MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Just to close the loop. There was too much clearance between the cap and lens body to feel comfortable using a Loctite low/medium strength thread locker (they don't fill gaps). Ended up using some tiny dabs of a Loctite gel "instant glue." That's holding fine; and the cap appears to be in a position...

Pete, how do you prepare medicines to observe as crytals? Being 74 . . . Dale I just put them in solution, if not already in one. Put a drop on a slide. Cover it with a slip. Then let it dry and recrystallize. Maybe start with sugar. Who knows what you'll find -- some stuff looks pretty interesting...

I think LED conversion makes Kohler a moot point.. There is no filament to focus.. BillT I'd be curious to know the answer to that. I've hacked a couple LED conversions in the past month, trying to put a single bright LED in the same focal plane as the filament. This was particularly easy to do wit...

Thanks, Lorez. Good to have that verified. And, Gekko, thought you added to the conversation.

The other thing you might want to look for is the ability to cobble together a polarizing option. Very cool to see various crystals (sugar, caffeine, medicines) as well as thin rock sections under polarized light. You can get a couple of camera linear polarizing filters fairly inexpensively. One siz...

I'll be interested in the to-oil-or-not question as well. My only slightly relevant experience is with dial indicators (think a sort of clock mechanism with a spring plunger). When they're gunked up by ham-handed use of something like WD-40, the use of lighter fluid frees them up only for a while. U...

Just a thanks, Rod.

Just a follow up and a follow up question. I let the sparingly applied lighter fluid passively soak for a couple days -- but no joy. Then heated the outside of the barrel to warm to the touch to get a bit of thermal expansion, added some lighter fluid to the .0001" or so gap, and fairly quickly work...

Thanks, Lorez. Lighter fluid is what I tried the first time (two tiny applications); based on experience freeing up things like dial indicators. I'll give it a couple more tries. Based on other experience, heating the outside barrel up to, say, 120-150 degrees (what I did before) would help open up ...

Just to add, the BH-2 (from my experience of one) had 160mm tube "D-Plan" and even pricier "S-Plan" objectives. There's apparently some correction in the eyepieces as well, so you'd want to match that up as well. If the stand is affordable, no reason you couldn't go with some other properly matching...

Thanks, Lorez. Attached are some pictures. The back stop appears to be a black plastic with about a 1/4" hole reaching an inch or so into the back of the lens. To me, there's no apparent way to remove it. I probably have some sort of expanding sleeve tool around that I could attempt unscrewing and/o...

One of the microscopes I'm trying to get in shape for a local program has a nice 100x Leitz 160mm "EF" objective lens. Problem is, it came with the spring-loaded portion stuck fully into the barrel. I'd guess from immersion oil - the lens looks otherwise well-cared-for but has a bit of what looks li...

Thanks Charles. Not sure what happened on my end, but you should have an email.

Thanks, Charles. I've sent you a message.

Wasn't aware of it -- thanks Gekko.

Apochronaut -- thanks very much. I'm happy to pay what you think would be fair for the parts. Hoping not to go broke on these projects; but I'm willing to consider them contributions to the next generation. As for what I have in this Series 4 scope -- the trinocular head slider has glass cover plate...

Just to follow up -- the AO 4 had #176 oculars on it. Swapping them for a pair of #146 made a definite improvement. Thanks, again, Apochronaut. With respect to the compensating lens in the Series 4 -- I'm not sure if there is one missing or not. This scope has a trinocular head with what looks to be...

Apochronaut -- thanks very much for that informative reply. Looks like I have some more work to do. I didn't clean the interior glass on the AO 4 and the oculars may well have been mismatched. Do think I have a pair of the proper 146 oculars around. The LED retrofit is a bit better than the original...

Hope this is the appropriate place to post this request. We're trying to equip a room with about a dozen microscopes for a parent-kid science program, some with phase contrast. Pond water is a big hit -- and we have both and AO 10 and (coming) a Reichert infinity scope with Zernicke type phase contr...

Very cool, Lorez. We hadn't thought of the local library (which happens to have a good forward-thinking librarian) as a venue.

Thanks very much for the replies. To answer some questions -- the three phase scopes (AO Series 4, AO Infinty 10, Lomo-Japanese half-breed) we've been using so far are properly set up and aligned. We're getting decent, just not great, images. None of the phase objectives at hand are plan and only on...

I'm a new member here -- and hoping for ideas and advice. A group of us are hoping to get microscopes into the hands of moms/dads/mentors and their kids. The idea is sort of like the old one about reading every night to your kid being important to their development. In this case, maybe looking toget...

Hi Rod, Thanks for the PM. Apparently as a new member, I'm not yet allowed to reply privately until posting a bit more. To answer your question -- I do have an AO Infinity scope with a phase condenser that should work with the 10x lens. We're also looking for a 20x American Optical or the equivalent...

Hi Rod, I'd be interested in the 10x phase lens, assuming you still have it. PayPal or ?? for payment of the $25 plus $7 shipping?? Just now getting into phase microscopy for a local kids' science group.

Can you PM me with details?