The Craft

gluing, steps 10 - 12

Step 10 spray the prints
		Put one or more stereo pairs upside down on a sheet of newspaper. Spray them with sticky goo -- I use 3M Photo Safe Spray Adhesive. This spray adhesive takes about 60 seconds to acivate and holds well if the picture is positioned within 5 minutes. This means you have a 4 minute 'sticky window' in which to get the prints mounted. I usually spray 4 to 6 pairs at once. That's about all I can mount before the 'sticky window' closes. You'll know which prints are which because you've labeled the backs 1R, 1L; 2R, 2L, etc. Do this even if the photo's themselves are different. The sticky window is to precious to be wasted flipping photos over trying to reconstruct what goes where. Unlike some photo mounting products, 3M PSSA doesn't let you slide the photo around to get it aligned correctly, but if you catch a major goof, reversed images for example, early, the photos will lift easily off the mounting board. Respray and reapply. If you hold the can close to the table the air blast will blow the small photos around and get goo on the front. Holding the can high prevents this. Change paper after each spraying. *

Step 11 position the stereo- halves using your mounting jig
		Great tool! This simple to make alignment tool solves one of the toughest problems in putting together a good looking stereograph -- aligning the prints acurately. With this jig there's nothing to eyeball, nothing to estimate, the prints get pushed into exact alignment and set in their exact locations. You won't understand how cool that is unless you've tried to do it without a jig. Using the jig (The bottom edge of the plastic ruler is taped to the jig. The top edge is free.) 1.Lift the ruler's top edge and snug a blank stereocard (red outline, top photo) into the corner of the jig's positioning strip (blue outline, top photo). Lay the ruler back flat. (Because you're clever you've previously set up the ruler so that its upper edge -- which overhangs the bottom of the stereocard -- is lined up right where you want the bottom edge of the stereo print to be. You've also marked the plastic ruler with alignment marks (white lines identified by arrow) that tell you exactly where the inner corner of each stereo print needs to go.) 2.Pick up a stereo print with your right hand. 3.Use your left hand to press the upper edge of the ruler against the stereocard (lower photo.) Press hard enought that the photo can't slide under the ruler. 4.Align the inner corner of the print with the corner-mark on the ruler at the same time that you snug the bottom edge of the print against the ruler (lower photo.) Your print is now in place. 5.Press the print onto the card. Repeat for the other stereo-half. 9

Tech tip   making your mounting jig
		Parts list matte board base (green outline) matte board positioning strip (blue outline) see throught plastic ruler Scotch tape, the kind you can write on a blank Holmes stereocard, with a center mark on one of the long sides How to make a jug 1.Cut matte board to size for the base, maybe 12 x 10 inches 2.Cut an matte board L (blue outline), and glue it to the base board. 3.Snug the blank stereocard into position (red outline) against the positioning strip, and transfer the center mark from the card to the strip. (Just measuring 3 1/2 inches from the inside corner of the positioning strip probably won't be accurate enough.) 4.Stick a piece of you-can-write-on-it scotch tape to the plastic ruler, and use a pen or pencil to mark three lines on it (white lines identified by the arrow): a center line and the two alignment lines. The distance between the center and alignment lines will depend on how you want your prints placed. I'll let you do your own math. I usually use 2 or 3 mm. 5.Position the ruler and tape it's bottom edge to the positioning strip or base board. Be sure to position the center mark on the tape on the ruler directly over the center-of-the-card mark you transfered to the positioning strip in step 3. You can make sure the ruler and the positioning strip are parallel by lining one of the lines on the ruler up with the edge of the positioning strip. In practice I don't do step five ahead of time, because I want to adjust the ruler/stereocard overlap depending on what type -- Holmes or Cabinet -- stereograph I'm making. *

Step 12 rub in the prints
		With both stereo-halves set on the card, it's time to rub the prints to be sure they're well stuck to the card. Just lay the card on the table face up, protect it by covering it with a piece of wax paper, and rub it down with a paper towel. And don't forget to label your new stereograph with identifying information.   Congratulations. You've just made a stereograph! *

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