New to Holography

Simple answers are here! For Theory look in General Holography.
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saki2fifty

New to Holography

Post by saki2fifty »

Early on when I was a kid, I was facinated with lasers and Holography. I had several books on the topic, and I read a couple of them cover to cover many times. One of the books was on a lab setup, and general Holography, and in the back of the book was a "sample" hologram (I think it was the same book). The books setup was primarily a Sandbox setup using 4 to 6 inner tubes, with a concrete slab on top of that, and then on top of the slab, was your framed "sand box". They went on to show how you could make your supports out of PVC pipe, mounting your mirrors on those PVC pipes, and the whole setup looked really professional (by a backwoods non-professional such as myself). I did have my own HeNe tube and power supply, but never had the money to get very far.. I was a very poor kid with just a few books and a tube.

Now im 2 years from 40, my oldest boy is now almost 13 and he came to me with something that just absolutely amazed him!! A hologram! Not sure where he saw it, maybe Science class, but he could not fathom that there was an actual 3D image embedded into a thin film. So then I told him what I knew, which was wasn't much and the knowledge lost 25 years ago. So we went on Youtube and browsed some holograms made by others.

We did some searching on the web to see what sites we could pull up on how other people had made their hologram, their setups, etc. but couldn't find much at all. I was for sure I was going to come across a whole slew of sites on the subject... but didn't.

I'm a big do it yourself'er, so is there list of sites that someone might have already started on building their "labs" or setups or some "how to's". It'd be great to see something on construction, or alternatives to getting one set up... documentation with images/pics. I'm browsing some books on Amazon, just looking for some other sites to browse before they come in.

Michael
Jem

New to Holography

Post by Jem »

Hi Michael and welcome to the holography forum :)

It would be a good idea to fill out your location in your profile so we can see whereabouts in the world you are :wink:

I think the book you referred to is the Holography Handbook by Fred Unterseher, Jeannene Hansen and Bob Schlesinger. ISBN: 0-89496-018-0. Published in 1982.

There's another 'must have' book by Graham Saxby, it's called 'Practical Holography'. I have two versions of it, the latest version and an older version from 1988. I have to say I like the 1988 version as it seems quite a bit more readable (think simple :roll: :D ) and seems to flow nicely. It's published by Prentice Hall and its ISBN number is: 0-13-693797-7.

To be honest i've only recently bought the older version, there are a couple of copies still showing on Amazon, I paid £50 for mine and it's in perfect condition.

Cheers

Jem
JohnFP

New to Holography

Post by JohnFP »

Hey Michael, welcome. Did you check our forum HoloWiki. The link is right at the top. As for other's websites. Just about all the long time posters have a web site and you can usually easily find it at the bottom in their signature. Have fun and if you decide to get back to making a hologram, there are lots of people here that will answer your every question.

Peace
Jeffrey

New to Holography

Post by Jeffrey »

You can do a lot with a two foot square sandbox.
a_k

New to Holography

Post by a_k »

Hello Michael

Also welcome to the forum.

You can get used copies of all versions of Saxby's Practical Holography from:
http://www.alibris.com/search/books/qwo ... Holography

For my copy (hard cover and in good condition) i paid less than $20 including shipping to Europe. I also prefer the older versions of the book.

Ahmet
BobH

New to Holography

Post by BobH »

Hi Michael,

I'd recommend the Saxby book over the Unterseyer book. Buy the latter for sentimental reasons, but follow the instruction in Saxby to get best results. I'd also recommend staying away from sand. although one can get good results, it's a system design that was needed in the early '70s and not necessarily today. Today, you can find metal components, table tops, cinder blocks, and mounting hardware easily and cheaply. There was no Ebay back then. Also, most of the problems of fringe movement come from experience with sand tables. Lasers and optics hate sand. Very few of those making holograms today use a sand table. In my opinion, there is no benefit for using a sand table.
Jeffrey

New to Holography

Post by Jeffrey »

Ditto to BobH. Sand gives the illusion of affordable and do-able, but it will be responsible for many failures due to settling movement. Sand never stays where you put it, and a microscopically moving table is absolutely your worst enemy. You will either pay in wasted film, or get disillusioned by failures. Chunks of steel with optical mounts attached are your solid friends (as long as they don't rock on your metal table).
walschuler

New to Holography

Post by walschuler »

I agree, sand tables are not optimal. I have another alternative to them, perhaps also not optimal, but workable and simple. Construct your table out of non-resonant materials, which can include various composite materials. For my classes I use tables of plywood bolted to steel frames. In fact, I share classroom space so these "tables" are rolling carts. The wheels are metal with rubber rims and the whole thing sits on a thin rubber pad, on the concrete slab-on-grade floor (not a good bet to use space with any air cavity below). The combination when struck responds but does not "ring" like a bell. Its settling time, as measured by watching the motion of fringes of a Michelson interferometer set up on the table and projected on the wall, is less than a second. You can add more vibration damping by adding containers of sand that sit on the top and elsewhere.

I and my students shoot single beam reflection images almost exclusively, using a plywood shooting tower sitting on the table, about 50cm high. It carries at the top a horizontal 1/2cm thick piece of glass large enough in area to hold a 5x7 inch plate or film. The objects sit on the plates and gravity tends to hold everything still.We have very few motion failures over all, and those are due to the motion of the objects, not the table or tower. I use mirrors to direct the beam up at about 50 degrees, passing between the front legs of the tower. I wrap a couple of the legs in commercial wrist weights, which act like sand bags, for more vibration damping.

The table carts also are surfaced with sheet steel, which is glued to the plywood top, again non-resonant. These allow me to use magnet-based lens and mirror mounts that can be slid around to any position.

I strongly suggest setting up a Michelson on the floor and observing the fringes as a first step, to evaluate your proposed shooting space.
Once you have the fringes, watch them for a while. Look for motion due to air currents, nearby machinery or traffic (not recommended locations!), microquakes, and the effect of walking around in the space. Fringes should just sit there, not jumping or jiggling, just stay sharp and steady.

Once your table is constructed, set the Michelson up on it, and watch the fringes as you strike the table, touch it gently and stop touching, put your hand on it for a few minutes and then withdraw it, blow into the interferometer, stamp on the floor, or walk around, or sing, or clap. This will give you a clear idea of the space + setup stability and the vibration damping it has.

I have a longer discussion coming out in the near future in the Proceedings of the 8th ISDH Symposium held in Shenzhen last summer.
Colin Kaminski

New to Holography

Post by Colin Kaminski »

I have shot on Bill's set up and found it to be simple and workable. I know I posted some photos of it years ago. I'll look for them. If you are lucky you are near one of our members and can guest in his lab. It is easier to start that way than by yourself.

Posted with TouchBB on my iPhone
Ed Wesly

New to Holography

Post by Ed Wesly »

And of course there is always the portable vibration isolation optical rail made out of wood, and if you PM me c/o of this forum I will send you pdf's of my articles on the concept. A picture of the very first incarnation is in the Don McNair book on holography.
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