Archivist Quill Kit Plans vs. Archivist Book Scanner Plans?

Built a scanner? Started to build a scanner? Record your progress here. Doesn't need to be a whole scanner - triggers and other parts are fine. Commercial scanners are fine too.

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Doranwen
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Archivist Quill Kit Plans vs. Archivist Book Scanner Plans?

Post by Doranwen »

The title may be somewhat misleading, but I'm referring to the guide here: http://tenrec.builders/quill/guide/
Vs. the plans given here: http://diybookscanner.org/archivist/

And some further explanation:
Tenrec is apparently no longer producing kits at all due to the pandemic. There don't seem to be sources of kits anywhere else either.
I am absolutely terrible with building. Just reading the descriptions of the parts and whatnot, my eyes glaze over. I know nothing about it, and don't know where to start.
My brother is good at mechanical things such as building (he's done quite a bit of that kind of thing and welcomes the opportunity to learn more) and is willing to build a book scanner for me this summer when he comes to visit - IF I procure all the parts needed before then.
He told me to take the master list from the Tenrec kit (the Archivist Quill) and make a spreadsheet of all the parts and quantities and all that, to start getting them.

The screws and washers and nuts and whatnot are simple enough - they're straightforward items that can most likely be easily sourced from hardware stores (or ordered from somewhere if not).
The plates and baffles and other dark metallic-looking pieces are another matter - most of those look custom-designed and I haven't the faintest clue how one obtains those. (My brother was all "I can drill holes in a metal piece of the right thickness if you get that", but I don't know that he's taken any closer look at them or what they are. He's very good with figuring out mechanical things but hasn't had the time to look at this project yet beyond emailing me back, really.)

So I looked at the plans given under the Archivist site (the second link) and they're clearly not quite the same. There's all sorts of mention of wooden parts, STL files (I've never heard of these)… Is the Quill kit just the same thing with a different material besides wood for all the side plates and such, or does the use of the wood pieces change the parts used for elsewhere, like which nuts and bolts? I honestly cannot process this, trying to look at the two of them for comparison. It's just so overwhelming to me, lol. I would not be getting anywhere on this if it were not for my brother, but he's right - I do have to get the parts for him as he won't have the time here to do that AND build it.

If anyone is willing to do some very basic explanation for me, I would appreciate it. I just need an idea of where to start and what to get - because I have to have ALL the parts before my brother gets here if he's going to get it finished before he has to leave again.

If it's relevant: My grandfather, who lives with us, was very good with wood in his day and has instructed my brother in using his tools (though my grandpa's in his 90s and physically cannot do the work anymore). We do have things like his table saw and whatnot, and stuff we don't have, we have friends in the area who probably do and where my brother might be able to borrow tools or go use someone's shop to do stuff.
duerig
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Re: Archivist Quill Kit Plans vs. Archivist Book Scanner Plans?

Post by duerig »

For you and anyone else, I'd recommend building from the Archivist design. That design was created with the intent that many people could make or adapt it for themselves. The Archivist has fewer pieces and is mostly made from custom cut plywood. And that allows a lot more flexibility in terms of adapting the design. If you don't have a particular bolt set, you might be able to use some brackets and wood screws from the hardware store. Etc.

The plywood parts are intended to mostly be cut out on a CNC router or laser cutter. However, if you have a scroll saw or jigsaw, you could print out the plans and paste them as a template and then carefully cut an drill along the lines. Most places have a makerspace that might have the equipment or a woodshop with a cnc rig that could do it.

There are some nice things about the Archivist Quill, among them that it is constructed from aluminum beams and so it is easier to modify in certain ways just by replacing the glass platen and a few beams. But since I did not design it to be generally made, it has a lot of funny pieces of its own which are harder to get. This includes several of the beams being cut at funny angles (40 or 50 degrees instead of 45). It has its own share of custom pieces, though these are all much smaller metal or plastic plates rather than the large plywood of the Archivist. These pieces could be cut using a CNC router or laser cutter. Or they are small enough that you could use a bandsaw, drill, and a template.

