MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

I've made an offer on a nikon TMS inverted phase scope. This particular scope comes with one low power objective and three phase objectives: 10x, 20x, 40x. The phase objectives are marked Ph1, Ph2 and Ph3. However, the phase slider only has three slots, and the middle one is clear, so it's hard to s...

Finally, my low-power heat gun freed up the knob that controls the interpupillary distance between the two eyepieces. I had to try several times because I was afraid that too much heat might affect the glue (or whatever it is) that holds the internal lenses in the head that are under the eyepieces. ...

If it's the x-y stage we're talking about, I couldn't see a way to disassemble the (left-right) part that was stuck. The metal runner seems to be pressure fitted in place. Some models of this stage have screws holding the runner in place, but mine doesn't. The reason I was reluctant to use the oven ...

Thank you, Alexander. I just used my heat gun on the runner for five minutes, and it freed it right up. Now the left-right movement is smooth as butter, like the forward-back movement of the stage, and the focus coarse adjustment. Mucho gracias.

I just want to get it to slide, not cook and eat it. :) I don't know if the problem is dried up lubricant, a slight warp in the runner, or some kind of metal-to-metal molecular adhesion. Instead of baking the entire stage in the oven, I'll try applying my heat gun to the runner area and see what hap...

I couldn't see a way to remove the iris assembly from the base, at least not with the frame right-side up. Maybe if I turned the frame upside down and removed the bottom plate. But I'd have to strip everything off the frame, and it still would be heavy to turn over. Therefore, I took the easy way ou...

My first try with the heat gun helped a lot, but coarse focus was still stiffer than I like. Today I removed the stage, which gave me some access to the inside of the focus block. Not complete access, but enough for mineral spirits to wick inside. I put a knapkin under the area to catch any mineral ...

I tried TonyT's approach, with a low-powered heat gun, the kind used for arts & crafts. Focused mild heat on the coarse adjustment knobs on both sides until they felt warm. It worked! The knobs are now noticeably easier to turn. Still a little stiffer than I like, but I don't need two hands to turn ...

I'm looking to purchase an Axioplan. The ones I'm interested in are an Axioplan 2 and an Axioplan 50. I haven't been able to find information about which of these models is more current. The numbering of the models is inconclusive. The main visual difference that I can see is that the Axioplan 50 us...

Trying again with the attachments:

I have a beautiful Reichert Zetopan. Everything works well except the fine adjustment. It turns, but does not raise or lower the stage. I assume that some part of the internal mechanism is broken or disengaged. I can use the scope with just the coarse adjustment up to a 40x objective (with difficult...

I'm resending this question because I can't live with all the typos in my first version :) I have a Leitz Orthoplan in very good condition. The fine adjustment turns easily, but the coarse adjustment is too stiff. It turns, but almost needs two hands to turn it. I would like to reduce the knob tensi...

I have a Leitz Orthoplan in very good condition. The fine adjustment turns easily, but the coarse adjustment is too still. It turns, but almost needs too hands to turn it. I would like to lession the knob tension, but there is no tension control on this scope. I have read that for some scopes the te...