Newbie Needs Help Identifying Microscope.....please.

What equipment do you use? Post pictures and descriptions of your microscope(s) here!
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w30bob
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Newbie Needs Help Identifying Microscope.....please.

#1 Post by w30bob » Wed Jul 25, 2018 3:47 pm

Hi Guys,

Newbie here. Don't know anything about microscopes but I picked this one up because someone was throwing it away, and I'm sure I can find a use for it in my workshop. Been pulling my hair out trying to identify it, as I can't find a model number anywhere. Could someone be kind enough to tell me what the model number is so I can find a manual? The last pic is of the data/SN tag on the back of the base, and I thought the first series of numbers might be the model number, ie 060-366.007, but a Google search came up empty. Also tried the "88170" under the Leitz name in the first pic........goose egg as well. Would love to know how to work it and if anything is missing.......hence my need for a manual.

Thanks for your help. If you need more pics of specific areas to identify it just let me know.

thanks,
bob

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75RR
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Re: Newbie Needs Help Identifying Microscope.....please.

#2 Post by 75RR » Wed Jul 25, 2018 4:19 pm

Have you tried contacting Micro Service?
If you include a photo they might be able to help.
Particularly if they thought you might become a customer.

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Zeiss Standard WL (somewhat fashion challenged) & Wild M8
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)

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wporter
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Re: Newbie Needs Help Identifying Microscope.....please.

#3 Post by wporter » Wed Jul 25, 2018 4:24 pm

It's a Leitz Multipurpose Microscope:

http://microscope.database.free.fr/700-800.html

MichaelG.
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Re: Newbie Needs Help Identifying Microscope.....please.

#4 Post by MichaelG. » Wed Jul 25, 2018 5:49 pm

w30bob wrote:Hi Guys,

Newbie here. Don't know anything about microscopes but I picked this one up because someone was throwing it away ...
I'm still struggling to get my head around that ... but Congratulations !!

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

w30bob
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Joined: Wed Jul 25, 2018 3:22 pm

Re: Newbie Needs Help Identifying Microscope.....please.

#5 Post by w30bob » Thu Jul 26, 2018 12:47 am

Hi Guys,

Thanks!!!

75RR........yeah, I checked. They're long gone. I'm guessing that sticker is from the late 70's or early 80's. The 201 area code was central NJ and there no where to be found.

Wporter.........BINGO! You ROCK brother! Many thanks.

Michael.......are you struggling with the fact that I picked it up........or that someone threw it away? If the former.........It came from the lab where I work, and I've used it in the past. I thought it was a pretty incredible piece of equipment..........that's why I lugged the 40 lb monster to my car and took it home. If the latter...........when the Lab cleans house..............they really clean house. Most of the young techs have no idea what things cost or even care........they just want to make space for their new toys. Luckily I found it on top of the junk pile outside yesterday, just as it was starting to rain. I'm going to hunt around the lab and see if there are any other parts for it, or manuals. The manual in the link wporter provided tells me what it is.........which is great.........but now I have to figure out how to use it! Google here I come!

Thanks again folks..........I really appreciate it.

regards,
bob

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wporter
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Re: Newbie Needs Help Identifying Microscope.....please.

#6 Post by wporter » Thu Jul 26, 2018 3:21 am

You're welcome, glad to help. Of course, the real thanks go to the creator of that Leitz manual website; it's one of the best brand-specific collection of microscope manuals I've seen. The scanned covers make it really easy to find what you need.

Have fun with your 'new' scope, looks like a beauty!

MichaelG.
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Re: Newbie Needs Help Identifying Microscope.....please.

#7 Post by MichaelG. » Thu Jul 26, 2018 5:52 am

w30bob wrote:Michael.......are you struggling with the fact that I picked it up........or that someone threw it away?
bob
Most certainly the latter, Bob !!

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

Hobbyst46
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Re: Newbie Needs Help Identifying Microscope.....please.

