Microscope

[maihama eki]

Anybody have a microscope at home that they use for demanding stuff?  I'm not talking about the high school, monocular, look at bacteria on a slide type of microscope, but rather a binocular scope with a range of 5x to maybe 40x, with a good working distance so you can get items and your hands underneath it, maybe on a boom so that it reaches a good distance.

 

I have a very nice one at my desk at work, and I occasionally use it for model train stuff.  I feel like I should buy one to have at home.  I know the one I have a work is pretty expensive - low $1000s.  I might have to look for a good used one.  I am a little fearful of the cheap ones that you can find on Amazon or similar.

 

I do have a nice lighted magnifier at home, but for really small stuff, the microscope is just so much better.

Edited November 8, 2018 by maihama eki

[cteno4]

yep i have an very old (probably from the 20s) zeiss binocular dissection scope i salvaged from the dumpster in grad school! its a beauty and still have the wooden storage case. i expect a nice collector's item now! The ones on the beam arm are really really nice and not cheap! 

 

ive seen some decent little cheap dissection scopes for $50-200 on amazon and ebay. probably fine for model work. hard to know till you look thru them though.

 

they are very handy for small stuff now and then. now with nice led lights you can light things up easily and well.

 

ive kept searching for a digital scope that can pull back to like 5-10x but have a deep focal depth to do the same but on a screen instead of having to look thru the scope. unfortunately most are more powerful than you need for modeling and also tend to have very limited depth of field and focus controls so they dont work well for modeling. also cant really tell how well it works until you have it in your hand and trying it out. 

 

similar issue of using many of the tiny digital cameras for train cams with depth of field and focal planes.

 

i salvaged so many great old pieces like this like great weight scales, wild glassware, etc when they would clear an old lab out and toss most of the stuff no longer used much. funny thing is some of the odd old pieces of equipment are still needed now and then. a friend from grad school called a couple of weeks ago as one of her grad student needed to do an old school experiment with dna centrifuge gradients i did a lot of in my work way back as they no one in the department had done any now nor did they have most of the equipment! been able to figure out some things that are around to use. a special tube holder/puncture piece i didnt save and probably going to make a mockup of one part in wood for their metal shop to make a metal one for them to use.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[gavino200]

Interesting thread. I'd also be interested in picking up an old scope. I used 3.5 Loupes for most train jobs. But sometimes it would be nice to go full micro. 

[maihama eki]

The one I have at work is a Wild (Swiss).  I inherited it from another engineer that retired.  It is probably 30 years old.  Prior to that, I had a cheap Bausch and Lomb that was okay, but the optics on the Wild are far better.  It is rock solid reliable too - it hasn't been touched as long as I've had it.  It could use a new LED light source instead of the fluorescent ring that it has.

 

We use a lot of microscopes at work.  We worked with the same guy for many, many years that sold, repaired, and cleaned them.  I don't know if he is still around.  I would like to ask him if he has any used ones for sale.

 

This is the lighted magnifier that I have.  It's expensive, but it is really nice.  Highly recommended.

https://daylightcompany.com/product-type/magnifying-lamps/ultra-slim-magnifying-lamp-xr-daylight-22080.html.html

 

 

 

 

Edited November 8, 2018 by maihama eki

[cteno4]

Ahh the old microscope repair guys! I remeber ours well from grad school. Usually around the department a day or two a month working on the scopes in different labs. Talk about a lovely set of tools! Ours was an old guy I swear worked on the scopes in the department when they worked on the polio virus! Always had a little transistor radio tuned to the classical station while he worked.

 

nice magnifier. I have a similar 7” 5d that I love. Wish I could get a big enough led ring to replace the florescent.

 

jeff

[gavino200]

Interesting little toy. It was a popup add on facebook. 

 

https://www.gearbest.com/testers-detectors/pp_009200839998.html?wid=1433363&currency=USD&vip=17195542&gclid=CjwKCAiAz7TfBRAKEiwAz8fKOIsAJc5t10Xj2M5B8fqNdOT0rqSEd_lhfkiqT9ngpkLrOFBwGx0fFRoCK7kQAvD_BwE

[cteno4]

Interesting. 1-600x that’s a range! Also a 1080p on 4” screen? Not clear if there is video output. Also like electron microscope as well. I want my SEM! 

 

But for $50 it may be an interesting thing to try. Im a little tempted.

 

jeff