will1384's Book Scanner

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.

Moderator: peterZ

will1384

will1384's Book Scanner

Post by will1384 »

I just finished my Book Scanner, I had a lot of problems, more so than I usually do, not sure why :?

Lets see:


I accidentally drilled about halfway threw the palm of my hand, thankfully there was some
bone to stop the drill :o

I broke the glass, I was working on my platen, and just set the glass down, and it cracked,
just out of the blue, nothing hit it, or was even near it :?:

I was cutting the metal frame for the platen, I cut the entire amount of metal wrong, 3 times,
I was tired and sleepy :?

I was cutting the metal, and broke the chop saw blade, then when trying to replace the blade,
the bolt that holds the blade broke off in the chop saw :?

When drilling with a large heavy duty hand drill, I somehow broke the drill chuck, some how
I broke it by over tightening it, with my hand LOL

When soldering the remote switch, the back of my finger touched the soldering iron, lost about
a fingernail size worth of skin :o

I got the platen done and it works, but noticed the cradle is not level, I need to fix that

I made the platen so big that I have to mount the cameras different

The platen is so heavy I had to add a counterweight :roll:


Now for some pictures:

The Book scanner
Image

The Platen
Image

Image

The Counterweight setup
Image
Image


I have a lot of "fix up" work left

DONE (1) Fix the cradle, or what ever is causing it to be uneven
DONE (2) Make or buy, better camera mounts
DONE (3) Paint it
DONE (4) Replace the dumbbell I use as a counterweight
DONE kinda LOL (5) Find a way to switch over to regular USB, from USB shutter release, so I can off load the images from
the SD card without opening the "flimsy" battery door
DONE (6) Add a monitor, to preview the output of the cameras, I cant seam to line it up perfect with just the cameras LCD

UPDATE 08/01/2010

Image

Image

I welded an "L" brace to to washers and made a camera mount

Image

I also added two more lamps, the pages seamed a tad dark, likely the florescent lamps

UPDATE 08/04/2010

I wanted to get the images out of the camera without dealing with the battery door, batteries falling out, and
without moving the camera, so I cut a slot into the battery door so I could get to the SDHC card

Image

I was also getting reflections off of the useless and tacky looking chrome that should have never been on the camera,
so I covered it with electrical tape

Image


UPDATE 08/06/2010

Added an LCD monitor, :shock: :lol: my bad paint job

Image

and a video switch

Image

UPDATE 08/07/2010

Got a slightly better camera mount, no welding, I just used grounding clamp, "L" bracket, some washers, and part of
a security camera mount, looks better than what I had LOL

Image

and

Image

BTW here is the security camera mount I used, I got two of them

Image

Image

And using all the extensions for a big book

Image

UPDATE 08/13/2010


I replaced my counter weight, I got a dumbbell, 10 lbs, and cut one end off, with an angle grinder,
and welded a Quick Link onto the end, -- should be noted that it was iron and I welded steel to it,
and when you do that you need to be careful, I was not ;) , but its holding and seams
strong

Image

and after

Image



Later on, I will go into detail, parts list, metal cuts, making the remote shutter release
Last edited by will1384 on 13 Aug 2010, 23:20, edited 6 times in total.
User avatar
daniel_reetz
Posts: 2812
Joined: 03 Jun 2009, 13:56
E-book readers owned: Used to have a PRS-500
Number of books owned: 600
Country: United States
Contact:

Re: will1384's Book Scanner

Post by daniel_reetz »

great scanner! What is that cool black frame you're using for the platen?

PS. Are you healing well? ;)
univurshul
Posts: 496
Joined: 04 Mar 2014, 00:53

Re: will1384's Book Scanner

Post by univurshul »

Also: what is the material lining the cradle?? Looks like a rug-grip for slick floors--genius!

RE glass: using double strength, untempered?--Sometimes you'll get poor-quality panes. I haven't used tempered yet. Acrylic will crack like glass too.

Dude, your luck on this projecto is bunk. I work in the building industry, so I can empathize with what you've gone through. Maybe grab a lottery ticket and well-deserved breather. Great scanner.
will1384

Re: will1384's Book Scanner

Post by will1384 »

daniel_reetz wrote:great scanner! What is that cool black frame you're using for the platen?

PS. Are you healing well? ;)
I work well with metal, and angle iron, not so much with wood, but yea its 1/2in x 1/2in x 1/8in angle iron.

It has taken about a week for my hand to stop hurting, about the same about of time it took for me to make
the book scanner, I should have used a vice, you get tired and in a hurry to finish, and just stop thinking clearly :?
univurshul wrote:Also: what is the material lining the cradle?? Looks like a rug-grip for slick floors--genius!
Duck brand, Easy Liner, I found a roll 20in x 6foot for just under $4, I was going to buy felt, but all
I could find was small squares of felt, and just happen to see that Easy Liner, I remember someone else
used ether rubber mats or Easy Liner also
univurshul wrote: RE glass: using double strength, untempered?--Sometimes you'll get poor-quality panes. I haven't used tempered yet.
Acrylic will crack like glass too.

