Applied Precision immersion oils

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microcosmos
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Applied Precision immersion oils

#1 Post by microcosmos » Sat Jun 04, 2022 2:14 am

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I recently took over a set of immersion oils of refractive indices from 1.500 to 1.534 in increments of 0.002, made by Applied Precision.

Does anyone have any SDS or information on the composition of these oils? The lab I got it from did not have this information and I couldn't find it online. I know Cargille has online data sheets of its oils but I don't know if my oils are similar to theirs.

I also wish to find out if these particular oils are safe to use with my old (c. WWI) Zeiss apochromatic immersion objective (see here for info on the objective) - I would be grateful for any advice on whether the oils are compatible with the objective casing material and the lens cement.

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Re: Applied Precision immersion oils

#2 Post by zzffnn » Sat Jun 04, 2022 2:36 am

Why not call Applied Precision to ask, if you found nothing from Google’ing?

microcosmos
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Re: Applied Precision immersion oils

#3 Post by microcosmos » Sat Jun 04, 2022 3:32 am

Applied Precision was acquired by GE Healthcare some time ago, and subsequently GE shut down their microscopy business if I’m not mistaken. I felt that calling them would be a dead end.

I felt there was a fair chance that someone on the forum has used these oils before and could perhaps share not only the chemical information but also experiences using them or comparisons with other brands of oils, which the company wouldn’t provide.

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Re: Applied Precision immersion oils

#4 Post by microcosmos » Sat Jun 04, 2022 3:52 am

These oils were originally meant for the GE DeltaVision OMX structured illumination super-resolution microscope. Here’s a document from them about selecting the right refractive index oil for the sample using their “oil calculator app”.

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Re: Applied Precision immersion oils

#5 Post by Greg Howald » Sat Jun 04, 2022 3:59 am

1 Google Applied Precision Immersion Oils
2. Listed you will find Delta Vision Imaging System User's Manual. Click on that.
3. Download Delta Vision Elite User's Maual.pdf.

375 pages, 22.54 mb.
It's got to be there.
Greg

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Re: Applied Precision immersion oils

#6 Post by microcosmos » Sat Jun 04, 2022 5:29 am

Greg Howald wrote:
Sat Jun 04, 2022 3:59 am
1 Google Applied Precision Immersion Oils
2. Listed you will find Delta Vision Imaging System User's Manual. Click on that.
3. Download Delta Vision Elite User's Maual.pdf.

375 pages, 22.54 mb.
It's got to be there.
Greg
I can't find "Delta Vision Elite User's Maual.pdf" in step 3 above using your instructions, but I did find a similar 362-page manual and other manuals on DeltaVision instruments.

I still can't find the information I was looking for in my original post. There's lots of info in the various pdf user manuals about how to choose the correct refractive index oil and what you should see under the microscope when correct/wrong oils are used, but that's not the info I was looking for.

I wouldn't think that a microscope user manual would usually contain the ingredients for immersion oils, even if it is a full manual. The manuals above also don't seem to have references to separate documentation on the chemical composition of the oils, which is not surprising.

If I missed something I would be grateful for the direct link to the document and the page in the document that the information is found on, as I have been unable to find it so far. As mentioned in the original post, I am looking for material safety data sheets of the oils, or other documents listing or even just mentioning the chemicals and ingredients used in the oils.

Come to think of it, there's actually a fair chance that the info is proprietary and was simply never released by the manufacturer.

Perhaps it would be an interesting project for someone to do a chemical analysis of various immersion oils used over the decades, starting from the old cedar oils until the present day, a sort of "evolutionary chemodiversity survey" of microscope immersion oils.

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Re: Applied Precision immersion oils

#7 Post by MichaelG. » Sat Jun 04, 2022 3:27 pm

Sorry … posted something in the wrong place :oops:
Too many 'projects'

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Re: Applied Precision immersion oils

#8 Post by PeteM » Sat Jun 04, 2022 4:17 pm

I'd guess that the oils are somewhat similar hydrocarbons (so they homogeneously mix) and that if any of them have a solvent effect it would be the lowest (1.5) index oil? Solvents like acetone and alcohol are much lower in index - down toward 1.3.

Perhaps you could more easily find out what cement was used in your objectives (balsam?) - and just test that. For example, if it was balsam then cement a coverslip or find an old slide cemented with balsam, let it sit for days with a drop of the low index oil at the glue line. If there's no effect, that might allay your fears?

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Re: Applied Precision immersion oils

#9 Post by microcosmos » Sun Jun 05, 2022 3:48 am

Thank you for the insights - it’s good to learn some of the principles behind the constitution of oils of varying index.

My objective is likely held together by balsam but I can’t be sure. So I think I’ll stick with cedar oil for now, going with the authentic 1920s experience.

