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View Full Version : For the landscape photographers out there...



Duncan Crawford
08-05-2012, 2:47 PM
A friend (who brews some *really* good beer) recently asked if I could make him a storage box for P-series neutral density filters, 84x120x1.5mm, quantity three. Pictures and Corel file (saved as ver 14) attached should anyone else have the same need. Materials are 1/8 Baltic birch for the box and lid, 0.070 in acrylic for the dividers. The box will hold four filters, or three plus a cleaning cloth-- sizing for only three didn't work well for the possible tab dimensions and these material thicknesses. Box finish is a Beall buff (tripoli, white diamond, carnauba wax)-- nothing to outgas in a camera bag. Not all that light, but definitely sturdy and minimal rattle for the filters. The hunk of cardboard shown in the photos is filter length and width, and a bit less than twice the thickness-- useful to test fit-up as well as ensure there's no glue on the inside edges.

duncan

phil harold
08-05-2012, 5:38 PM
*really* good beer = free?

Duncan Crawford
08-05-2012, 6:50 PM
*really* good beer = free?


Yup, as in trade for the box... :-) Gives meaning to the old saying "Will work for beer..."

George Carlson
08-05-2012, 10:01 PM
That's pretty neat. I use those Cokin filters myself. The only suggestion i would have is to make the cicular cut at the top of the dividers much deeper. In fact if the divider had a large cutout in the middle so that the divider would never touch the center of the filter, that would even be better. Those filters are very soft and easy to scratch.

Phil Thien
08-05-2012, 10:26 PM
Very neat, great engineering and execution!

Duncan Crawford
08-06-2012, 9:26 AM
That's pretty neat. I use those Cokin filters myself. The only suggestion i would have is to make the cicular cut at the top of the dividers much deeper. In fact if the divider had a large cutout in the middle so that the divider would never touch the center of the filter, that would even be better. Those filters are very soft and easy to scratch.

George,

Thanks :-) The first version of the box (intended for passive storage on a shelf, not in a camera bag) had shelves which indeed were mostly just edge support. My friend is using filters from Singh-Ray, which fit the Cokin filter holder-- I don't know how hard or soft the filters might be, just that he said full shelves were OK for the camera bag version. If he has an issue, I'll grab another 50 cents worth of birch and run a new one. Waiting for the Titebond to dry is the longest part of the process-- otherwise something like 6 minutes for the laser, 5 to assemble, and 10 minutes to do the finishing/buffing. New box = more good beer = still a good deal for a retired geezer :-)