MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

I've got very limited background in microscopes but i understand optics fairly well. I've acquired the following device and have absolutely no clue as to what it is. I'm assuming its some sort of microscope.



The device has a 6volt osram lamp under the top cap which goes through some sort of lens system which i presume focuses the lamp's light for projecting a crosshair on the focal point of the device.


I'm presuming your supposed to look through the lens on the side which has adjustable focus and focuses on a circle. The lens seems to only let through green light when looking through it. This also shows a focused image of a whiteboard marker 20cm below the base of the microscope.


The bottom lens is adjustable with numbers on the ring around it. The centre black bit unscrews and reveals the text f=100 which i presume means magnification factor 100x.


Both the lens assembly and the arm it's mounted in are adjustable.

The focal point seems to be 20 cm's below the base of the microscope, which doesn't make sence to me. I've managed to get a sharp image of my hand when holding it at this distance. It's obviously aligned with the hole in the base but i'm not sure if it's supposed to work like this halves the potential viewable image.

It came with another optical device which seems to not be a part of this assembly. I can make a picture of it if it helps identifying this device.

Thanks for your time!

That's an interesting looking thing.

Are there no brand names or inscriptions to be found? Who sold it to you? Could be a clue as to what it is.

In optics, "f" usually denotes focal length, so it prolly means that the lens assembly that you've unscrewed has a focal length of 100 mm.

It's not a typical biological microscope, so I think (guess) it may be a confocal inspection gauge employed in an industrial quality lab, perhaps metallurgical. It may be worth comparing its optical path with this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confocal_microscopy

It is strange that the focal point lies so far below the base. Maybe it was once mounted, and formed part of, a bigger machine. Are you sure the pillar doesn't extend upwards any further - it looks as if it may be telescopic in your firs pic.

Mintaka wrote:That's an interesting looking thing.

Are there no brand names or inscriptions to be found? Who sold it to you? Could be a clue as to what it is.

In optics, "f" usually denotes focal length, so it prolly means that the lens assembly that you've unscrewed has a focal length of 100 mm.

It's not a typical biological microscope, so I think (guess) it may be a confocal inspection gauge employed in an industrial quality lab, perhaps metallurgical. It may be worth comparing its optical path with this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confocal_microscopy

It is strange that the focal point lies so far below the base. Maybe it was once mounted, and formed part of, a bigger machine. Are you sure the pillar doesn't extend upwards any further - it looks as if it may be telescopic in your firs pic.

The confocal wiki definitely looks similar. But it's got 3 extra sheets of glass on each end. The top one where the light entry is looks dark with a white spot in the middle. It doesn't look like the black is on the surface though it's very matte. The side sheet has the patern seen on the picture of the green lens on it. The bottom sheet seems to be a clear lens of some sorts. The only, and i mean ONLY writing i was able to find on the device was a big 622 cast under the bottom of the base. I can make more pictures of the confocal part of the unit with all the bits taken off it to show the sheets of glass i'm talking about.

The only, and i mean ONLY writing i was able to find on the device was a big 622 cast under the bottom of the base.

There seems to be reversed writing in the centre of the 3rd image next to the concentric circles. Reflection?

75RR wrote:

The only, and i mean ONLY writing i was able to find on the device was a big 622 cast under the bottom of the base.

There seems to be reversed writing in the centre of the 3rd image next to the concentric circles. Reflection?

I think that was lettering on the white board marker that was used as test subject.

I am not real sure this any kind of conventional microscope and can be used as one....

My guess would be that ,rather than a microscope, it is an old optical delivery device. Possibly it was used to deliver a special purpose illuminated image or beam. The little peephole was used for testing registration.