New Copy Stands. Added Axial Pics!

in2Coins

Here are my 2 new DIY Copy Stands. One for my computer desk and one for garage. I made extras and put it on eBay and was sold out. It weighs less than 7 and 6 pounds.

I like it 'cause it’s versatile. What do you guys think?

Raybo

Looks like you have included bubble levels?

Old_Collector

Nice.

Mr_Spud

Looks perfect

in2Coins

@Raybo said:
Looks like you have included bubble levels?

Yep. The Arca Clamp has a built-in level

coinbuf

Very nice, sleek and modern.

abbyme24

DM me if you make more!! Would love to purchase one

johnny9434

Cool

BStrauss3

Have you considered publishing or selling the design files? Ordering the parts from one of the contract manufacturing houses would allow us to scale up/down &c.

in2Coins

@abbyme24 said:
DM me if you make more!! Would love to purchase one

Sure will

in2Coins

@BStrauss3 said:
Have you considered publishing or selling the design files? Ordering the parts from one of the contract manufacturing houses would allow us to scale up/down &c.

Something to think about 👍🏼

in2Coins

One of the feedback from eBay buyer. I’m going to post on buy and sell forum and if there are enough demand, I will definitely make more.

shortnock

Nice work!

DennisH

Those are impressive!
Legitimately high-end, rugged, professional copy stands have become a nightmare to find.

Old_Collector

@abbyme24 said:
DM me if you make more!! Would love to purchase one

Me too!

messydesk

Looks nice! I'd make the base black so that you're not reflecting a lot of extra light back into the lens with shiny aluminum. I'd also make a taller option (80 cm - 1 m) for people with longer lenses, larger items like slabs or medals, and/or crop sensors.

WAYNEAS

So how about a slab picture?
The stand looks impressive but the proof is in the picture which will probally be also impressive!
Wayne

in2Coins

@Old_Collector said:

@abbyme24 said:
DM me if you make more!! Would love to purchase one

Me too!

Copy that!

in2Coins

@messydesk said:
Looks nice! I'd make the base black so that you're not reflecting a lot of extra light back into the lens with shiny aluminum. I'd also make a taller option (80 cm - 1 m) for people with longer lenses, larger items like slabs or medals, and/or crop sensors.

I actually contacted a plater to have the plate black anodized but the costs is too much unless you send 100’s of them. Hence the thin adhesive pad that you can stick onto the plate. I only have cropped sensor camera and with 100mm macro lens and 600mm tall stand, you can take a photo of slabbed coin on landscape position as shown below (after rotation). These are just quick photos taken with ambient lighting for illustration purposes.

I don’t have a 180mm macro lens so I can’t test a slabbed coin on 600mm tall stand. I doubt it can, even in landscape position. Or, you can use a zoom lens if you have one. But I’m sure you can take a photo of an entire Morgan $.

The stand can be modified to a shorter or taller height with minimal effort.

messydesk

@in2Coins said:

@messydesk said:
Looks nice! I'd make the base black so that you're not reflecting a lot of extra light back into the lens with shiny aluminum. I'd also make a taller option (80 cm - 1 m) for people with longer lenses, larger items like slabs or medals, and/or crop sensors.

I actually contacted a plater to have the plate black anodized but the costs is too much unless you send 100’s of them. Hence the thin adhesive pad that you can stick onto the plate.

I figured cost would be the reason.

I only have cropped sensor camera and with 100mm macro lens and 600mm tall stand, you can take a photo of slabbed coin on landscape position as shown below (after rotation). These are just quick photos taken with ambient lighting for illustration purposes.

I don’t have a 180mm macro lens so I can’t test a slabbed coin on 600mm tall stand. I doubt it can, even in landscape position. Or, you can use a zoom lens if you have one. But I’m sure you can take a photo of an entire Morgan $.

For slabs, I set my camera to crop sensor size and use a 105 mm. The height on the copy stand is 62 cm when I do that, but I'm not sure we'd be measuring the same distances. Silver dollars with my 200 mm are a bit higher (70 cm, I think), but there's a tripod collar on the lens that also moves the camera farther away. A 180 mm on a crop sensor would pose a challenge, but I don't think that's a common setup. A 150 mm is closer to my 200 mm on a full frame.

in2Coins

As previously stated, there is now a post in Buy and Sell forum. Please PM if any of you are interested.

in2Coins

Link no longer works. Don’t know why. Please see buy and sell forum if interested

lilolme

@in2Coins For the coating, I don't know what is to much $$ but for car parts I have done powder coating. I believe it is typically cheaper than anodize but not sure. The powder coat will be thicker than the anodize and not sure if that is a plus or minus for you.

in2Coins

@lilolme said:
@in2Coins For the coating, I don't know what is to much $$ but for car parts I have done powder coating. I believe it is typically cheaper than anodize but not sure. The powder coat will be thicker than the anodize and not sure if that is a plus or minus for you.

Thanks! I will definitely look into this. Since powder coating does not need for the alum substrate to be etched prior to coating, it makes sense that it will be cheaper. Although they will need to mask/plug the threaded holes due to its thick build-up. Pricing will again be based on quantity of plates to be coated.

