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Matt writes - "Well, my wife recently asked me to build her a small light table for her to use to copy the paper patterns that she uses for quilting. I started to design one in my head, and then decided that if I just pull all of the guts out of the old scanner and replace them with a fluorescent light bulb (so as to not generate too much heat), I'd have light table. I also put a translucent piece of plastic under the glass top of the scanner bed to diffuse the light from the light bulb a bit." - Link.
Matt's blog has a few other interesting Maker projects (garden railroading, o-gauge railroading, home-built CNC machine, woodworking, PC and home electronics projects, etc) check'em out - Link.
How about a sheet of that light diffuser stuff they use for fluorescent lighting in office buildings?
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You can get varying degrees of diffusion sheets from theatrical lighting stores.
I've also seen light tables built out of old backlit beer signs.
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Great idea. My wife just sets the desktop color to white on her computer and uses that. I've got a scanner or two in my basement not being used. Maybe I'll try building one of these.
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You can get the diffuser stuff right at home depot, with the related fixtures. They come in sheets that you can cut to fit. Its a little brittle however, so cut slowly and cleanly.
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I was thinking about doing something just like this the other day ago.
Kudos for beating me to it.
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Don't (as in DO NOT) buy plastics at Home Depot. Lowes or other big stores. If you live near a big orange or blue store, chances are there's a plastics distributor close by as well. Find the nearest plastics distributor where you can buy what you need sold at about $2 per pound for smaller stuff and $4 per pound for larger pieces.
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