Greetings!

[Polymerase]

Hello, everyone!

I have been reading on this forum for quite a while, and find it is time to introduce myself.
Before christmas, when I was 8 or 9 years old, I distinctly told my parents I wanted a microscope. At that time, I had decided I wanted to be a chemist, and had looked at various crystals under an old brass microscope belonging to the father of my best friend. That christmas, I received a small cardboard suitcase, containing a C.O.C. toy microscope, with a few prepared slides and some dissecting tools. It had built-in illumination, and sent me to heaven. Next summer, I had acquired a few books, and succesfully dissected a shrimp, looking at various parts under my beloved instrument.
I never became a chemist. For a while I was a musician, and lectured at high level conservatory. Then I was struck by the life sciences again, went into medicine, and realized my histology would never be good unless I owned a proper microscope. My old C.O.C couod no longer meet my needs. I bought a binocular, quite decent scope from radical instruments. That served me well for quite a while, and got me through a year of histopathology.
Later, I collected a surplus Olympus BH2 BHS set up for phase contrast from a nearby hospital. Then things really started rolling.

The memory of the old brass microscope belonging to my childhood friend’s father never left my mind. Thus, I acquired a 1928 Leitz-Wetzlar. A beautiful instrument with wonderful optics - although not so useful for modern microscopy technique…That didn’t stop me from getting a french brass scope (probably a Nachet) from the 1880s, and a Zeiss from 1908.

I also have three entry level monocular scopes that I got from a school lab. Quite decent, but not really meeting my requirements.

And just now, I just got my second BHS - this time with a RFCA vertical fluorescence tube (This one is lacking a few accessories, sadly, but is fully functional, but needs servicing).
Not to mention all I’ve spent on the extras….aplanat achromat condensers, splan apos, extra turrets, pmtvc, nfks, several camera solutions etc.

I have never been able to consider microscopy a hobby. It is more of a means of discovering the inner workings of life. I am mostly interested in human tissue samples. The big turning point in my life was realizing that understanding disease on a cellular level, makes absolutely everything in medicine logic and clear. That is a true revelation! Seeing an abnormal morphologic pattern, and figuring out what must have happened to cause the tissues to react in that way is mindblowing! I’ll never get tired of it. Not to mention the beauty of a well prepared, properly stained slide.

But I have also gone astray with looking at water samples, by inspiration from all of you in here. There is true beauty in such ssamples, and I can relax, knowing this is not something I need to understand in depth (until I start thinking of pathogenic parasites, of course….)

Unveiling the inner workings of life through expensive optics is a blessing! I salute you all, and will get back to you with technical issues, of which I have some already….

[ADi]

Welcome to the forum!

[iPeace]

Wonderful intro.
You mention acquiring a surplus microscope from a nearby hospital and a few from a school lab. How are you doing this, cold-calling them, or do you have some connections to these places? Most universities have surplus equipment web pages nowadays.
As one who likes older microscopes, I have a fond fantasy that somewhere, some lab that has long since moved on to more modern microscopes, has a drawer full of the parts I could use on my microscopes, or some complete microscopes. Of course all these fantasy original finger-jointed wooden boxes full of parts could be had for a song.

[Polymerase]

Wonderful intro.
You mention acquiring a surplus microscope from a nearby hospital and a few from a school lab. How are you doing this, cold-calling them, or do you have some connections to these places? Most universities have surplus equipment web pages nowadays.

I am afraid this is due to personal and professional contacts. But inquiring to a nearby department of pathology or its like probably won’t yield anything more negative than a “no.” Maybe you’ll get lucky?

I hope you’ll be able to find what you desire. Anything particular you are looking for?

[iPeace]

I hope you’ll be able to find what you desire. Anything particular you are looking for?

Small parts are frequently the first lost, broken, or abandoned in a box of parts kept in the back of the bottom shelf of the stores room.
I bought a Leitz Heine phase contrast condenser off ebay which of course was missing the oil immersion cap.

In 2007, I bought a Leitz Ortholux that was missing the spring-loaded slide holder. I used one from another microscope, but since the stationary part of the slide holder has a longer stand-off, I needed to epoxy an extension so the slide would be straight. I works, bu it would be nice to have the proper slide holder.

I recently bought a Zeiss Photomicroscope III. The film rewind crank is missing. The PM III came with an AxioCam HRc camera head, but no PCI interface card, drivers, or software to make it work.
An immersion darkfield condenser, a phase contrast kit and a DIC kit would be nice too.

[Polymerase]

I hope you’ll be able to find what you desire. Anything particular you are looking for?

Small parts are frequently the first lost, broken, or abandoned in a box of parts kept in the back of the bottom shelf of the stores room.
I bought a Leitz Heine phase contrast condenser off ebay which of course was missing the oil immersion cap.

In 2007, I bought a Leitz Ortholux that was missing the spring-loaded slide holder. I used one from another microscope, but since the stationary part of the slide holder has a longer stand-off, I needed to epoxy an extension so the slide would be straight. I works, bu it would be nice to have the proper slide holder.

I recently bought a Zeiss Photomicroscope III. The film rewind crank is missing. The PM III came with an AxioCam HRc camera head, but no PCI interface card, drivers, or software to make it work.
An immersion darkfield condenser, a phase contrast kit and a DIC kit would be nice too.

Could you possibly use this one?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/364197612464?h ... R-Tgx_7cYg

[iPeace]

I hope you’ll be able to find what you desire. Anything particular you are looking for?

In 2007, I bought a Leitz Ortholux that was missing the spring-loaded slide holder. I used one from another microscope, but since the stationary part of the slide holder has a longer stand-off, I needed to epoxy an extension so the slide would be straight. I works, bu it would be nice to have the proper slide holder.

Could you possibly use this one?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/364197612464?h ... R-Tgx_7cYg

I possibly could, but it is a bit more than I really need. I don't really need the whole stage, I just need the spring-loaded part with the arced arm that holds the slide in place.