Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

Everything relating to microscopy hardware: Objectives, eyepieces, lamps and more.
Post Reply
Message
Author
Terry Mc
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2020 11:16 pm

Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#1 Post by Terry Mc » Fri Jun 19, 2020 10:58 pm

I think that the right stand would look incredible in a pro-quality circa 1975 Jaguar "British Racing Green". Low-Ish gloss though.

I do like the institutional look.........but a really well done custom paint job....could be cool!

What say you?

Microworldofgems
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2017 10:13 pm

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#2 Post by Microworldofgems » Sat Jun 20, 2020 12:02 am

I say bring on the custom colors!

Here is my custom blue Zeiss universal I rebuild.
Attachments
6BD9F83F-3574-4D47-B5B7-03C38645AAA8.jpeg
6BD9F83F-3574-4D47-B5B7-03C38645AAA8.jpeg (126.46 KiB) Viewed 9184 times

microb
Posts: 729
Joined: Wed Mar 27, 2019 6:39 am

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#3 Post by microb » Sat Jun 20, 2020 12:34 am

Thorlabs uses red.
Attachments
Capture.JPG
Capture.JPG (62.08 KiB) Viewed 9179 times

Scarodactyl
Posts: 2775
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2018 9:09 pm

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#4 Post by Scarodactyl » Sat Jun 20, 2020 3:39 am

I love the colors but that one looks like a drill press.

BramHuntingNematodes
Posts: 1538
Joined: Tue Jan 21, 2020 1:29 am
Location: Georgia, USA

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#5 Post by BramHuntingNematodes » Sat Jun 20, 2020 5:09 am

Scarodactyl wrote:
Sat Jun 20, 2020 3:39 am
I love the colors but that one looks like a drill press.
For optimum performance really that setup should have a big, aluminum foil lined cardboard box put over it most of not all of the time.
1942 Bausch and Lomb Series T Dynoptic, Custom Illumination

User avatar
75RR
Posts: 8207
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2014 2:34 am
Location: Estepona, Spain

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#6 Post by 75RR » Sat Jun 20, 2020 11:30 am

A cautionary image ...
.
Image
Zeiss Standard WL (somewhat fashion challenged) & Wild M8
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)

MicroBob
Posts: 3154
Joined: Sun Dec 25, 2016 9:11 am
Location: Northern Germany

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#7 Post by MicroBob » Sat Jun 20, 2020 11:41 am

Hi together,
microscope colour is a bit of a luxury problem! I myself prefer black microscopes in general, but I mostly use a Phomi 1 in hammerite silver-green, with a beige tube head of a later model and a black binocular tube. I also have silver hammerite stereo microscopes from Olympus and Leitz. My Leitz base sledge microtome (great!) and the new B&L Dynazoom are battleship grey. And I have a nicely shaped PZO MB-30 that looks very nice in saturated beige. My least preferred colour is hospital-beige or Zeiss Jena light-beige. In combination with an unispired shape of the instrument and plastic parts thes colours make an instrument very unattractive to me. The typical Zeiss Standard 14-18 in hospital beige with greyed plastic parts e.g. is nothing for me, though the design is nice in gerneral and I'm a big fan of their mechanical quality.
Some german makers from the second row made microscopes in orange and green and I like the look of them a lot, also the beautiful blue Universal that was shown here.

Bob

MichaelG.
Posts: 3976
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:24 am
Location: North Wales

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#8 Post by MichaelG. » Sat Jun 20, 2020 2:06 pm

75RR wrote:
Sat Jun 20, 2020 11:30 am
A cautionary image ...
.
:o Zeiss ‘born to be Wild’

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

Element 56
Posts: 330
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2016 3:48 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#9 Post by Element 56 » Sat Jun 20, 2020 2:52 pm

I guess I'm a little boring because I prefer whatever the factory color and finish is in most cases.

That said I agree it does make them aesthetically better in some cases. I once bought some yellow paint for one of those retro looking graf apsco stereo scopes but in the end I couldn't go through with it! Like I said boring! Every room in my house is either white or tan! :mrgreen:

Kirby

Terry Mc
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2020 11:16 pm

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#10 Post by Terry Mc » Sat Jun 20, 2020 5:12 pm

My thinking is influenced by my telescope projects over the years. I really enjoy finding a good objective in an abused telescope and "rest-modding" that scope.
This almost always includes a custom finish. I'm lucky in that I own an automotive spray booth!!

