out from that, it seems.

Yesterday I went to the hardware store and bought most of the materials. I didn't do my homework though, and I read the front sheet of your PDF as if it were all of the pipe needed; I didn't realize that this didn't include the base structure, so today I went out and bought more.

I bought two zinc "L" brackets for the platen, so instead of gluing it, I'm going to use those. For the camera mounts, I just bought some metal clamps, the ones with a lip, as they were about 1 USD each. For the actual platen, I bought non-glare styrene, at 5 USD per 11x14 sheet. I already have the wood, and since I couldn't find the choc block, I'll find some way to make pegs. My total cost at the hardware store was about 70 USD.

As is always the case, my cameras have been the most expensive part of the project, although I did get a good deal. If anyone reading is looking, Adorama has the refurbished A2200 for 44 USD: http://www.adorama.com/ICAA2200BKR.html . Two of those, plus two 12 USD 8GB Class 10 SD cards, and my total was 110 USD. So far, my total spent is $180 USD.

I've got the base constructed; at some point, I'll post some notes on how that process went. Here's what I have so far:

Base

It moves pretty well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwlhl9l ... e=youtu.be

It looks like I placed it a little high, as it doesn't touch the floor underneath, but I don't think this should cause problems.

I'll keep everyone posted. Let me know what you think.

[davidlandin]

Wow this really looks good. Please post more photos as soon as you can!

David Landin

[jdealla]

Thanks David,

After braving the sun on the hottest day of the year so far (90F/32C), from which I got a nasty sunburn on my neck, my scanner is functional, though not complete. I'll let the pictures and the video speak for themselves:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFz-chxLPqk

There are a few modifications, and a few things I still need to do. I went ahead and ordered the camera mounts for bikes, as my clamps did not do the trick with a test camera. Also, to compensate for placing the pivot bar too high, I'm going to raise the baseboard a bit with an additional board. Other than that, I still need to put the drawer runners on the bottom, as well as the counterbalances on the back.

As for the modifications, if you want to call them that, I added an extension on the front so I could lift and lower the platen easily. As you can see from the pictures, I used brackets to join the platen instead of gluing it, which from what I remember, you have done, too. One more substantial modification is how I connected the platen to the pipe: instead of attaching the "T" mount directly to the PVC pipe, I drilled a whole through the coupling, and added it on. I did this because I wasn't sure how my hole placement on the pipe would affect the placement of the platen into the book when finished, so I thought I'd make them adjustable.

Despite my sunburn and my general lack of energy (and my wife throwing things at me because of my neglect for the past two days), and even though my cameras have not come in yet (two A2200s) I managed to scan a book tonight with my Nikon D5100 (16MP) on a tripod, one side at a time. I didn't touch the images in post process other than cropping them and adjusting the exposure in Lightroom. In ScanTailor, I didn't use the dewarping feature, I just ran them as they were. I'm thrilled with the final product (no more warped pages, although some were slightly crooked, a fixable problem with YASW, as you mentioned). However, I was lazy with the lighting; it was uneven, and the final scan shows it. Here's the finished product:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BydsbV4 ... pYZk0/edit

I expect the cameras and the mounts to come in this weekend, so I won't post any more photos or videos until after that, but as soon as I get it set up, apart from just showing it in action, I'll throw my notes together and talk about the experience.

Thanks again and I hope all is well with you all.

John

[davidlandin]

Thanks for sending the excellent new photos. It is looking very good. A couple of points and suggestions.

I looks like you have bent the platen rather than gluing, but I may be wrong. If you have bent the plastic, I'll be interested to know a. how you got that bend and b. whether it will fit into the groove of the book tightly enough. Many of the books I am looking at have print that goes close to the gutter - that is, the internal margins are narrow. So a bent acrylic platen might obscure some of the print near the gutter. A glued (or screwed) platen fits snugger into the groove. Looking at your photos again, I tthink you must have used screws.

Also when you have got the weights and the whole unit counterbalanced nicely, there is virtually no musuclar effort required to raise and lower the platen. So you may find that you don't need handles at the front to pull the platen down, since gentle finger pressure at the bottom of the V of the platen itself will be enough. Also by doing it that way your arm movements will be much less. Anyway you can try both methods when you have got the counterbalance weights on, and see how it goes.

Looks great work, and very enocuraging that you have been so successful!

David Landin

[davidlandin]

I expect the cameras and the mounts to come in this weekend

The images you have posted look very good. Have you now got the cameras and mounts? I'm really interested to see how the scanner works "in production mode".

I'd be interested and happy to discuss any snags or problems you may have encountered. Hope you have had time to spend some time with your wife too after working on the project!

David Landin

[bsbob]

jdealla, what size pvc pipe is that? 1"? It looks like 1"in the pics. I was debating between 1" vs. 3/4" before.

[davidlandin]

I've just posted detailed construction information on this site (click below) in case you are interested in making one for yourself.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Book-Sc ... ages-an-h/

David Landin

[jkn]

Hi David

I've just posted detailed construction information on this site (click below) in case you are interested in making one for yourself.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Book-Sc ... ages-an-h/

David Landin

Thanks a lot for the detailed notes you've put up here and on instructables. I am based in the UK (as are you, I think?) and have been thinking of making
a book scanner for a while; your design has caused me to take the plunge...

On thing though; I think that some of the measurements you've put on on the instructables (list & diagrams) are slightly awry; IIRC from reading this thread you corrected
some of the measurements, but the instructables article seems to have the old values. For instance, it lists for tube dimensions:

1 off 38cm
2 off 32cm
6 off 25cm
2 off 24cm

Whereas I think they are (in total, including 2x 25cm for the new camera tubes:

1off 32cm # top of counterbalance frame
6off 25cm # four for counterbalance frame, two for camera arms
2off 24cm # sides of counterbalance support
5 off 38cm # one for top of counterbalance support, four for base sides & ends
4 off 4cm # joining tees to elbows

Am I right?

HTH, and thanks again
Jon N