Dude, your luck on this projecto is bunk. I work in the building industry, so I can empathize with what you've gone through.
Maybe grab a lottery ticket and well-deserved breather. Great scanner.
Yea it was double strength untempered, I was kinda in disbelief when the glass broke, but that's not the first time
I have had bad luck with glass LOL
User avatar
n9yty
Posts: 72
Joined: 25 Jul 2010, 22:13

Re: will1384's Book Scanner

Post by n9yty »

I've been reading the forum for a few weeks now, and haven't yet made the plunge to start a project because my skill-set is not in this area. :) But reading your problems here at least made me feel that when it happened to me I wouldn't be the first.

I see you are running OS X - anything in particular that you have found for your post-processing workflow that might be helpful? I managed to get scantailor compiled, not using macports but by installing the Nokia Qt Cocoa bundle and then compiling the few other things that were required (libxrender, boost, libpng, libtiff, etc...) because I had already put most of them in place and didn't want a whole duplicate set installed. I haven't *used* it yet, but it is ready and it works for whenever I get something in place to test.

Thank for the encouragement of your post that it doesn't always go as planned and that it is OK when it happens. :)
univurshul
Posts: 496
Joined: 04 Mar 2014, 00:53

Re: will1384's Book Scanner

Post by univurshul »

n9yty wrote:I've been reading the forum for a few weeks now, and haven't yet made the plunge to start a project because my skill-set is not in this area. :) But reading your problems here at least made me feel that when it happened to me I wouldn't be the first.

I see you are running OS X - anything in particular that you have found for your post-processing workflow that might be helpful? I managed to get scantailor compiled, not using macports but by installing the Nokia Qt Cocoa bundle and then compiling the few other things that were required (libxrender, boost, libpng, libtiff, etc...) because I had already put most of them in place and didn't want a whole duplicate set installed. I haven't *used* it yet, but it is ready and it works for whenever I get something in place to test.

Thank for the encouragement of your post that it doesn't always go as planned and that it is OK when it happens. :)
If you could outline your Scan Tailor Install in a 'noobie style', step by step installation for the Mac user, please post a new thread in the Scan Tailor section in the Forum. There are many Mac users struggling with the hurdle of getting this app running on OSX. Many Thanks.
User avatar
n9yty
Posts: 72
Joined: 25 Jul 2010, 22:13

Re: will1384's Book Scanner

Post by n9yty »

See the Scan Tailor message area. I am working on a standalone .app version, but it may be 10.6/Intel only. Still, that is better than the current state of things. And if it works there, I may set up a Leopard machine and repeat the steps to build a version there, but let me not get ahead of myself. :) I also am making notes to document the process in case others want their own builds.
univurshul
Posts: 496
Joined: 04 Mar 2014, 00:53

Re: will1384's Book Scanner

Post by univurshul »

n9yty wrote:See the Scan Tailor message area. I am working on a standalone .app version, but it may be 10.6/Intel only. Still, that is better than the current state of things. And if it works there, I may set up a Leopard machine and repeat the steps to build a version there, but let me not get ahead of myself. :) I also am making notes to document the process in case others want their own builds.
Excellent! Late OSX versions are ok with me, as I am an early adopter, so I am fortunate to test and take part.

Best regards
will1384

Re: will1384's Book Scanner

Post by will1384 »

n9yty wrote:I've been reading the forum for a few weeks now, and haven't yet made the plunge to start a project because my skill-set is not in this area. :) But reading your problems here at least made me feel that when it happened to me I wouldn't be the first.

I see you are running OS X - anything in particular that you have found for your post-processing workflow that might be helpful? I managed to get scantailor compiled, not using macports but by installing the Nokia Qt Cocoa bundle and then compiling the few other things that were required (libxrender, boost, libpng, libtiff, etc...) because I had already put most of them in place and didn't want a whole duplicate set installed. I haven't *used* it yet, but it is ready and it works for whenever I get something in place to test.

Thank for the encouragement of your post that it doesn't always go as planned and that it is OK when it happens. :)
I just got started, have not even scanned one book yet, but I did have a fun time with Macports
when trying to get ScanTailor up and running :roll:


I had to reinstall MacPorts because it kept giving me this error

"file was built for i386 which is not the architecture being linked (x86_64)"

BTW it was not an issue from upgrading OS X, ( I have only ever used Snow Leopard )

And then

"No rule to make target `/usr/local/lib/libjpeg.dylib' "

And I was never able to fix that with MacPorts so I installed libjpeg and libpng
from a DMG that someone had made up, over here at

http://ethan.tira-thompson.org/Mac_OS_X_Ports.html

And everything worked, and then I discover that someone made a downloadable
pre-made ScanTailor for OS X, LOL :lol:
will1384

Re: will1384's Book Scanner

Post by will1384 »

Even with the LCD I added its still hard to line up the cameras, I am going to
do some Goggling to see if there is a grid or some lines that can be displayed
in the Video out when using CHDK
Post Reply