Kaleidoscope

I set out to create internal parts for wooden kaleidoscopes that I will turn on my lathe. What I ended up with is a fully functional kaleidoscope that can be used as printed or it can be easily clad in wood, leather, brass or whatever you like. In any case I hope you have fun with it!

The front end should rotate freely. It does so because there is a print-in-place bearing in the front end of the main body tube. It should rotate easily after printing but if needed I use a rubber mallet to firmly tap around the sides of the tube where the bearing is (the large threaded end) to loosen any adhesion that may have occurred in the bearing during printing. A little rotational force after that should easily loosen it up.

The mirrors I use are cut to 30mm x 150mm x 1.5mm (1-3/16" x 6" x 1/16"). The photos included here were made with inexpensive acrylic mirrors so there is some distortion. First surface glass mirrors are better but more expensive.

The glasses are 45mm diameter for the front. It takes two of those to create the chamber (see the diagram). The eyepiece uses a single 18mm round. I purchased inexpensive watch glasses for the rounds instead of cutting my own glass. If you want frosted glass for the front of the chamber a piece of frosted window film on the glass will do the job. I put mine on the inside of the chamber.

Acrylic also works very well for the 45mm and 18mm rounds and it is pretty easy to source and cut the sizes you will need. Thickness of 1.5mm (1/16") for the eyepiece is best. I have used up to 3mm thick acrylic for the 45mm rounds.

The barrels are sized to fit 60mm (2-3/8") and 50mm (2") bores in wooden tubes if you want to cover your kaleidoscope with wood.