Dust Covers

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SutherlandDesmids
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2018 9:20 pm

Dust Covers

#1 Post by SutherlandDesmids » Wed Dec 19, 2018 10:37 pm

Does anyone know of a source of dust-covers made to size for a microscope?

I'll have no difficulty with my new Optiphot at present but I intend to add an Optizoom and a drawing-tube in the next few months and I've never seen a cover meant to include a drawing tube. A camera apparatus could be, I think, probably removed and stored in a box when the microscope is covered up.

This is obviously a Zeiss Axioscope, but it gives a good idea of the considerable additional width added by the tube. Given the fact that the lenses can be capped, it's not so much a concern about dust getting at the tube as a normal cover 'riding up' over the tube.

Image

Obviously I can't give you measurements until I have both. I would have asked a friend of mine who is good with a sewing-machine but unfortunately she has developed cancer and it seems hardly fair to trouble her.
“If you march your Winter Journeys you will have your reward, so long as all you want is a penguin's egg.”

-- Apsley Cherry-Garrard, 'The Worst Journey in the World' vol. ii p. 578

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75RR
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Location: Estepona, Spain

Re: Dust Covers

#2 Post by 75RR » Thu Dec 20, 2018 12:07 am

Sounds like you need a home made one. I would suggest that a hole be made/left where the drawing tube fits on to the microscope and a sleeve fitted over it that tucks into the main Dust cover.

Some microscopes come with plastic dust covers but these are not recommended in areas there there is or can be high humidity as they create and trap condensation - Lint free cloth is best.

I use two cotton pillow cases, one over the other.
Zeiss Standard WL (somewhat fashion challenged) & Wild M8
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)

Scarodactyl
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Re: Dust Covers

#3 Post by Scarodactyl » Thu Dec 20, 2018 3:25 am

I would think that any environment that will put condensation on a plastic dust cover is already unsuitable for storing a microscope.

MicroBob
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Re: Dust Covers

#4 Post by MicroBob » Thu Dec 20, 2018 9:05 am

I had a few dust covers made from cotton fabric by my mother. Black and white, fitting well to my mostly black microscopes. I think they do a very good job and it is easy to clean them by putting them in the washing machine. The plastic covers are probably ok too from a technical stand point. They don't seal the inner room completely because there are always gaps at the bottom. But I can't stand the looks of them. :shock:
Today I would ask a friend of my wife if I needed another cover.

The original blue Zeiss covers are said to be priced very acceptably when buying directly from them. On ebay you can find them for quite a lot more.

For the shown setup it might be the best idea to just use a tablecloth of the right size.

@Patrick: Do you intend to use the drawing tube with a graphic tablet? This is the first time I see this done and would like to hear about the results!

Bob

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SutherlandDesmids
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Re: Dust Covers

#5 Post by SutherlandDesmids » Thu Dec 20, 2018 2:50 pm

Thank you all -- I have a couple of pure cotton well-washed pillow-cases, so I will try cutting a hole in one. Failing that a half-sheet.

@MicroBob -- Yes, that's right, although I had no idea it was a new idea. I am a keen if rather bad sketcher of scientific subjects, it's a discipline I got from my great inspiration in microscopy, a retired biology teacher (sadly now deceased) born circa 1928, who could almost remember the days of this sort of thing!

Image

It looks like something you might find in the dungeons of the Inquisition! We don't know how lucky we are...

Anyway, drawing was the only practical way of recording specimens in those days, so learning to draw was essential.

I got the idea of getting the camera lucida into the 21st century from the photograph I have given, which is from a now-defunct database on semen analysis. I shall photograph my Nikon setup when it's complete and let you know how it goes! In the good old days you could submit hand-drawings to be printed as plates, I think the average publisher would chase you now.
“If you march your Winter Journeys you will have your reward, so long as all you want is a penguin's egg.”

-- Apsley Cherry-Garrard, 'The Worst Journey in the World' vol. ii p. 578

MicroBob
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Location: Northern Germany

Re: Dust Covers

#6 Post by MicroBob » Thu Dec 20, 2018 5:50 pm

Hi Patrick,
I think it was Roderich Zeiss who put much effort in the development of micro-photography. Robert Koch made the first micro photographs of bacteria in the late 1900s. Digital photograph was really a big improvement! This makes trinocular heads more popular than in analog times and thus much more pricey.

Bob

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