Custom making a solar filter for a DSLR lens.
This is only a demo using a sheet of paper.
What you need....
1mm crafting card board
Good quality tape is essential.
Double sided tape
Sharp scissors.
A pencil.
A small piece of solar film.
1. Mark out the size of your lens hood.
2. Mark out another larger circle.
3. Cut out your circle using the larger circle as a guide.
4. Mark the space between the circles with evenly spaced lines.
5. Cut these lines almost to the edge of the inner circle. These are going to overlap to give the filter it's custom fit. You don't want any stray light getting in, so take care.
6. Find a suitable lid to mark out your aperture hole. I used the lid off my multivitamin bottle. It is well over an inch in diameter.
7. Cut out that aperture hole.
8. Now to start taping the outer flaps down. Care must be taken to make sure you don't make it so tight the filter won't come off, or so loose it will fall off by accident.
I suggest taping it in quarters, leaving one flap at each point of the compass free. That will give you room for fine adjustment at the end.
9. Finally, and I have no picture to demonstrate this atm.
Put double sided tape around the aperture hole. Carefully place the Solar Film on top. Using tissue paper to cover film, press firmly in place. Then for extra security, tape down the edges of the film.
The adhesive used in some tape has low tolerance to heat and may come unstuck after a long session, especially in the middle of the day.
Use good quality tape, and always check your filter before use.
Use the same method to make Solar Filters for your binoculars!!
Thats a great idea, It will be easy and quick to see whats happening with our star without setting up the scope. I will order some solar film and make one.
Honest, I didn't think or even notice. When I put the lens on the paper, because it was on the chair, it fell over, so I grabbed a book off the coffee table to place it on.
Solar film arrived today. As picture testifies, I was able to use the correct book. Luckily it wasn't an e-book as I didn't fancy working on my Kindle!!
Anyways, project appears to have worked, though that solar film is tricky stuff!