Creating a photobox, Day One.

Yes, it has been some time (again). A week away at sea and another week with my camera away to be cleaned, and here we are. So to keep my spirits up I took an idea I tried earlier and tried to make it better and more 'permanent'. Some time ago I tried to build a light box or photo-box out of cardboard and tissue paper. Strobist.blogspot.com provided a well written guide to create a simple photo-box, and it worked fairly well. The issues I had were that it simply was not large enough, and it did not collapse so even though it was not large, it was big enough to take up space.

So my idea is to create a 24"X24"X18" wooden box that I can take apart when not in use. I started with a 4'X8' sheet of Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF). I had the store rip it down to four 2'X4' sheets so I could get it home in my car. I also purchased eight machine screws and eight furniture locks (explained later). In theory I should be able to thread the machine screws into the locks and remove them without damaging the MDF. I considered hinges, but the puzzle I would need to create in order for it to fold flat when not in use was well beyond my skill level. I also picked up some white muslin fabric from the fabric store. So far I am in this project for about $60. Honestly, the MDF was half of that, but I used half of the sheet for a different project. So let's call it $45 and some hard labor.

I cut the back to 24"X24", the top to 18"X24", and the sides to 17.25"X24". Once assembled it should measure 18"X24"X24". From there I needed to cut out the holes in the sides and top. My first mistake was to try and round the edges of the hole. I thought it would make it stronger and honestly believed it would be easier with holes to start cutting from. I used a circular door cutter used for installing door locks to start with. It was about two inches in diameter and looked good, but it was extremely difficult to handle and created a ton of smoke. So I turned to a simple one inch bore hole driller. The holes are obviously smaller, but it was much easier to use and the corners are rounded better than before. From there I used a jigsaw to cut the straight lines from hole to hole.





That was enough for one day. So far this has taken about 90 minutes from start to stopping point. Tomorrow I will finish cutting holes in the the second side and top. The back will remain solid. Once the holes are complete I will cover them from the inside with muslin. Also, my camera returned today so I will need to find some time to work on my NYIP homework. I need to finish my Unit One assignments and submit them for review. Real life keeps getting in the way. Until tomorrow...

Thanks for reading.
Joe