Homemade Multi Purpose Condenser

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maguee
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Homemade Multi Purpose Condenser

#1 Post by maguee » Tue Feb 15, 2022 9:44 am

Hey guys, i am wondering if a homemade rotating condenser plate is possible.
I mean, i use brigth field, dark field, oblique field, polarization (with some non professional waveplates).. and i have recently ordered a 40x phase contrast objetive with a PC condenser. And i know i have to change the iris condenser to annulus condenser depending on what i want to use.

I can do that, but it will be a dream come true if i can have all my stuff in a rotary plate. The price of the professional plates are very expensive, so i would like to know if someone has made something like that.

Maybe the smartest option can be just change between brigth field and PC condensers and adding the other components as usual, but your thougths and experience will be really helpfull.

Thank you very much

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zzffnn
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Re: Homemade Multi Purpose Condenser

#2 Post by zzffnn » Tue Feb 15, 2022 1:26 pm

Some "professional " turret (rotating plate) phase condensers can be bought for around USD $130 shipped within US, if you know what they look like (when listing sellers do know).

To give you more specific suggestions, you should tell us your budget, location, condenser mount dovetail diameter, and scope brand and model.

You can try DIY adding a turret's bottom part to an existing simple condenser head, but things may or may not fit mechanically or optically. You just have to try to find out. Oftentimes, such DIY would work to some degrees, but image quality may not he optimal (but may still work reasonably / acceptably).

dtsh
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Re: Homemade Multi Purpose Condenser

#3 Post by dtsh » Tue Feb 15, 2022 3:16 pm

I think it is entirely possilbe to create one, but I don't think it will be a trivial feat unless you have a history of creating complex prototypes; there are numerous commercial examples from the past and present for design inspiration.
Unless money is very tight and you are willing to invest a large amount of time building several itterations of the design, it will be easier to purchase and adapt an existing one rather that to fabricate a new one as zzffnn suggested.

maguee
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Re: Homemade Multi Purpose Condenser

#4 Post by maguee » Tue Feb 15, 2022 3:32 pm

Yes, i think you both are rigth. Thing is the price is too much for something i can already do.
My microscope is a humble kyowa unilux 12 and a condenser turret will cost more than half of it.

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zzffnn
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Re: Homemade Multi Purpose Condenser

#5 Post by zzffnn » Tue Feb 15, 2022 3:51 pm

Phase turret condensers are usually not cheap.

The cheapest phase turret condenser is probably LOMO KF-4, which costs around USD $80. But to me, due to its small filter size and mount style, it is not easy to DIY adapt.

American Optical Spencer phase turret condenser may be easier to DIY adapt, but it would cost USD $120-$140 by itself currently.

Sometimes you can buy a scope, along with a phase turret condenser, from an unknowing eBay seller, for the same price. You can then take away (or replace) parts from that scope and resell the scope / parts to recover cost.

apochronaut
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Re: Homemade Multi Purpose Condenser

#6 Post by apochronaut » Tue Feb 15, 2022 7:20 pm

For your quest. Providing a second hand source of required parts is what ebay does best. However, ebay does not supply the patience. You have to supply that. Parts for used microscopes can be frustrating to find.

A phase condenser must do three things well. It must focus accurately, it must apply corrections to the image it creates and it must magnify accurately : in this case since it is a condenser, the magnification is fractional. This allows the condenser to place the image of the diaphragm precisely overlapping the annulus in the objective. When the overlap works well, phase is a joy to use and clearly enhances contrast and certain aspects of resolution but when even a little out of sync., you can get what looks like phase but the image can lack the enhanced defenition or be outright blurry.

Matching up a d.i.y. condenser's performance with an objective's requirements, probably takes more patience than searching out the correct parts but if one is intent on doing so I recommend that you at least use a condenser and objective's from the same mfg.

Dubious
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Re: Homemade Multi Purpose Condenser

#7 Post by Dubious » Tue Feb 15, 2022 7:51 pm

maguee wrote:
Tue Feb 15, 2022 9:44 am
...
I mean, i use brigth field, dark field, oblique field, polarization (with some non professional waveplates).. and i have recently ordered a 40x phase contrast objetive with a PC condenser. And i know i have to change the iris condenser to annulus
...
What kind of phase contrast condenser did you order?

maguee
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Re: Homemade Multi Purpose Condenser

#8 Post by maguee » Fri Feb 18, 2022 6:06 pm

Well, i have a phase contrast condenser and an objective and they are designed to work together. But i received it today and the condenser does not fit into my microscope.
The phase contrast condenser is maybe 0.5 mm larger than my regular brigth field condenser. So close but...

i can sand the new condenser to make it fit but it will loose the shiny coat and can rust

It was really cheap, 60€ objective+condenser with ring+centering ocular+green and yellow filters, but now i have to adapt it or take the ring off and print a 3d condenser with a slot and slider to put all my filters in a row.

But who knows if the 3d printer design will fit my condenser...

dtsh
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Re: Homemade Multi Purpose Condenser

#9 Post by dtsh » Fri Feb 18, 2022 7:46 pm

Some pictures and measurements of both condensers and the condenser mount/fork will probably be handy. If by 3D printed you mean mine, it works with American Optical condensers and probably will not work with others, but the concept could probably be adapted. There's a learning curve with CAD and 3D printing, but I have found it incredibly useful. The software I use for CAD is FreeCAD; not suggesting it, just saying it's what I use. There are tutorial videos on YouTube and the price is right, free.

maguee
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Re: Homemade Multi Purpose Condenser

#10 Post by maguee » Sat Feb 19, 2022 9:27 pm

Well i sanded and polished a little the new condenser and it fits so i have my first phase contrast view!!

I may try to convert my 60x to PC so i can use the same condenser annulus.

Respecting the multiuse turret... My dad is going to help me with that, i will upload some photos of the proyect, but replacing a condenser is really quick anyways, more quick than change an objective...

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