#8 Post by Hobbyst46 » Thu Jul 26, 2018 6:54 am

w30bob wrote:.........It came from the lab where I work, and I've used it in the past. I thought it was a pretty incredible piece of equipment..........that's why I lugged the 40 lb monster to my car and took it home. If the latter...........when the Lab cleans house..............they really clean house. Most of the young techs have no idea what things cost or even care........they just want to make space for their new toys. Luckily I found it on top of the junk pile outside yesterday, just as it was starting to rain
bob
Still old microscopes enjoy a better fate than the slide rule and the typewriter - which, in their time, were quality, quite sophisticated instruments (at least some of the more expensive ones) not to mention dial phones...

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ebenbildmicroscopy
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Re: Newbie Needs Help Identifying Microscope.....please.

#9 Post by ebenbildmicroscopy » Sat Aug 04, 2018 11:51 pm

That was the correct link that was posted in the responses but what you have is NOT the multipurpose microscope but actually the mini load hardness tester. I am a microscope repairman and machinist and I have the earlier, greenish painted version of this scope. It uses a diamond tip in order to test the hardness of metal components that have been heat treated or annealed.

Hope this helps... incidentally, that specimen holder on the stage is currently worth about $500 by itself! Also, the little round bulb mine takes in the epi illuminator is no longer made... I scored a box of about 6 new old stock bulbs on Fleabay about a year ago - if you ever need a spare, PM me. Shown is an image from the internet of the exact mini load tester I have -
Attachments
miniload.jpeg
miniload.jpeg (18.28 KiB) Viewed 8504 times
JeffO, aka "Ortho amore"
Leitz Ortholux I
Leitz Orthoplan
Leitz Macro-Dia Device
Zeiss GFL
Zeiss Standard
Zeiss Photomicroscope III
Zeiss OPMI 6S
B&L Stereozoom and Balplan

w30bob
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Re: Newbie Needs Help Identifying Microscope.....please.

#10 Post by w30bob » Wed Aug 22, 2018 1:47 pm

Hi Jeff,

Sorry for the delayed response. Thanks for the info! Would love to talk to you about how to use this thing........I haven't figured out how to PM yet, but I asked how in another section here and as soon as I can I'll shoot you a PM. Seems online literature and instructions for this scope are non-existent. The bulb in my illuminator is a 13347w 6V 15W and appears intact. I've checked online and those bulbs are still available..........but thanks for the offer!

The first hurdle I need to clear is how I get the illuminator to function. It plugs into the back of the base where it's marked "6V 15W", but the two pins on the illuminator cord seem a bit small compared to the holes in the socket on the scope base. The pins line up perfectly, but wiggle freely in the hole, so they don't make a solid electrical connection. I know the illuminator was used with this scope, so I'm a bit puzzled why its pins are a bit small. I looked at other Leitz illuminators on line and some have banana plugs, some have splines on the pins and some are just solid plain pins like mine......so not sure what's going on. I'm tempted to ask the Chemists in the Lab that threw out this scope how to use it............but I'm afraid if I do they might change their mind and want it back. Anyway, I'll shoot you a PM as soon as I can.

thanks again,
bob

dawsonmic
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Re: Newbie Needs Help Identifying Microscope.....please.