WAYNEAS

Thanks for the pictures @in2Coins.
I knew that they would look great.
How about a flat black spray paint for the base?
Wayne

in2Coins

Great idea! This could definitely be done at potential buyer’s end.

Bikergeek

This is top notch! I bought a copy stand last year but if I hadn't, this would have moved to the top of my consideration list. One thing I really value in my stand: the base plate is 18% gray so I can take an extra shot of it and then set my white balance. That's something you might consider.

redraider

I will buy one if you have one. Please message me when you have another available!!

in2Coins

Cube lights came in for Axial Photography test.

See below for setup. The black cylindrical piece is a Lens Hood. Quick shots shown below. Auto white balance and no editing done.

Raybo

@WAYNEAS said:
Thanks for the pictures @in2Coins.
I knew that they would look great.
How about a flat black spray paint for the base?
Wayne

How about neutral gray for the base?

Old_Collector

@Bikergeek said:
This is top notch! I bought a copy stand last year but if I hadn't, this would have moved to the top of my consideration list. One thing I really value in my stand: the base plate is 18% gray so I can take an extra shot of it and then set my white balance. That's something you might consider.

Did you adhere an 18% gray card to the existing base, or is there another way to accomplish it?

Bikergeek

@Old_Collector said:

@Bikergeek said:
This is top notch! I bought a copy stand last year but if I hadn't, this would have moved to the top of my consideration list. One thing I really value in my stand: the base plate is 18% gray so I can take an extra shot of it and then set my white balance. That's something you might consider.

Did you adhere an 18% gray card to the existing base, or is there another way to accomplish it?

The one I bought has what they call a "neutral gray" stand - so when I said "18% gray" I may have been making too specific of an assumption. But I do know that coin image white balance looks good to my eye. I'll experiment with a "true" 18% gray card vs. the gray of my copy stand and report back.

Old_Collector

@Bikergeek said:

@Old_Collector said:

@Bikergeek said:
This is top notch! I bought a copy stand last year but if I hadn't, this would have moved to the top of my consideration list. One thing I really value in my stand: the base plate is 18% gray so I can take an extra shot of it and then set my white balance. That's something you might consider.

Did you adhere an 18% gray card to the existing base, or is there another way to accomplish it?

The one I bought has what they call a "neutral gray" stand - so when I said "18% gray" I may have been making too specific of an assumption. But I do know that coin image white balance looks good to my eye. I'll experiment with a "true" 18% gray card vs. the gray of my copy stand and report back.

Does it seem reasonable to you that I am thinking about adhering a portion of a standard 18% card to a bright aluminum surface? I have a bunch of 8x10 cards. Or would you recommend attempting to find paint or some other option? I'm new at this and just putting my rig together. Thanks, I appreciate your help.

Bikergeek

Oops, sorry for the delayed response, @Old_Collector. I haven't found my gray card and haven't had time to do my comparison test. But to answer your question - it sounds eminently reasonable to put a gray card down as your base. I wouldn't mess with paint - sounds complicated and messy to get it just right.

I bought a photo lightbox several years ago and it came with different colors of cloth that I could use as base, background, etc. Only thing I didn't like about that was the need to iron out the wrinkles.

Bikergeek

@in2Coins I have just added an enhancement to my little copy stand. Between my floor, my carpet, my table, and the little rubber feet on my stand, it was not level. This is problematic for a few reasons, but the main one is that I put compass oil on top of scuffed-up slabs when I image them, and if the copy stand base isn't even, the oil runs down. Got tired of shimming under the little feet with pieces of cardboard and whatnot. So I got these little leveling feet, punched out four 5/16" holes in the bottom of the copy stand for the T-nuts (which do not penetrate the upper surface), installed the feet, and leveled the base.

A benefit: now I can clamp my gooseneck lights onto the base more firmly, as there is more clearance between the table and the bottom of the copy stand.

This is the product I got, which is OK, I guess. The screws turn a little too freely in the T-nuts, but a little teflon tape will fix that. It's not like I move it around a lot, so once I got it dialed in I'm not worried about it backing out of true. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMTXXPM9?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

in2Coins

@Bikergeek said:
@in2Coins I have just added an enhancement to my little copy stand. Between my floor, my carpet, my table, and the little rubber feet on my stand, it was not level. This is problematic for a few reasons, but the main one is that I put compass oil on top of scuffed-up slabs when I image them, and if the copy stand base isn't even, the oil runs down. Got tired of shimming under the little feet with pieces of cardboard and whatnot. So I got these little leveling feet, punched out four 5/16" holes in the bottom of the copy stand for the T-nuts (which do not penetrate the upper surface), installed the feet, and leveled the base.

A benefit: now I can clamp my gooseneck lights onto the base more firmly, as there is more clearance between the table and the bottom of the copy stand.

This is the product I got, which is OK, I guess. The screws turn a little too freely in the T-nuts, but a little teflon tape will fix that. It's not like I move it around a lot, so once I got it dialed in I'm not worried about it backing out of true. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMTXXPM9?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Good solution. I would add a 1/4-20 nut between the t-nut and leveling feet to prevent it from loosening up.