MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Somehow this reminds of something the dentists says when I balk at having some procedure done: "when it hurts bad enough you'll be back".

When you want to see whatever it is you're trying to see bad enough, you'll deal with the oil.

Welcome Jim, lotsa old amateur astronomers, and ATMs too, here, and I know cuz I'm one of each. Took ya long enough to get here!

Howdy Wes. I'm currently using an Olympus BHS BH-2 with LED lamp and Zeiss rotating stage.

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artdec10/bs-hardman.html MichaelG., I failed to notice that you gave a link to an article on the diatomist Hardman - thought it was a tag line URL I guess. Thank you, it's most interesting! And in it, there's one ...

Many thanks for the kind words, all!

75RR, my apologies for the misspelling, and thanks for the correction.

And one more, through the Nikon plan 100x/1.25

Though I check in pretty much daily, I haven't participated in this forum a lot lately so thought I'd offer the results of a little mini-project that kept me amused on a recent rainy day. It started with an antique diatom slide that I won in an auction on you-know-where, which I am told is "by Hardm...

Yes, that's a very decent scope, especially for the price. It even has a POL turret intermediate tube (between the stand arm and bino head), which will be super nice once you discover the joys of simple polarization. If you desire to keep and use this scope for the usual pond water type of stuff, ge...

Easier in that there's much more cover slip to work with, so you get a bigger target area.

For those who do lots of wet mounts, try using 22 x 50 mm cover slips. The greatly increased area makes using immersion oil easier, and reduces sample dry-out.

Generally, the less distance between cover slip and specimen the better. But, as you point out, not always. Thanks for making this post a little more useful.

Every once in a while I like to post on this subject...

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=9967

I use a Brother QL-570 label printer and 1"x1" labels that I snagged on eBay for a reasonable price.

See: viewtopic.php?p=26613#p26613

Here in the USA, I have tried quite a few ringing cements looking for that perfect one that will play well with Pleurax mounts (diatoms), and glycerin jelly mounts (pollen), and ended up calling Testor's black enamel the best of the bunch. It's a hobby paint most commonly known for dolling up plasti...

Cool! What are you using for "ringing cement", and how is it working for you?

Thanks, Charles. I've seen those (exceedingly nice!) videos and will be watching them again. Your written description is also helpful, and very much appreciated.

Yes, lovely! Nothing pretty as a living diatom shot...

Very nice! One thing I've been wondering is how you get diatoms to 'release' from the needle onto the storage slide. Can't be using adhesive, because then you can't get 'em back off?

Sorry to hear you got hammered by the hurricane, looks like it may be our turn now. And the shed, that sucks.

A lovely image of a lovely diatom!

PeteM, thanks ... for me it's one microscope that's as much fun to look at, as look through. Hobbyst46, great question, thanks. I thought it might be an improvement in the 'feel' of the stage, as the original one (now on the Olympus) has an exceedingly 'free and easy' feel, as though it is lubed wit...

That would never have worked for me here, it kept jamming and actually took quite a bit of effort to get it going again. A couple times I wondered if I'd ever get it apart, it was that bad. I made a spanner out of a pair picks and a small hand screw type clamp, which was a bit clumsy but certainly d...

That explains why the two holes opposite each other. Now, how to kludge up a spanner to turn that ring?

Whoops never mind I got it.

Oh really ... it just threads out? Like a big screw? As in, "rightsy tightsy, lefty loosey"?

What do I need to know in order to prevent a ball bearing stampede?

Okay, I have disassembled to the point where the basic rotating part casting has nothing attached to it anymore, except the two rings. One ring, the innermost one, is fixed to this casting; the outer ring is the one which wants to rotate, but it being prevented from doing so by some obstruction. Rem...

I have removed the brake, it isn't the problem. Dry lube is definitely not the problem -- this stage has been taken apart, cleaned, and re-lubed recently and there's ample evidence of it everywhere. The interface between the white and brass rings doesn't need any more oil, it already has too much if...

No, that's not it. In the picture below, I have removed the stage proper from its quick-release fixture -- which I should have done in the first place, my apologies, I've forgotten how all this stuff works. So ... There are now what appears to be three rings; the outer two are actually one assembly,...

Greetings all: I just obtained another Zeiss rotating stage to replace the one I stole from my WL stand to graft onto my Olympus BHS BH-2. I didn't get an exact replacement, however; the 'new' one came from a 'Photomic', I am told. The problem is I cannot figure out how to get this one free to rotat...

Nice girdle views! I believe the 'small triangular diatom' is of the genus Limorpha.

Doron & Bob: Although definitely a Pleurax fan, I'm not attempting to use it for this purpose. I have export version Naphrax from Brunel UK and Toluene for this work. However ... forum member keithstout and I have been discussing possibilities of modifying the Pleurax curing progression, and he is c...

Greetings, all: One of the things I have been dabbling around with off and on for the past few years is becoming proficient at micromanipulating diatoms, for the purpose of making strews that are free of detritus, creating type slides, and possibly arranged slides. A few days ago I was practicing mo...