Hand-Drawn Holograms
WARNING - EXTREMELY RECOMMENDED
Genuinely impressive - representational 3D forms created on plastic and etched by hand. Lots of fantastic examples, but at 1 minute 43 seconds, you will see a convincing 3D cube:
Scratch-holograms can be made upon CD/DVD cases or other soft plastic using a couple of thumbtacks poked through a stick. Or get fancy and use a professional compass and black-painted polycarbonate plates. Or automate the process with a paperclip stuck into a motorized electric eraser, or a CNC mill with a drag-engraving tool.
For lots of hints, see http://amasci.com/amateur/holohint.html Best is to use a good $10 compass, soft plastic that’s slightly greasy, and replace the extremely sharp compass needle with a small finishing nail. Clear plastic works fine, or place some dark paper behind it.
Are these genuine holograms? Abrasion holography or “Chatoyant holograms” employ the same physics as white-light or “rainbow” holograms invented by Benton at MIT. Benton holograms reflect light from a point source, and they do not require any interference pattern. This is why a Rainbow Hologram functions the same under any wavelength of illumination. The fringes of Benton holograms can have any spacing: even spacings much wider than wavelengths of light. Said another way: if the holograms on your credit cards are genuine holograms, then also “Scratch-holograms” must be genuine holograms.William J Beaty has been doing this for years (as you will see from his Web 1.0 website), and even guides through writing how it all works and make your own.