A DEVICE TO HELP YOU DRAW
A camera lucida focused on one of nature's creations can bring out the artist in anyone, including building instructions, diagram.
September/October 1981
by Raymond Meloy
It takes some talent to capture an object or a scene with pencil or pen and paper, and unfortunately-many people who have the desire to draw can't seem to muster up the required skill. If you fall into that category but are an able wielder of saw and drill (or have a friend who is), you can make a simple device called a camera lucida ...which will allow you to trace on paper a subject that you see reflected by a prism or a piece of glasslike material.
RELATED CONTENT
A guide to constructing said table, log-splitting table plans, materials list, diagram....
Mother's Christmas Lamp: BUILD IT IN ONE EVENING November/December 1978 Christmas just wouldn't be ...
BUILD THIS "STEP SAVER" FOR YOUR CHILD!
January/February 1979
"Not only does this little steps...
More bad news for large SUVs, even the hybrid versions thereof....
HOW TO BUILD IT
Although there are some commercially manufactured camera lucidas that use expensive prisms, lenses, and multicoated glass, the workable design shown here is made of two small scraps of wood (an 8" length of 2 X 8 and a short piece of 1 X 2) ...a 24" section of 3/8" dowel ...two nuts, bolts, and washers ...a 1" angle brace ...a small screw clamp ...and an 8" X 10" sheet of thin plexiglass. As you can imagine, then, the cost of constructing this tool is low or-if you have appropriate leftovers from previous projects - nonexistent. And your carpentry skills don't have to be first-rate to handle this job, either ...because a camera lucida whose measurements deviate a bit from those listed here will usually achieve the same results.
The main component of this "artist's friend" is the plexiglass sheet. An 8" X 10" size is ideal if you're using a standard sketch pad, but it can be bigger or smaller if you prefer. Whatever the plastic's dimensions, drill a small hole (the size of those in the ends of the angle brace) that's centered 3/4 inch from one of its shorter edges. When that's been accomplished, attach the angle (which can be purchased at most hardware stores, usually two to a pack) to the plexiglass, using a nut, bolt, and washer.
Next, drill a hole of the same diameter, from edge to edge, through the 1 X 2 scrap (see the illustration), to which you'll attach with the other bolt, nut, and washer-the free side of the angle. Before assembling these parts, however, change to a 3/8" drill bit and make another bore-as illustrated-through the middle of that same small piece of wood, to accommodate the dowel.
