Zeiss OPMI 6S - Saved from the scrapper
Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2018 12:11 am
This post was inspired by reading through several other member's accounts of finding GREAT DEALS on Fleabay, etc...
I'm a thrift store addict and a machinist, so I've got a route of thrift stores and re-cyclers I routinely visit. I found this lonely Zeiss 6S at the scrap yard about 2 miles from my house. It has lost it's electronic foot control and, as configured, only came with the vertical viewing head. I have since replaced that with a Zeiss OPMI short barrel 45 degree head that facilitates it being used while seated at the workbench.
So, when I asked, "How much?" the young girl I always deal with asked if I'd help her roll it onto the freight elevator so she could weigh it on the shipping scales downstairs... due to the prominent stainless pole that supports the whole works, she charged me what it would bring as stainless steel scrap - $154!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it gets better... I went to a nearby ATM and withdrew $160. She didn't realize she couldn't make change so let me have it for a flat $140.
I'm an optical instrument/microscope repairman and unfortunately, the Zeiss is shown disgracefully covered in clutter out next to one of my work benches! I use it most frequently when removing burrs in damaged rack-and-pinion assemblies, and in evaluating brass, bronze, and aluminum bearing surfaces in dovetails that I am preparing to re-hone. She's a joy to use!
I'm a thrift store addict and a machinist, so I've got a route of thrift stores and re-cyclers I routinely visit. I found this lonely Zeiss 6S at the scrap yard about 2 miles from my house. It has lost it's electronic foot control and, as configured, only came with the vertical viewing head. I have since replaced that with a Zeiss OPMI short barrel 45 degree head that facilitates it being used while seated at the workbench.
So, when I asked, "How much?" the young girl I always deal with asked if I'd help her roll it onto the freight elevator so she could weigh it on the shipping scales downstairs... due to the prominent stainless pole that supports the whole works, she charged me what it would bring as stainless steel scrap - $154!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it gets better... I went to a nearby ATM and withdrew $160. She didn't realize she couldn't make change so let me have it for a flat $140.
I'm an optical instrument/microscope repairman and unfortunately, the Zeiss is shown disgracefully covered in clutter out next to one of my work benches! I use it most frequently when removing burrs in damaged rack-and-pinion assemblies, and in evaluating brass, bronze, and aluminum bearing surfaces in dovetails that I am preparing to re-hone. She's a joy to use!
