A Casein Glue
Casein glues are splendid in woodworking, making cardboard articles, and when the composition is varied somewhat, make excellent cements for china and metals. Casein is made from the curd of soured milk after removal of the fat, and is put on the market in the form of a dry powder.
To make the glue, soak the casein powder two hours in an equal weight of hot water. To this gummy mass add about one-seventh the weight of the casein in borax which has been dissolved in very little hot water. Stir until all is dissolved after mixing borax and casein. This can be thinned with water to suit and is a good glue, but it can be made more adhesive by the addition of a little sodium arsenate. Any alkali, such as soda or ammonia, could be substituted for the borax.
To make a china cement, lime or water glass should be substituted for the borax. Addition of burnt magnesia increases the speed of hardening.
The Mile-O-View Camera
By T. B. Lambert
Many have tried, but heretofore no one has succeeded in taking panoramic views from the side of fast-moving trains or street cars. Motion pictures are easily obtained from the front or rear of moving trains, but none with the camera lens pointing at right angles, or nearly so, to the track. A complete apparatus for taking continuous and perfect panoramic pictures of any desired length as one travels through a country is too complicated to be described in detail within the limits of this article, but a simple arrangement, invented and constructed by the writer, will enable anyone to perform the experiment at practically no cost except for the film.
The Board Used Instead of a Tripod is Placed across the Backs of Two Car Seats
Some form of a roll-film camera is essential, and simply as a working basis, it will be assumed an ordinary camera is used, post-card camera in size, for which the following things will be required: A piece of thin black card, or hard rubber; a small board, and a piece of wire to be used as a crank.
These Two Articles Constitute the Only Parts Necessary to Change a Camera into a Mile-O-View
Prepare the paper, or hard rubber, by cutting it to a size that will exactly cover the rear camera opening when the back of the camera is removed, which, in the case of a post-card size, is 6 in. long and 3-3/4 in. wide; then cut a narrow slot, about 3/64 in. wide crosswise through the center of the material. This slot should extend to within about 1/2 in. of each edge, and the edges must be perfectly smooth and straight. If paper is used, glue it to the opening in the camera. If hard rubber is used, it can be made up as shown and set in the camera opening. This will bring the slot directly back of the lens center and at right angles to the direction in which the film moves when being rolled.
The Two Parts as They are Applied to an Ordinary Roll-Film Camera
A board is prepared, about 4 ft. long, 10 in. wide and 3/4 in. thick. This is to take the place of a tripod, and it must have a small hole and suitable wing nut to attach the camera near the center. This length of board will reach from the back of one seat to another when it is placed to support the camera during the exposure.
A wire, about 1/8 in. in diameter, is bent, as shown, with a short hook on one end, and the other turned up at right angles, to serve as a handle. This wire, when hooked into the wing nut, will enable one to wind up the film at a fairly uniform speed. This completes all the necessary apparatus.
To take pictures with this panoramic outfit, load the camera in the usual way, but do not wind it up to exposure No. 1; stop at a point where the beginning of the film will be nearly opposite the narrow slot in the black paper, or rubber. This would be to stop the turning at about the time the hand pointer appears in the small back window. Attach the camera firmly to the board and brace up the lens end so that it will not easily shake with the movement of the car. Place the board across the backs of two adjacent seats, so that the camera will point out of the window at exactly right angles to the car.
When ready to expose, open the shutter wide, turn the crank that is hooked into the wing nut, and slowly wind up the film while the train is running. This will give a panoramic picture, continuous in character, and if the speed of turning is well judged, some very splendid views can be made.
The speed of turning the crank will be governed by the focal length of the lens and the speed of the train. For an average lens, the crank should be given one turn per second when the car is traveling about 15 miles an hour, or the average speed of a street car, A train traveling 30 miles an hour will require two turns of the crank per second. A good method of trying this out is to use one film as a test and turn the crank a few times and note its speed by the second, then stop and begin again at another speed for a few turns and so on, until the entire film is exposed, always noting the turns and time for each change, also the speed of the train. When the film is developed the one that shows best will give the proper number of turns per second.
The following points must be considered: The track should not be rough, and the camera must be perfectly steady and not twisted out of position by turning the crank, otherwise the resulting picture will be wavy. If the slot in the back board is not smooth and true, the picture will be streaked. Turning the film too fast will make the picture elongated, and too slowly, condensed. Should the camera be pointed otherwise than at right angles the picture will be distorted. This arrangement cannot be used to take moving objects except under special conditions. A picture of a passing train of cars can be made if the camera is stationary, but the wheels and drive rods will appear twisted out of shape. It is best for the experimenter to confine himself to scenery at the beginning, avoiding architectural objects, because a variation in speed of turning the crank to wind the film naturally distorts the architecture, which variation is not so noticeable in a scenic view.
A Photographic Worktable for Small Quarters
By K. V. Reed
Flat dwellers have no space at their disposal for a person to work at photography, and the bathroom must take the place of a dark room. As this was very inconvenient in my case, I constructed a table, that from all appearances was nothing more than a large-size kitchen worktable, and such a table can be used in case the builder does not care to construct it.
The table is turned upside down and the top removed by taking out the screws. The top is made of several pieces glued together and will remain in one piece. It is then hinged at one side to the top edge of the rail, so that it can be turned back like a trunk, or box, cover.
Boards are then nailed to the under edge of the rails. If a very neat job is required, these boards should be set inside on strips nailed to the inside surfaces of the rails, at the proper place to make the boards come flush with the under edges of the rails.
At the back side and in the center of the new bottom, a hole is cut, 6 or 7 in. square, and a box fastened beneath it, to form a bottom several inches below the main bottom. In this space bottles filled with solutions are kept. The main bottom should be painted with an acid-proof varnish.
An Ordinary Kitchen Worktable Fitted Up as a Handy Workshop for the Amateur Photographer Who Has a Limited Space in a Flat, and Where a Table can be Used to Advantage in a Room
The space in the table is then divided, and partitions set up, which can be arranged to suit the builder.
Another attachment, which comes in exceedingly handy, is the ruby light. This consists of a box, large enough to receive a printing frame at the bottom. Two holes are cut in the table top, at the right places to make a window for the light and a slit for the printing frame. When the table top is raised, the box with the light is fastened over the openings with hooks, the arrangement of which will depend on the size and shape of the box. In closing, the lamp box is removed, and pieces of board are set in the holes. This can be easily arranged, if the holes and blocks are cut on a slight slope, so that the latter when set in will not fall through the openings.