Why Are Copy Stands So Expensive?

I've tried making my own using a small tripod and a gooseneck desk lamp with a GE Reveal light bulb. Seems to work fairly well.

I think I am going to make my own and purchase some little lamps to go with it. I found two websites in a Google search that shows you how to make your own. One from pvc pipe and the other from wood. Since I work in a cabinet shop the wooden one would be easy to do although the pvc one looks easier to build. Sharing the two websites in case someone else wants to build something similar and doesn't have large funds to purchase a copy stand.

http://www.csigizmos.com/products/p...tostand.html

http://www.frontiernet.net/~rjacob/copystnd.htm

I think the expense is a function of the demographic - people who spend $kilobucks on cameras and glass tend not to flinch at another $kilobuck for a good copystand. I watched ebay for more than two years before finding one in a price range that didn't make me ill.

The quick solution, while you're waiting for a bargain to come along, is a decent tripod and the edge of a table. Of course, that's a portable solution, so you have to set up and tear down every time you use it, but it works. Everything you've ever seen me post here has been from such an arrangement - I have to modify my copystand a little for use, and I haven't used it as of yet.

Go into any good machine shop and ask them what it would cost to have one of those copystands which can be adjusted for just about any situation, and see what they quote you for price. The ones on the market won't be so expensive in your eyes after that experience. I know, as I've been there and done that.