#11 Post by dawsonmic » Tue Nov 26, 2019 4:07 am

Hi Bob,
Joined the forum so I could respond to your inquiry although someone else did correctly identify your instrument (Leitz Miniload hardness tester). Your instrument has a more recent illuminator (and socket) than that used on the earlier instrument that was pictured. The older instrument uses special pre-centered lamps where the filament was critically centered to a brass sleeve that was soldered to the base of the lamp. Your socket assembly is centerable as well as focusable (by moving the sleeve in and out a tad) and therefore you can use the standard 6v 15w tungsten filament lamps. I believe they are part number 8018, but I don't have my references in front of me presently, so don't hold me to that. By the way, the number you referred to on the side of the housing near the focus knob is the serial number.
I am not sure if you have had a chance to round up an instruction manual for this instrument, but if not, its operation is not at all self-evident, and indeed, it is possible to severely damage the diamond indentor if proper precautions are not taken. The most important point is not to move either the stage with the sample on it, or attempt to switch from the 'indent' position to either one of the objective positions (the indent position is in the center). If the 'scope is operating correctly, when the diamond drops onto the sample (its speed is regulated by a dash pot on the right side of the housing opposite the opening for a cable release) there is a pin that is lifted into a port on the turret so rotation is blocked. However, it is still possible to destroy the diamond if the sample is moved while the diamond is resting in the sample.
You have probably determined by now that the turret will only move when the knob has lifted the platform where the weights would be placed - this drops the pin out of the recess. When the diamond is in the 'operational' position, then it can be released by using a short cable release that attaches to the tombstone-shaped housing on the left side of the indentor apparatus. You will see a tear-drop shaped lever move as the knob turns and the indentor drops. It should take approximately 15 seconds for the lever to come to a rest against the stop. Once there, it is protocol to leave the indentor in place for another 15 seconds, then use the knob to lift the indentor, moving the measuring objective into position (depending on vintage, either a 40x or 50x, but probably the former). If the diamond drops too fast there is a regulating disk at the bottom of the dash-pot that is knurled. There is a detent spring that holds the disk in position. The disk is attached to a pin that lifts a bearing on the inside of the dash-pot so once you are in the proper range the amount of turning required is usually very small.
I have outlined only the indentor portion of the operation because that is the area of operation that damage can most easily occur, and new indentors are really expensive and difficult to find used. There are two main kinds of indentors - Knoop and Vickers. If your instrument makes a square impression, then you have a Vickers. A highly elongated diamond shape (7:1 ratio) would be a Knoop. Leitz also made what is referred to as a 'scratch diamond' which was meant to be left in the sample as the sample is moved. It will leave a scar on the sample and is used to monitor highly variable hardness as the scratch will vary in width, but it is not a quantitative measurement. Very few of the Miniloads were sold with the scratch diamond.
One important thing that appears to be missing from your instrument is the small accessory cabinet which would contain a series of weights (for your vintage instrument, they would range from the equivalent of 5 grams up to 500 grams. They are placed on the tray above the diamond. Without the weights, you instrument will be making an indentation at roughly 5 grams if it has been properly calibrated. The other items that would have been in the accessory case would include a test block for calibration verification at both 15 grams and 100 grams. The box also held spare diamond indentors in small glass vials.
The other thing to be careful of is the indentor holder. There is a small wire-frame 'cage' that suspends the diamond inside of the indentor housing. This allows the diamond to float slightly as it comes to rest and prevents it from forming an oversize impression due to side motion. The cage is quite fragile - the problems usually caused by over-bending the wires in the cage. Often they can be restored to proper function after disassembly of the indentor holder, but it is obviously best if one doesn't have to address the problem.
Somewhere I do have a manual for your vintage of instrument, but it is in my office in Littleton MA, and I am currently in Maine, so it will be a while before I can make a copy for you (several weeks) if you haven't located a manual already. . . Hope you are able to find the cabinet with the accessories if you didn't get it with the microscope. They do show up on eBay maybe once a year, but condition varies quite a bit, and earlier sets of weights differed slightly from those used with your instrument. (The weight and design and response of the indentor housing differed so the added weights also differed to sum to the correct load level - not so important in the higher weight ranges, but could throw measurements considerably off in the lighter loads (10 to 50 grams)! Look forward to hearing from you.

MichaelG.
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Re: Newbie Needs Help Identifying Microscope.....please.

#12 Post by MichaelG. » Tue Nov 26, 2019 8:54 am

dawsonmic wrote:
Tue Nov 26, 2019 4:07 am
Hi Bob,
Joined the forum so I could respond to your inquiry […]
… and a great response it is, too !!

Welcome aboard
MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

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