Popular Science Monthly 



939 



T 



A Home-Made Photographic 

 Copying- Stand 



O PREPARE the camera and board 

 so that copying may be done 

 properly is a difficult task for the 

 amateur, as the surface of the picture to 

 be reproduced must be in a vertical 

 plane and exactly parallel to the camera 

 lens. The lighting of the picture must 

 be considered and the task of adjusting 

 all parts to meet the conditions grows 

 harder as each successive step is taken in 

 copying. A stand is most desired, but 

 the arrangement shown in the sketch will 

 suffice and it can be used on the work 

 table. It is made of a board for the 

 base, 4 ft. long and 5 in. wide, mounted 

 on supports that are 2 in. wide, one at 

 each end, cut as shown. These supports 

 are strengthen- 

 ed with a 

 bracket fast- 

 ened on the 

 underside of 

 the baseboard. 

 It is best to 

 use wood 

 screws for hold- 

 ing the parts 



board it is to hold and the closeness of 

 the fit. It takes the shape of a box with 

 both ends and one side removed, or it 

 can be used with both sides. Two strips 

 are fastened on the upper side so that a 

 space is formed between them to admit 

 the edge of the board to prevent it from 

 tipping backward and forward. 



Both camera and sliding-holder are 

 easily adjusted and the whole stand may 

 be moved about to get the best results for 

 lighting. The finish of the base should 

 be without paint or varnish — just a 

 smooth, planed board so that the 

 camera and holder will slide easily. 



The board may be removed and the 

 holder used to support a vase or other 

 similar article which it may be necessary 

 to photograph. It is well to have the 



together, glueing the joints before put- 

 ting in the screws. A slot is cut in 

 the center of the baseboard at one 

 end, which extends about halfway to 

 admit the thumb-screw used to fasten 

 the camera to the tripod. If the base- 

 board is cut from material more than ^4 

 in. thick it may be necessary to cut the 

 wood out from the underside so that the 

 thumb-screw will enter the camera 

 socket. This cut-out recess is shown in 

 the cross-section. 



The copying-board is made detachable 

 from the sliding-holder, as well as the 

 holder from the base. The size of the 

 holder will depend largely on the 



holder long enough to provide a place 

 in front of the board upon which to 

 set these objects; then a sheet of 

 plain or tinted paper can be attached 

 to the bottom and cur^'cd to form a 



suitable background with a continuous 



foreground. 



A Snow Shovel That Prevents the 

 Snow from Sticking 



VARIOUS kinds of shovels have been 

 tried and I have greased them to 

 keep the snow from sticking to the 

 surface, but at no time have I ever had 

 so much satisfaction shoveling snow as 

 when using the regular potato or manure 

 fork. Such a fork will take up as much 

 snow at a time as a scoop shovel, while, 

 no matter how wot the snow, it never 

 carries any superfluous weight of snow 

 back and forth. — Paul R. Str.ain. 