The Archivist and Archivist Quill should both provide the same quality of scans. However, if you or somebody likes the look or the Archivist Quill either because you want something made of metal you can email me at help@tenrec.builders and I can provide details or guidance for you to build one for your own use.

-Jonathon Duerig
Tenrec Builders LLC
Doranwen
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Re: Archivist Quill Kit Plans vs. Archivist Book Scanner Plans?

Post by Doranwen »

Well, the biggest concerns I have are cost - trying to keep it down as much as possible - and footprint. If one of them would be more expensive to make vs. the other, or one of them has a larger footprint or is much heavier to lift… those are definitely things to consider. I don't earn a ton of $$ so this would be one of my largest purchases in aggregate outside of a car. Footprint is a consideration because there's very limited space in which to put it - once built, we'll find a place to store it when not in use, but the less space it takes up the better.

I have no idea about either of those things… My guess is the wood is cheaper than custom-drilling metal pieces and finding obscure parts, but I am just totally guessing here. No clue on whether the footprint is the same or not.
duerig
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Re: Archivist Quill Kit Plans vs. Archivist Book Scanner Plans?

Post by duerig »

The cost of the plywood Archivist is likely to be cheaper, especially if you can find a way to cut out the pieces and drill them yourself. Shipping around large pieces of plywood is expensive, but you will most likely be able to get plywood from a local supplier.

The assembled footprint of the two machines is identical. If needed, the plywood Archivist can be disassembled back to flat pack pieces. The metal Archivist Quill can be taken down into even smaller beams (smaller shipping boxes was one advantage of the Archivist Quill kits).

-Jonathon Duerig
cday
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Re: Archivist Quill Kit Plans vs. Archivist Book Scanner Plans?

Post by cday »

I think before you go too far it would be as well to assemble detailed information on each of the above possible designs and send it to your brother, as unless he is closely involved at an early stage it could be challenging to complete assembly during a short visit without a lot of late nights!

You might at this early stage also take a look at the innovative 'David Landin' book scanner design, which should be very much easier to construct and also less expensive, and could if your brother maybe devises some minor modifications to the design, be easier to store when not required.

This was his original thread announcing his design, and you can see that it attracted a lot of interest:

A new scanner design using plastic tubing

A search on the forum or a Google search should bring up further information if it is needed.
Doranwen
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Re: Archivist Quill Kit Plans vs. Archivist Book Scanner Plans?

Post by Doranwen »

He likes the idea of the plastic tubing and thinks he can probably do that. I'm going through that thread and trying to sort out what needs to be gotten and where…
duerig
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Re: Archivist Quill Kit Plans vs. Archivist Book Scanner Plans?

Post by duerig »

Take a look at the Instructable that he made for the plastic tubing scanner here:

https://www.instructables.com/Book-Scan ... ages-an-h/

The really nice thing about this scanner is that it is more suitable for scaling up in size. In addition to most parts being at a local hardware store.
Doranwen
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Re: Archivist Quill Kit Plans vs. Archivist Book Scanner Plans?

Post by Doranwen »

Nice! That's a lot clearer than the thread (I read through it but I was lost by the end). My brother will have absolutely no trouble following that.

I have a book to scan that's 27 cm by 36 cm (but the vertical margins are large enough that I can use the 28 cm x 35 cm size platen fine, I think). (It's on the IA already but the quality is terrible - the pics are fuzzy in spots and the text is barely readable.) The rest of the things I want to scan are smaller - A4 format or standard paperback/hardback. (I'm in the US, but easier to use those measurement terms for this.)

