How to Make a Tracing Machine

How to Make a Tracing Machine
Published: Jul 20, 2011
Updated: Feb 23, 2021
1 minute read

Building a homemade tracing box is probably easier than you think. With this device you can make accurate reproductions of other pictures or print media. With added light shining through your tracing machine, you will clearly see the image you want to copy, and with a steady hand, copy it perfectly. With a few common household items, your tracing machine is just a few minutes away.

Things You'll Need:

Things You Will Need

  • Light Bulb And Wired Socket
  • Old Picture Frame With Glass Pane (About 20-By-20 Inches)
  • Hammer And Nails
  • 2 Plywood Triangles, 20-By-20-By-5 Inches, 1/2 Inch Thick
  • Remove the piece of glass from the picture frame.

    Nail through the side of the picture frame into the slanted 20-inch side of one of the triangles. Nail the other side of the frame to the other triangle. Mounting your picture frame to the two triangles like this provides a nicely angled work surface.

    Replace the glass pane into the picture frame.

    Place the light bulb under the glass of the picture frame that is elevated by the two plywood triangles. Turn on the bulb and place the picture you wish to copy onto the glass with tracing paper on top of it. The light will illuminate the image you are copying through the tracing paper. Trace the picture as you like.

    Brandy Alexander

    Brandy Alexander has been writing professionally since 2001. She is a glass artist with a Web design and technical writing background. Alexander runs her own art-glass business and has been a contributor to "Glass Line Magazine" as well as…

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