MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Except for the fact that if you put a straight edge from the lip of the eyepiece tube along the tube to the base of the head it comes out around 140mm alone and then there is another 55mm from the base of the head down through the compensating lens to the objective shoulder. That's not including an...

I was not ignoring the prism, but the prism would have to be larger than it is by a lot to make up an additional 50mm. This snippet from the AO2 catalog shows the various viewing bodies. You are using one of the trinocs, and indeed those look like long tubes on the photo port. I am using the second ...

I am not sure what the 210mm distance is that you measured exactly, whether it is a physical length or an apparent optical length, for example. As a quick test, using just an ordinary caliper and the inclined monocular tube for simplicity, I get the following: nosepiece hole where the objective sits...

Cool stuff!

Please let us know if the microtome lets you create better specimens. I think I am no better at specimen-making than I was in school many years ago. It is probably an area I could get a lot of return on investment--making proper slides with good technique.

Thank you apochronaut, that is interesting information. I have not yet been able to effectively compare the exact same image in use between a stand with and without this compensating lens (because mechanically I do not have enough stuff duplicated, and trying to remember what the last setup looked l...

Kurt, I did a little "research", which means "Googling" at it appears that these little round make-up pads are an ubiquitous product, and are available at, for example, CVS rebranded a little. (This is all new to me, having never put on makeup. . .)

I want to chime in with my two cents on relatively affordable Chinese scopes based on my experience. First, I love vintage scopes, and have some good AO Series 10 scopes from the 1960s or so, brightfield and phase. I also have what I consider a rather nice Chinese scope. I think it is Chinese. The m...

I have been playing with some AO2/AO4 scopes that I got on ebay. One of them, but only one, has an extra lens inserted between the objective and the viewing body. Does anybody know what this is for? Here is one without that lens, looking down towards the nosepiece with the viewing head removed, no o...

Yes, thanks a lot for that suggestion. I tend to reach for something convenient and close, which is KimWipes, but that is an expensive habit.

That's very nice. Which phase system is that? My guess is Olympus from the color (unless it has been processed).

Another variation of the same idea when cleaning an AO2/4 stand (with the optics far, far away) is to use WD40 on the enamel surface. If it happens that you are taking the condenser dovetail and coarse focus dovetail out to clean and re-lubricate them, you will probably use WD-40 anyway to dissolve ...

Hans, yes, I also have noticed that IPA does not work really wonderfully on some optics. For objectives in particular, I do not think there is universally-valid advice, because the cements are different for different manufacturers, times, or even models. I think it is prudent again to look up what t...

It is interesting to note that isopropyl alcohol, IPA, is a lot more volatile than xylene. This is important because the solvent does not destroy the oil, and you have to wipe it off with the oil still dissolved,or else the solvent will evaporate and the oil will remain behind, just physically rearr...

I do not think that cured epoxy, or certainly enamel, is soluble in isopropyl alcohol. It could be that paint is, though, and I do not know how that is applied. Is waxing a microscope a commonly-done thing? I have not heard of it, and not ever read about it in a manual, but if lots of people here do...

The commercial product you are using is a combination of a solvent and a buffing agent (abrasive). I use a solvent sparingly when needed, and use a light touch. Of course soap and water is my first choice. The context of my comment was when one is using a solvent anyway, either explicitly (isopropyl...

I don't want to hold myself out to be anything more than a conscientious hobbyist with a technical bent, but I want to offer a different perspective on the idea of waxing a microscope, etc. It seems like a strange concept to me. I have cleaned up AO Series 10 and AO Series 2/4 scopes, and here is wh...

Yes, the pictures are of an emergent petiole, it is the petiole of a young leaf from Ligustrum (privet bush). I cannot help but note that in the Latin version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis), the opening sentence starts: Dominus et Domina Dursley, qu...

That is so nice. In fact, most every DIC image or video I see is better than almost anything I have ever seen in my own scopes using brightfield, or even conventional phase. I would like to try it sometime.

I look forward to reading what others (who know more than me) say about the specific stuff pictured. But regardless, I say that if you experience any buyer's remorse, just let me know and I'll take it off your hands for $138USD. :) I suspect that the trinocular port was specifically for use with a v...

That is an interesting use of that technology by Vision Engineering. The company is well-known in electrical engineering for having created the Dynascope back in the 1970s or 1980s, and its successor, the Manitis, and probably others, and is very well thought of. You can pick up an old Dynascope on ...

Ditto, Christmas present for me when I was 10 years old, 1972.

I discovered salt was cubic with it before anybody told me in school.

Don, it boggles my mind that my new Mac Mini has eight of those: four hi-performance, and four efficiency, cores.

The PlastX looks similar to a product I bought once to polish the yellowed headlights on an Audi I used to have. I never got around to it, but when I had it in the shop the next time I asked them to polish the headlights. The guy used toothpaste, he said, and I was floored because the headlights loo...

My suggestion was that what you are calling "dirty" might be on purpose. Talc, for example. Extremely flat glass surfaces do tend to stick together.

My only experience is with Amscope coverslips and similar, purchased new on eBay. If I look carefully there is fine "dust" on the coverslips. I have always assumed that this was part of the manufacturing and packing process, and maybe even is necessary to let them slide one atop the other, instead o...

It is probably not any of the things in the title, because those would not be visible with 16x total magnification. But if you meant 16x objective and 10x eyepiece, even, they still would not look like that I think. Also, I believe pigeon erythrocytes are oblong and those look spherical to me. My gu...

According to a catalog I have seen, the Series 1, and also the Series E1, had only the horseshoe base. The Series 2 and 4, according to that catalog, differed only in the choice of the base--horseshoe or built-in illuminator. That catalog does not have the base shown here at all, but you do see them...

Thank you very much--that camera/phone adapter looks like exactly what I need. I am new to the AO4 and AO2 and still learning. I have three project scopes I picked up cheap on ebay. They should clean up well and I am refurbing them. They have just the achromat optics. Your AO4 is equipped with the a...

Those images are so inspiring. Could you elaborate on the setup you use with your phone? In particular, I am looking for a good mechanical mount. Does yours allow you to easily set the distance from the eyepiece to the phone lens? Also, do I assume correctly that your AO4 has the optional lens above...

Ah, that makes sense that it is brass with chrome overtop. Fooled me and I thought it was steel. Brass is even easier to machine than aluminum I think. I improvised a simple tool which seems to work really well. I started with a large cable staple, bent and filed the ends to fit the holes. You can s...