Here's the early 1980's Celestron/Vixen SP C-102 that I completed not long ago. I decided to do an authentic "show car" Candy Apple Red on it. This is a multi-layered finish, not a color out of a can.
The TRUE Candy Colors are fairly labor-intensive, but the payoff is in the "glow" that you might have seen at car shows etc. It is a very unique look thats hard to photograph (for me!)

BEFORE:

Image


AFTER:

Image


Id probably not go to that length on a microscope but who knows?

Charles
Posts: 1424
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:55 pm

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#11 Post by Charles » Sat Jun 20, 2020 5:18 pm

That is very nice Terry!

I prefer the all brass or brass and black, but if I wanted to go with a color, it would be red.

Terry Mc
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2020 11:16 pm

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#12 Post by Terry Mc » Sat Jun 20, 2020 5:22 pm

The amount of finicky disassembly/reassembly required on a microscope for a custom paint job could be prohibitive!
On the other hand, it would allow me to completely service my BH-2 as I went along, thanks to the information provided to us by Alan.

Scarodactyl
Posts: 2775
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2018 9:09 pm

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#13 Post by Scarodactyl » Sat Jun 20, 2020 5:30 pm

Of cpurse Leica pioneered a unique solution to this in the late 90s: scopes that start put boring but get more colorful over time!

Image

Image

Image

Image

MicroBob
Posts: 3154
Joined: Sun Dec 25, 2016 9:11 am
Location: Northern Germany

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#14 Post by MicroBob » Sat Jun 20, 2020 5:31 pm

Hi Terry,
your telescope looks great!

Bob

Terry Mc
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2020 11:16 pm

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#15 Post by Terry Mc » Sat Jun 20, 2020 5:51 pm

MicroBob wrote:
Sat Jun 20, 2020 5:31 pm
Hi Terry,
your telescope looks great!

Bob
Many thanks Bob!

Terry Mc
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2020 11:16 pm

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#16 Post by Terry Mc » Sun Jun 21, 2020 3:02 am

Microworldofgems wrote:
Sat Jun 20, 2020 12:02 am
I say bring on the custom colors!

Here is my custom blue Zeiss universal I rebuild.
Gorgeous work!
Outstanding scientific tool.
Yay!!!!

microb
Posts: 729
Joined: Wed Mar 27, 2019 6:39 am

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#17 Post by microb » Sun Jun 21, 2020 3:07 am

Microworldofgems wrote:
Sat Jun 20, 2020 12:02 am
I say bring on the custom colors!

Here is my custom blue Zeiss universal I rebuild.
Did you bake the paint? It's a nice finish.

clipi
Posts: 51
Joined: Sat May 19, 2018 11:13 am

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#18 Post by clipi » Sun Jun 21, 2020 7:33 pm

Beautiful work Terry
Could you please tell us what paint did you use?
I imagine you used some spray painting for cars right?
Did you use a primer?

Thanks

Element 56
Posts: 330
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2016 3:48 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#19 Post by Element 56 » Mon Jun 22, 2020 1:14 pm

Terry,

Your telescope looks fantastic! I assume you did the machine work as well?

Well done!

Kirby

Terry Mc
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2020 11:16 pm

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#20 Post by Terry Mc » Fri Jun 26, 2020 8:46 pm

clipi wrote:
Sun Jun 21, 2020 7:33 pm
Beautiful work Terry
Could you please tell us what paint did you use?
I imagine you used some spray painting for cars right?
Did you use a primer?

Thanks
Many thanks to all for the compliments regarding my red telescope!

The tubing is aluminum and thus required a grey primer formulated for aluminum, which was then sanded flat to 320 grit.
Then the primer was sealed with a coat of 2 pack Urethane. When that cured it was sanded flat to 400 grit.
Then the metallic coat was sprayed via nitrocellulose lacquer.
Then the trans red was sprayed via nitrocellulose lacquer.
Finally, several wet coats of 2 pack Urethane was sprayed.
When those topcoats had cured for 14 days, the scope was wet sanded thru the grits 1500-3000 and buffed to gloss.

Microworldofgems
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2017 10:13 pm

Re: Are black, grey, and white the only colors for a scope..or would you want something else?

#21 Post by Microworldofgems » Sat Jun 27, 2020 4:37 pm

microb wrote:
Sun Jun 21, 2020 3:07 am
Microworldofgems wrote:
Sat Jun 20, 2020 12:02 am
I say bring on the custom colors!

Here is my custom blue Zeiss universal I rebuild.
Did you bake the paint? It's a nice finish.
No, it’s just a rattle can job. There are a few little imperfections, but overall I was happy with the result.

Post Reply