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How to Build Your Light Box for Coins

Photographing your coins inside a light box can work wonders for the image quality. A light box will help eliminate shadows, bringing out the sharp detail of your coins and other objects.
A homemade light box doesn't have to be fancy; you can get results through a relatively simple construction. Using CPVC pipe, you can build your own in a single afternoon. With a little practice, your light box images will rival the work of a veteran photographer.

Things You'll Need

1/2-inch CPVC pipes, 23 inches long, 2
1/2-inch CPVC pipes, 14 inches long, 4
1/2-inch CPVC pipes, 16 inches long, 2
80-grit sandpaper
Carpenter's square
Screwdriver
CPVC cement
Twin-size bed sheet
3 sheet metal screws
1/2-inch CPVC tees, 4
1/2-inch CPVC street elbows, 4
1/2-inch CPVC caps, 4
2 desk lamps
Colored heavy paper

Instructions

- 1
  Construct the top frame of the light box by fitting the 23-inch pipes and the 16-inch pipes into the tees. Position the matching lengths on opposite sides of each other. The 23-inch pipes serve as the width and the 16-inch pipes are the depth. Leave one end of each tee pointing outward on each corner as a hole for the legs. Glue the pieces together with CPVC cement.
- 2
  Glue a cap on one end of each 14-inch CPVC pipe. Place street elbows on the opposite ends. Don't glue the elbows on; you may wish to add different size legs at a later time.
- 3
  Place the top frame on the floor or another flat, solid surface. Glue a street elbow into each tee. Use the carpenter's square to make sure the legs are perpendicular to the frame. Wait for the cement to dry.
- 4
  Make the backdrop by hanging the paper on the rear length in the top frame. Use the screws to hold the paper in place. Drape the bed sheet over the frame and illuminate the light box by positioning a desk lamp outside the sheet on both ends.

Coin Collecting