Panoramic Photos

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Pete Prodoehl

A few years ago I built a panoramic camera head (mostly out of scrap wood) and while I’ve wanted to build a new one, this one (mostly) works, so I just keep using it. It also helps that Hugin keeps getting better and better at stitching panoramas together.

I was lucky enough to be at the space on a Saturday morning before it got too busy and shot a few panos. (You can see larger versions on Flickr by clicking on each photo.) Enjoy!

Here’s the craft area… something we didn’t have at the old Chase location.

Here’s the Meeting Room & Electronics Lab. (Often called “The Office”)

The Wood Shop is constantly improving… this photo is already out of date!

The Metal/Machine Shop has some heavy duty equipment. And lots of room!

Here’s one end of the storage room…

And here’s another end of the storage room.

It’ll be great to look back at these photos and see how things have changed over time. It shouldn’t take long though, as things are in a constant state of development. (Oh, there’s more rooms, but I ran out of time! More to come… Stay Tuned!)

DIY Slide Scanner

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Pete Prodoehl

DIY Slide Scanner

I have a confession to make: I’m about 80% done with my own device to photograph slides and convert them to digital form. I’m pretty sure I will abandon all of my efforts and attempt to replicate this DIY Slide Scanner I saw from the Metrix Create:Space folks.

And yeah, I’ve already got a working slide projector. It may be the same model you see in the photo above. (I picked it up at a WCTC auction for $5.00 years ago.) I’ve already got code to trigger my Nikon via an IR LED, so the main thing I need to do is wire up the remote to advanced the slides, and fit it all together. I’ll probably just build a wooden platform to hold it all.

And then it’ll be time to… DIGITIZE ALL THE SLIDES!

Will it go round in circles….

Posted on September 25, 2011 by TomG

What do you do when you need pictures of a 300lb power wheels car from multiple angles so that someone can create a 3D model?

You build a turn table, a rather big turn table.

But what if I don’t have a really big bearing, you ask.

Well, you use a bunch of little ones – preferably in casters!

This is a metal base with 4 casters from some old equipment that was trash, I drilled a hole in the center and welded a 1/2″ nut to the bottom.

Take 4×4 sheet of plywood, drill a hole in the center. Just because its a quick and dirty project I put a 1/4″ thick washer under the board and figured the weight of the rig would hold it in place