MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Having never greased microscope parts, I will bravely ask for advice on how one actually greases microscope parts. Most posts on this topic assume one knows how to do this, but I would appreciate any guidance on how to actually do this (how much to apply, tools to use, etc). Thanks!

I collected some moss from the base of a tree in my front yard, placed in a glass petri dish, and added some spring water I purchased at the grocery store. This dish has been sitting for quite a long time on a shelf by a south-facing window, and I examine it periodically to see what is in there. The...

@Scarodactyl: I sent you a PM concerning purchasing your extra focus block from you. I hope you received it. Thanks, Tim

I have learned a lot about clamping screws in this thread but I wanted to add just one more follow up that might be useful to others who have experienced this problem. Not meaning to contradict in any way the always useful advice given by Jochen (ImperatorRex) in an earlier post (#17) in this thread...

After much frustration, I finally think I figured out what the problem is with this clamping screw. I had another Zeiss part with the same type of clamping screw and I tested the cleaned shaft/pin and spring in the sleeve from this clamping screw. I worked perfectly! I then tested this same shaft/pi...

Hi Jochen (and others), I found the link to information on the German Mikro-Forum about the clamping screw to be very helpful. As a follow up, I have been able to remove the cotter pin from the movable shaft inside the outer sleeve after applying acetone to the cotter pin. I also applied acetone rep...

@Scarodactyl: did you receive my PM concerning the focus block? Thanks, Tim

Hi josmann, thanks again for your help!

Hi imkap and josmann, thanks for your suggestions.

@josmann: is there a particular weight of Krytox that you would recommend for use on a microscope?

Hi Charles,

I am located in Cary, NC, near Raleigh. I know that the focus block can be replaced but I am concerned about any alignment issues that may (or may not) be addressed. It also seems that Universal/Phomi stands are more common than focusing blocks.

Tim

I am in the process of having to clean a stuck part on a Zeiss microscope and once I have finally able to get it unstuck, I will need to clean it and relubricate it. I am turning to the experts here for their recommendations on what grease to use for this. Thanks for your help!

Tim

I recently obtained a Zeiss Photomicroscope III and want to switch out the plastic field diaphragm (picture 1) with the metal field diaphragm shown in picture 2. It seems like this should be pretty simple, but before I do it I want to check with the experts here if there are any particular pitfalls ...

Recently, after about 25 yrs of use in my hands, the fine focus on my Zeiss PM III failed and it can't be repaired. I am in need of a Zeiss Universal, PM2 or PM3 stand in which the coarse and fine focus work smoothly. All I need is the stand.

Thanks,
Tim

Excellent video! The quality and detail is impressive.

Most of you are familiar with the amazing photomicrographs of Martin Kreutz, most notably from his book with the late Wilhelm Foissner The Sphagnum Ponds of Simmelried of Germany . He now has a website to showcase his work; it also has a detailed description of the microscope and photography equipme...

Hi Jochen, That makes perfect sense, especially looking at the pictures in the link that you sent. I also was able to visualize the parts in a working one of these clamping screws. Now the next question: when all the parts are freed and cleaned, what is used to regrease them? Again, thanks to all fo...

Do you have the ability to image the Hyalotheca in darkfield or phase? Then the mucous layer surrounding the central cells is very visible and you can also see the pores in the surrounding mucous layer.

Thanks to everyone for their comments/suggestions. I also posed this question on the German Mikro-Forum (I am a big fan of this forum thanks to Google translate which allows me to read German), and here is a link to the recommendations I got from that forum. There were, of course, some similarities ...

imkap, thanks very much for your help with this problem. I had removed the cap of the clamping screw as shown in the photos below. In the first picture, the red arrow shows the set screw that you mentioned. I have a watchmakers screwdriver and can loosen this screw. Both pictures show the pin protru...

Hobbyst46, Scarodactyl and imkap: Thanks for your comments and advice. I have some additional comments/questions. @Hobbyst46: I applied small drops from a syringe of WD-40 to the end of the clamping screw that is covered by the cap. I applied a drop, let it dry and then applied another drop. I was p...

The clamping screw on the tube head (see arrow in photo below) is stuck and as a result I can't attach the binocular head to the tube head. I have loosened the clamping screw and tried to push, with the flat face of a screw driver, on the part that extends into the opening where the binocular head a...

Thanks, Don and macnmotion!

In a recent collection from a local pond, I have found a number of the large lobose amoeba Chaos. In fact, on one slide there were 3 of them. I have 2 videos of these beasts, one in phase contrast and one in DIC. The protoplasmic streaming in these amoebae is very interesting to see and they are ver...

The small flagellate Bicosoeca (Bicoeca) lives in a clear lorica and extends a long flagellum to bring in food. Large numbers of these organisms can often be found together attached to a filament of algae or another substrate. Attached to the end of the Bicosoeca cell body and the bottom of the lori...

Sure Squintsalot: I'm not sure that ciliate would see it that way!

I saw a very interesting mode of feeding in an unidentified amoeba recently. When I came upon this amoeba, it had an unfortunate ciliate attached to it. The amoeba seemed to be extracting cytoplasm from the ciliate by suction; I don't know any other way to describe it. In the sequence of photos belo...

I was recently inspired by a post on the German forum (https://www.mikroskopie-forum.de/index.php?topic=45839.0) in which a moss aquarium was set up and the organisms that appeared were examined (there is also a more detailed post on the same forum, https://www.mikroskopie-forum.de/index.php?topic=4...

Hi Don,

These photos using a microscope with DIC optics. DIC produces the 3D-like effect.

Here are a couple of photos of the strange protist Hedriocystis. This is a small amoeba which inhabits a lorica on a stalk and thin pseudopods extend from openings in the lorica. These pseudopods do not have the usual ordered microtubule arrays seen in axopodia so they do not fit the defining charac...

Hi Wes, Thanks for the comment! These amoebae were found in a small temporary pool along a wooded path near where I live. I was attracted to it because of algae that I could see growing in it. I suspected there would be many green flagellates and Synura present. One hint that suggests this might be ...