Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Homemade Paper and Cardboard Slide Projector







This is a slide projector made mostly out of paper and cardboard. A slide projector consists of a bright light source (in my model, a spotlight) , a slot for inserting a slide and a movable lens. By moving the lens, the image present on the slide can be focused and projected on a screen.

This is not he first time I am making a slide projector. My first attempt in making a slide projector was many years ago when I was in third or fourth grade. I made the slide projector with my mother's help. I learned to make the model from a YouTube video by YouTube channel which goes by the name nicebraga.

nicebraga's YouTube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-MnUGVrbTw

The first projector I made was very similar to the video in nicbraga's channel. Except I made mine out of cardboard and Styrofoam. What I observed in this model was that the sides were open and light would spill out. While the projectors sold in the markets would be like boxes with light coming out only from the front through the lens. That is what made me want to start this project. I wanted the projector to be like a box with the sides covered to avoid light spills. Since the projector was going to be in a box, there was the question of heat accumulating within the box. So I realised that I would have to put a fan in the projector.

The technique that I used to make this projector with was that of making hard-paper. This is a method I learned from another YouTube channel which goes by the name Tacome1942. The idea is that if you stick many layers of paper together with glue it gets really hard. The more the layers, the harder it gets.I have written a blogpost about this:

http://arvind-ravikumar.blogspot.in/2012/05/paper-or-wood.html

Another idea that I learned from him was the idea that you can use paperclips to strengthen the paper pieces that you make. The paper clip is bent into shape with the help of pliers and then placed in between the layers. I am not fully sure as to whether I performed this technique correctly but I did it anyway.

Tacome1942's YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/Tacome1942

Here is the video showing how the projector works:



If you are interested in seeing the steps I took to build this you can watch the series of videos that I have posted on YouTube:

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB-S40gTmNM