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Kaleidoscope Collector -- Hand of the Craftsman, Nyack NY...

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Make a Kaleidoscope

To make a simple kaleidoscope:

Hand of the Craftsman receives frequent requests for kaleidoscope-making instructions---mostly from young people (sometimes their teachers) working on school projects.

The best book we've seen on the subject is "Simple Kaleidoscopes" by Gary Newlin, with patterns for making a few different 'scopes---but the book is out of print. Though it may still be available in libraries and from bookshops and online booksellers, it stands to reason that not everyone who looks for it will find it. So here are instructions for making a simple kaleidoscope.

Common sense tells us that young children will need supervision.

(1) Remove both ends of a Pringles potato chips can or find / buy a length of PVC pipe.

(2 ) Cut three pieces of mirror almost as long as your tube. The width of each mirror strip should be the same---and must measure LESS than the tube's diameter. Tinker with this---maybe make a cardboard model before you cut the mirror.

(3 )

Here is the correct pattern of overlap for mirror strips.

(4 ) Make a long, equilateral triangular tunnel of the mirror strips---mirror surface facing the INSIDE of the tunnel. Secure the mirror tunnel by wrapping duct tape (or something similar) around the outside.

(5 ) Slip the mirror tunnel inside your tube. Gently pack it in place with foam rubber or

something like it.

(6 ) Close the viewing end. Cover one end of your tube with a disc of cardboard with a viewing hole cut in the center. Secure this with glue.

(7 ) Now make your object chamber. Cut two disks of transparent material (glass, Lucite, Lexan, etc) to match the diameter of your tube.

Next, cut a one-inch strip of lightweight cardboard a little longer than the circumference of your tube and curl it around, gluing the ends, to make a circle that matches the diameter of your tube.

Let the glue set up. Now glue this to one of the transparent circles to make a little cup. Let that glue set up.

(8 ) Fill and close the object chamber. Find some colorful beads, bits of colored glass, costume jewelry "gems", marbles or whatever. These should be small, brightly colored and transparent.

Put them in the cup (object chamber) but don't overfill.. There should be room for the objects to tumble around and form changing patterns. Glue the other
transparent disk on top to close the chamber.

(9 ) When the glue has dried, attach the object chamber to the end of your tube

and---congratulations! You've made a kaleidoscope

TIPS-
The core from a roll of bathroom tissue is prone to collapse, apart from being too short for a good focal length---which is why we suggest alternatives. If you use the Pringles can, be careful to file off any sharp edges.

The transparent material need not be glass. Plastic works just as well. Plastic shops often have scraps of plastic mirror as well as the see-through stuff you'll need for the object case. Sometimes they'll cut it for you. If you're using glass and do your own cutting BE SURE TO WEAR EYE PROTECTION. Ordinary glasses or shop goggles will do.

You might want to cover your kaleidoscope's exterior to make it look nice. Try wallpaper, fabric, thin cork tile, paint, wood veneer, ribbon, yarn, heavy string, fold-dyed paper, tie-dyed cloth-whatever looks nice to you.

As you do step 3, tinker with the mirror angles. An equilateral arrangement will give you one set of images, a long isosceles triangle will give you another. Try using 2 mirrors and a piece of black cardboard. This gives you a startlingly different set of images. Or use 4 mirrors for more radically different images. If you omit the object case, you get a crude "teleidoscope"---a viewing instrument with no moving parts. Whatever you point it at will be reflected and multiplied. To do this well, you'll need to add some kind of magnifying lens.

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