Kaleidoscope kit?

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Dawn,
CSUSA has a kit for a oil chamber K-scope about 10 inches long with the mirrors, small glass chamber filled with shells or stones and plastic disc for the eye piece. I made one based on this kit that came out nice IMHO. Its a great scope to start with.
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/cgi-bin/shopper?search=action&keywords=oil-cell-kscope

I've been playing with scopes for a couple of weeks and have replaced the oil cell with two plastic discs with colored beads between them. The only trouble I had was drilling the length of the blank on my Rikon Mini. I bought an extension for the forstner bit but just did not have enough rail available on the small lathe and had to turn the blank around and drill from the opposite end. pure luck but I was only about a 64th" off. In the future I'll bring them to my dad's shop and drill them on his full size lathe before finishing them on the mini.
 
Ed and Jason, Thanks. I guess I thought the eggs inards were smaller than that picture makes it look.

Phil, Thanks for the link. I'll check it out. I have a mini lathe also, thanks for the heads up on the drilling.

My mom loves kaleidoscopes so I'm looking to make her one for Mother's Day.
Dawn
 
Dawn,
I agree with above, this is probably the egg k-scope.
The innards of the little egg is just 2-1/4 inches... drilling the eggs is easy to do on lathe or with drill press.. you need to be dead on on length though.. I've a number of "eggs" that are too short for the k-scope
 
I hate to go against the grain but I am thinking it is not the PSI egg kit.
Look at the instruction sheet in the background of many of the pictures. That does not match to the instructions that can be downloaded from PSI.
Disclaimer. I have never made any Kaleidoscope kits so I am just going on observation not experience.
 
I heard back from the site.. that particular one is no longer avaiable. Actualy the guy that I was talking to said he wrote the directions for the company... however, he did say that this one is simular http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/cgi-bin/shopper?preadd=action&key=050-7040
Thanks everyone for helping me out :)
Dawn
 
Just a curious questin here, but is there a reason the mirrors are that length, other than it is the length of an egg..??
And would it make any sense to possibly (if you could) find longer mirrors and use them, or would you get the same visual no matter the length of the mirrors..??
 
John
other than the eggs, I've only made a couple big scopes so far so if I'm wrong someone please correct me, but the image was the same. The only difference I can see is the amount of light that can get through to the mirrors. The scopes I made are about 10" long. The first one had an oil cell filled with shells. I sank it a bit too far into the body and it needs a good light source to see the image. The next one was dry beads between two discs of lexan. It did not need as much light to get a clear picture.
 
Generally speaking, note self-deprecating clause, most folks are able to focus the image when the scope length is about 8 inches.

When using short, like 2-3 inch scopes, a corrective lense is often inserted to assist in focusing the image.

Those in the "scope making world" as opposed to pen makers also making scopes, usually put a piece of optic lens over the eyehole to improve the focused quality of the image for all viewers.

Note- the above has nothing to do with the symmetry of the image, the quality of which depends upon the care used in assembling the mirrors.

One source for scope kits/parts:

http://www.warner-criv.com/search/search.aspx?&type=search&strSearch=kaleidoscope&sort=n&page=1
 
Joe,
does tapering the mirrors (wider at the object end) make a difference in the image? I've seen a number of scopes that were tapered and wondered about this.
 
I have made a big bunch of the PSI egg and also the wand scopes, mainly for presents to friends and family,
but looking around the 'Net realize there are numerous different kinds, and realizing I know very little about making one other than what comes in the kits.
Are there instructions or help somewhere on how to make scopes other than kits..??
I have been pouring over the brewster society, but must be a dummy 'cause I am still trying to figure out how different a two mirror scope would look versus a three mirror scope....and much more [:I]
 
Phil,

Three tapered mirrors gives a larger viewing area. Four tapered mirrors results in a spherical image.

John,
Two mirrors and a black surface result in a circular mandela. With a mandela the symmetry or lack thereof becomes very obvious. Two mirrors and two black surfaces result in a linear repeating pattern. Three or more mirrors create a multitude of images and fill the whole viewing screen. Some artists use multiple mirrors and literally suspend images in what appears to be mid air.

A friend of mine, Kevin Kohler, is a SERIOUS collector, runs the Brewster Society Website and has an extensive collection by some of the premier scope makers around the world.

Rather than me steal his pics to post here, I suggest you take a tour of his collection to see the variety of exterior as well as interior applications. I'm sure you'll appreciate his collection and the images that scope makers can create. Among them check out the Learys, Tickles, Jerry Beall (yup- "our" Beall), Karadimos, and Knapp.

http://www.kaleidoscopecollector.com/mycollection.html

My wife and I are more restrained in our collecting both in scope and expense. While some makers are going towards exterior glitz, IMHO serious collectors are more concerned with quality interior symmetry and the beautiful mandalas that results.

PS- I warned you this was a slippery slope....[;)][:D]
 
Some people like them, but I have made two of the mini's and won't do any more. I had [}:)] of a time aligning the mirrors just right to get inside the tube. Time and frustration involved just are not worth the effort. Might do some large ones one day, but no more minis.
 
Serious collectors will look at the scope without looking at any objects to see if they can see the "lines" that are the seams between the mirrors. To make these lines disappear, the mirrors must be spotless and the front-surface mirrors should be beveled slightly to make them join properly. Of course, you cannot chip any of the front-surface off while beveling them. Making this happen is a treat!! Making it happen in the small kits is, to the best of my ability, not happening!!![:)][:)]
 
wow.. I never knew there was so much going into them.
I'm anxious to try a few.. but now scared too LOL.

Thanks everyone for all their wonderful advice. That's what I like so much about this forum.. everyone is so helpful.

Dawn
 
Dawn,
Don't be scared, be frightened out of your wits! Just kidding I'm having a lot of fun playing with the simple scopes (2) I've made. Of course the wife does not quite appreciate it when I come into the house to assemble a glue up blank with half a dozen bar clamps holding it together cause its too damn cold in the shop for wood glue. I'm already planning my next one. I'm going to make it like a turned box with a removable lid on each end. wish me luck this could get ugly[:)]
 
Dawn and/or all,
Another site of interest with several variations on making scopes..
http://www.woodturningonline.com/Turning/Turning_projects.html#kal
 
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