That's a nice easy parts list; I can transfer that into a spreadsheet to look over. Home Depot around here will hopefully have most of that. It's knowing which things I am going to have to get on eBay or somewhere else that's tricky. (So far it seems that cameras and the counterbalance were the things suggested for eBay…) My main concern from reading all the stuff about platen angle is - does the 90° angle have issues with the reflections that I wouldn't have if I made it 100°? (But how would I make that into 100° if I did…)

The other thing I wondered about was the glass vs. acrylic question for the platen - I vaguely recall somewhere someone saying that acrylic scratches up really easily and glass might be better in the long run? (But if choosing glass, one would have to use a heavier counterbalance and probably stronger reinforcement of the structure or something…)
dpc
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Re: Archivist Quill Kit Plans vs. Archivist Book Scanner Plans?

Post by dpc »

Rather than build a scanner large enough to handle that one large book, you might consider scanning that one book manually one page at a time with a single camera on something like a crude copy stand and a build your scanner based on the size of the majority of the books you have to scan.

The reason I say this is because the geometry of the scanner will need to change beyond just the platen/cradle size to handle larger page sizes. The light source will need to be raised to avoid reflections that will be visible on the platen surface and the farther the light is away from the page the less light will illuminate the page surface (you can lower the light for books with smaller pages though, provided your light position is adjustable). Your camera position will also need to be adjusted between scanning books with the large and small page sizes (for example, if you simply set the camera position to frame the largest books you'll ever scan, you will be throwing away image resolution when scanning smaller sized books). A physically smaller scanner is also almost always easier to operate and takes up less storage space. I would imagine that you won't want to try to scan a stack of paperback books with something the size of an Archivist.

The reason for choosing a platen angle of 100 deg. over 90 deg. is to prevent a reflection of the adjacent platen pane into the camera's view. Daniel has a good video demonstrating the problem on this website somewhere (see links below) that I'd encourage you to watch. Building a platen with a 100 deg. angle is more complicated than the simple 90 deg platen, but if you're using acrylic where you can drill mounting holes through the platen you can use common 'L' brackets that have been opened up slightly from 90 degrees. If you're using glass panes for your platen you'll probably want to use grooved end plates, with the grooves being 100 deg apart. You can cut the grooves with a table saw or a router. Or you could simply attach some aluminum angle to the sides of the end plates to hold the glass against the lower edge of the end plate (the Archivist scanner uses this method).

The downsides of acrylic is that it does scratch and it attracts dust particles more easily than glass (triboelectric effect). The upsides though are that it's cheap, easy to work with (cut/drill), and crystal clear.

"What is the ideal platen angle for a DIY Book Scanner" (Part 1 & 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xqrEmDkzjI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5iYmLLWCEg
cday
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Re: Archivist Quill Kit Plans vs. Archivist Book Scanner Plans?

Post by cday »

dpc wrote: 23 Mar 2021, 18:56 The reason for choosing a platen angle of 100 deg. over 90 deg. is to prevent a reflection of the adjacent platen pane into the camera's view. Daniel has a good video demonstrating the problem on this website somewhere (see links below) that I'd encourage you to watch. Building a platen with a 100 deg. angle is more complicated than the simple 90 deg platen, but if you're using acrylic where you can drill mounting holes through the platen you can use common 'L' brackets that have been opened up slightly from 90 degrees. If you're using glass panes for your platen you'll probably want to use grooved end plates, with the grooves being 100 deg apart. You can cut the grooves with a table saw or a router. Or you could simply attach some aluminum angle to the sides of the end plates to hold the glass against the lower edge of the end plate (the Archivist scanner uses this method).

The downsides of acrylic is that it does scratch and it attracts dust particles more easily than glass (triboelectric effect). The upsides though are that it's cheap, easy to work with (cut/drill), and crystal clear.
In his video David Landin describes a method of fusing two pieces of acrylic to make the platen, if that works easily as described it should be simpler than drilling holes and using brackets. If the platen does over time scratch it could also easily be replaced. If brackets are used, it would be as well to search online for advice on drilling acrylic to avoid the risk of cracks, but maybe Doranwen's brother already knows that. Either way, it might be wise to buy more acrylic than is required initially unless it is readily available when needed.
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