I'm Going to the Type-In!

Changing Hands is having a Type-In on June 24th. It's being organized by a Changing Hand's employee who loves typewriters. I plan on going, so I'll see you there.

Pinhole Mania

Earlier today I was stationed over the Trotec laser cutter in our technology lab supervising the cutting of a project for my photography students. In fact, it looks like this:

It's a pinhole camera and I am exceptionally proud of the design. It takes the form of two nested boxes. The inner box holds the film in place and carries the pinhole. If you've ever looked a Kodak Brownie it's of a similar idea. 

 The film size is 4 x 5 and I have used paper negatives and litho film with some success. If you were curious about the specifications here you go:

Focal length: 87mm

Pinhole diameter: 0.39mm

f/221

Angle of view: 86 degrees.

The process of developing this product--for that's what it really is--has been challenging. I needed to keep in mind that this would be a kit for high school students to put together. When coming up with the design based on the material I wanted to use (3mm Baltic birch plywood) I was drawn to the nested boxes. Nice to see Ilford via Walker Camera beat me to the punch. 

The process of assembly had to be streamlined considerably. Everything is easy enough to assemble with a rubber mallet and patience. Even the pinholes are printed in very thin sheets of black styrene. This is upgradable to better materials in the future.

Ultimately, the goal was to have a rugged pinhole camera that students can keep for a lifetime. The outcome definitely meets that goal.

P.S. I am trying to gauge interest in this kind of thing as a Kickstarter or something. I think I could get the price down to $15-20 plus shipping. Would that be of interest to anyone?

P.P.S. Here is a shot using the camera kit. This is the black polystyrene pinhole.

Sewing On-the-Go

If you love typewriters and mechanical things it's natural to like multitools. When you have a screwdriver, can opener, scissors, tweezers and toothpick in one tool you are ready for anything the world can throw at you. I personally love Swiss Army Knives for their design and quality. I also love that there is a vibrant collecting community and an equally strong DIY modding ethic.

Absent in most SAKs is a sewing kit. I know there are some sewing-themed knives made, but without getting into the ins and outs of Victorinox and Wegner and the custom sewing knives made for Bernina, I thought I would try making my own sewing kit in a small SAK.

The first step was to define the problem. I wanted to have a Victorinox Classic SD (the smallest and cheapest SAK) with a full tool compliment including tweezers and toothpick and a place to store some thread, a needle and three buttons; two shirt and one sleeve placket. This, in my mind, was the bare minimum for the kit. Most sewing kits include scissors, but since the SD has a very nice set of scissors already.

From there I sat about thinking about the design. The tweezers and toothpick (T&T) would need to move to the same side. I designed a scale that allowed them both to nestle on one side. The other side of the SAK was free for the sewing kit. The scale itself would serve as a spool for the tread and the needle would held in place with an elastic band.

I got into TinkerCad and came up with these designs: 

A couple of 3D test prints, a little fine adjustment, and a final print:

This is deceptive. The smooth surface is a result of sanding and then spraying with flat black. Then I waxed the paint. It seems counterproductive, but it gives the paint a really nice feel. The elastic band holds it all together. Undo the band and then:

The needle and the thread is revealed. Remove the thread and the access to the buttons is revealed.

Now this little set is ready for all your fashion repair needs. The knife functions still work and overall it's thicker than the old SD, but I think that the thicker scales are more pleasant to use. I'll keep working on iterations. I don't like the idea of the needle not having a more secure storage place. Also, if I could eliminate the elastic band everything would be more secure.