MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

I've had a couple of Balplans in my boneyard for probably 10 years that I'm starting to get interested in using. I just purchased another one off Fleabay in order to get both the high intensity lamp as well as the quintuple nosepiece... I'm a fanatic about 5 place nosepieces!! At any rate, looking t...

Most over-the-counter enamels "bake on" beautifully in an oven at around 200 degrees F. You're gonna have some nasty fumes so BE CAREFUL! Your home oven or a toaster oven are NOT paint ovens and therefore NOT "explosion proof"!!!!

I have 2 suggestions for "building up" the stage defect where the slides have gouged the stage: Either try "Lab Metal" applied in thin layers or "J.B. Weld". I worked for 4 years as the microscope repair technician for Carolina Biological Supply Company and we routinely used J.B. Weld as the replace...

Transfer the head from #3 and the phase optics from #2 and put them on #6.... DONE! #6 has the coveted 5 place nose-piece AND great illuminator! Find a phase contrast intermediate/Bertrand tube for same = SUPER DONE!!

GUYS! I am humbled by your responses to my post... I have been, through no credit of my own, fortunate to learn from some mighty giants of microscopy and machining and hope to share more of those experiences

Hi JeffO, these engravings are really nice! To me they look handmade by somebody who did this regularly. I know the Deckel engraving machines, but they were milling the material away. This looks as if cut with an engraving chisel to me. Have there ever been machines that worked with a pushed chisel...

It was in good condition, except for two minor issues. The cross hair lens was originally glued and has come loose (any glue suggestions?) and the knob on the quarter turning filter beneath the stage is broken off. That broken off piece will be a pain to get out. Probably going to have to use a tin...

HOLY MOLY, guys! Your experiences make me thankful for just spiders! As a result of watching and becoming addicted to YouTube videos that feature restoration of vintage electronics, I disassemble components and soak them in a solution of Simple Green. I just recently purchased a fairly grungy AO Ort...

The "Ms" appear to be of different widths and the details at the tops of the "Ms" and the "Ns" do not appear consistent to me. Still it is pretty perfect looking overall. Either way, it is a nice machine. Any idea what the mycology lab was using it for? Professional interest on my part. mnMYCO I wa...

I've been looking for an excuse to try and mate my Canon DSLR with the big Zeiss surgical microscope Stemi 6S out in the machine shop - this may be a good time to see if I've got an adapter that'll do it. The Zeiss has a long working distance as well as a great depth of field for detail work. I keep...

I have to second what apochronaut said, especially about removing the eyepiece and observing the fringe of the condenser iris. Oddly enough, when I took a microscopy/photomicrography course in college, our lab was equipped with Wild M11 scopes that were also outfitted with the field diaphragm rigged...

That's very interesting, what does it use for the hydraulics, water, oil, air? It uses a clear oil that, to me, seems to be common mineral oil. The cylinders are sealed by black (I'm assuming) rubber O-rings so, the oil may not be petroleum based. This setup came from an estate so I'm also assuming...

That is machine engraving... Engraving machines have been produced for several hundred years.... That may be machine engraving to drive the graver but it is not following a template. I ran a Deckel G1L German engraving pantograph in the microscope dept of Carolina Biological for a couple of years, ...

I just acquired this third Laborlux II in order to accommodate a couple of micromanipulators, one new to me and featured here: http://www.microbehunter.com/microscopy-forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=6574 As shown, I realize the way I have this scope configured will be a bit blasphemous to other Leitz pur...

Here's a few more close-ups of the engraving, the master cylinders, and the slave diaphragms/cylinders. That's gotta be hand engraving.

That is one cool looking instrument! Any chance of a video showing its movement? THANK YOU!! When I have described these manipulators to people who are non-microscopists, I've always started with, "Imagine if Darth Vader had an Atari game system, the De Fonbrune would be his joystick!!" You'll have...

One of my favorite Germans has just made a French connection... I just acquired this De Fonbrune micromanipulator, having used one extensively in the mycology lab of the late James F. Wilson back in the late 80s. I will be using this one in conjunction with a Leitz mechanical micromanipulator. The p...

I have no connection to this listing, but out of curiosity, I found these 8 on Ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Antiqu ... rk:20:pf:0

I would tend to suggest this microscope primarily has value as a novelty. Based on the background, I assume this is at an estate tag sale or an antique shop? As such, and based on it's very limited capabilities, I wouldn't pay more than $30 or $40 for it. In situations like this, it comes down to - ...

...thinking about it even more, the colorimeter like you're thinking about takes two separate images and allows you to view them in a comparison eyepiece, side-by-side, for the sake of comparing the hue. In the setup pictured, the two images are slightly offset and converge in your brain, as a true ...

It's a microscope - I think they were intended for schools and designed to take the place of having to purchase separate stereo microscopes (which generally only magnify 60X at most) and compound microscopes (which, in an elementary school setting probably only go up to around 600X). I can't tell wh...

...it, apparently, becomes the repository for everything else! Both scopes are Fleabay finds - the first with bonus chewing gum under the stage came from Ohio, while the spider laden stand arrived all the way from Florida - I was thinking to myself, "Good grief, lemme blow these dead spiders outta t...

This is another GREAT resource:

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/art ... on%201.pdf

DISCLAIMER: There are participants of this forum who can describe the technical applications of "mechanical tube length" with finesse that actually accounts for the physics involved... I'm a Leitz collector, machinist, and optical instrument - mechanical - repairman and not at all adept at describin...

What moves on these little guys, the stage or the head/nose piece? I am particularly interested in using my Canon D60 with an eyepiece adapter, but it is heavy and I don't have the setup to support the cameras weight if the microscope cannot. mnmyco It is the stand that is rigid on these scopes and...

I think I found the same listing. Seriously thinking of buying one. mnmyco GRAB IT! I think there's only 1 left... started out as 4. The one I got is pretty stiff - it's not completely frozen up but if you buy that one, I'll do a post about servicing it. The little Kyowa student microscopes are sim...

Thank you for showing! It's always nice to find an old instrument in as-new-condition. Most polarizing microscopes have clearly visible and adjustable polarizers, here I can't see them. Does it have polarizers? Yes - it has simple film polarizing filters: one is mounted in the the stand, above the ...

Because I apprenticed in machining at Carolina Biological Supply Co., Wolfe microscopes hold a dear spot in my heart. Today, the machine shop/microscope repair dept. has been discontinued but, when I was there, I was fortunate to work with the very last Wolfe scopes made by Kyowa Optical from Japan....

I take back that last part of my previous reply... I see the marker up in the reservoir on your machine