Adventures in Photo Light Box Construction

Things to know from the get-go:

·       There are no drawings or plans for production.

·       Nothing is square.  (How did I ever make quilts?!?)

·       Anything that looks like a mistake I am claiming was intentional for character, unless otherwise stated.

·       It is ugly as homemade sin.

·       It is portable but “fragile” – I expect a blow-out of vellum at any time.  

I screwed up from the beginning by getting 8.5”x11” sheets of vellum instead of a roll.  It was cheaper but I automatically limited the size and had to do real math to make the frames.

The first attempt was made with paint stir sticks and Nano double sided tape.  I used my trusty Chen deboning (metal cutting) scissors to shorten the appropriate sticks. Super ugly, super flimsy.  And too small – I cut all the sticks at 8”.

The second version was made with wood molding and Nano double sided tape. I used my trusted jeweler’s saw with a #8 blade.  (I only broke one blade!)  Second (and biggest) mistake was getting beveled molding – I don’t do mitered corners with a hand saw, so getting a stable corner connection was impossible.  I blame Lowe’s for not having ½” square lumber in 11” and 8” lengths.

Third try … I used the beveled molding for the frame sides (11”) and split paint stir stick (about ½” wide by 8”) for the top and bottom.  (Figuring out I needed only half the width of a paint stir stick and the 8” length required actual math.)  Again, I used my trusty Chen scissors to start the split of the paint stir sticks, of which none were straight on grain, so ugly zagged edges abound. 

For the corner joins, I used the absolute smallest nails I could find – 1.04mm x 12.7mm.  I held each nail with my flat nose jewelry pliers – my fingers are too big to hold and hit the nail without personal injury. I could only nail on the edge of the molding, or the nails would be too long.  But at least I had flat to flat.  I used a trim hammer I probably “borrowed” from my Dad years ago.

I scotch taped (copious amounts) the vellum sheet to each frame.  I had to trim all of the sheets because… remember nothing is square?  I used my bezel burnisher to ensure the tape was firmly pressed to the wood.

I made four frames – top, right, left, back.  The frames are connected with Velcro – not super stable but it holds together if I don’t try to move it.   I can un-Velcro to store flat.  I made the light cone by simply taking a sheet of vellum and making a cone and scotched taped it.  I taped a loop of floss to it and use a third hand to adjust it so I can take pics from the side.

I hated taking photos of my work.  The lighting was always off. A stone’s real color was never captured. I was frustrated at spending so much time on crappy pictures.  But the light box is a game changer.  Thanks Jeanette and Courtney! It works!!

For the first time, I am excited to take pictures of my work because I now know how to manage the light.