But I’m still interested in the chemistry of the Applied Precision oils, and I like your idea of testing balsam with them.

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Re: Applied Precision immersion oils

#10 Post by apochronaut » Sun Jun 05, 2022 8:04 pm

In my experience , if your immersion oil is contacting any optical cement in your objective, you have a much bigger problem than whether the cement is soluble in the immersion oil. You have a leak.

The principle behind an oil immersion objective is that the oil should never be in contact with any cemented lenses, that is why the front element is almost universally a singlet.

When the embedded front element was invented it was superceded by attempts to make a cemented front element by the Japanese, likely attempts to get around the patent. The embedded front element has it's best function in a high N.A. objective( read immersion), so a cemented front lens turned out not to be a particularly functional idea. Not too bad for water immersion.

Cedar oil dissolves balsam in fact so do synthetic oils usually, so it really doesn't matter that much which you are using : a leak is a leak but the first cemented element will likely be the third, so far a way from the line of scrimmage.

A bigger concern might be the compatibility of the oil with the front lens housing. Various metals and alloys have been used over the years from pure rhodium to nickel , and I have encountered some pretty corroded lens surrounds. The bottom of one AO 50X oil immersion planachro was so corroded that it looked like it had been made from a chunk of the driver's side door from Bonnie and Clyde's car.

microcosmos
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Re: Applied Precision immersion oils

#11 Post by microcosmos » Sun Jun 05, 2022 9:57 pm

Thank you apochronaut for the detailed explanation. I will try to examine the objective with a microscope to see if the seal on the front lens is still intact.

I will have to check the condenser too as I was planning to oil it as well.

I guess I’ll stick with cedar oil as the front lens housing is most likely to be ok with that. Do you know what the front lens housing of my objective is made of? It looks very similar to your Zeiss c.WWI immersion objective that you showed in another thread.

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Re: Applied Precision immersion oils

#12 Post by apochronaut » Mon Jun 06, 2022 1:15 pm

I've had a look at that objective. Has a tiny serial # 9412 on the front housing lip, kind of illuminating a special status for that part..... maybe a part # for a unique housing? As with many front lens housings, it is removeable, probably a wise precaution. A dealer or even user could replace a fouled or damaged front lens and restore a damaged objective for probably 20% of the cost of a new one.
This one is on tight and I don't want to set up right now to remove it. That would determine if the front housing is plated or solid. The one I have almost looks new. Does yours show signs of plating loss?

Front lens housing metallurgy is one of those big holes in the understanding of objective development. Obviously manufacturers were aware of the potential for contamination from samples as well as chemical reagents and cleaning agents. One hundred years ago, some of those might seem pretty surprising to us. Here is a list of the possible candidates I have come across, that were used. In all cases there has been no metallurgical analysis but the type of metal is obvious.
" Those keys on that 1925 Boesendorfer look like ivory to me! ". " How could that be though? There is an international ban on the trade in Ivory. "

Brass , the most obvious. Nickel, Gold, perhaps Silver, Chromium, Vanadium Steel, Stainless Steel, perhaps Tungsten, Vanadium, Iridium, Rhodium. Of the bright silver coloured metals , Chromium plating was not in use until the early 20's and yields a bright finish that will show oxidation under wear and scratching. Nickel oxidizes. Silver will oxidize as a hardened alloy such as Sterling Silver but not as the softer pure Silver, a metal largely unsuiitable for the front of a microscope objective but I am sure it has been used. An early 20th century Voightlander oil immersion objective looks very much like the front housing is Silver on Brass. Tungsten, Iridium, Vanadium and Rhodium all passed the acid test for corrosion resistance, hardness and relatively low cost in 1910. All 4 were discovered as by-products of Copper, Tin, Lead, Silver or Gold mining but sparked little interest outside of scientific circles where their hardness, corrosion resistance, high melting temperature and shine were soon recognized. Even though most of then were available in only small quantities, those qualities and relatively low cost due to limited industrial value, made them ideal as material for the front lens housing of microscope objectives. Early microscopy labs were sometimes a horror show of chemicals and reagents, where corrosion resistance was the only defence. " Police and residents of the area said there was a peculiar pungent smell in the air and although the premises had been reduced to rubble and all occupants dissolved or vapourized, a lone intact microscope was found amongst the ruins".

Alloys such as Stainless Steel and Vanadium Steel may have been known early on but their manufacture as higly corrosion resistant alloys came later. High Vanadium Steel with it's yellow colour is possibly the material used for the front housing of many modern objectives.

The Carrock Wolfram mine was developed and became quickly profitable on the heels of the craze for electric light bulbs from it's inception in 1900. In Germany however, the value of it's most important constituent Tungsten as a hardener for steel was an even more important use. Germany purchased the Carrock mine around 1905, likely as a front for the German military and began shipping boatload after boatload of the valuable metal ore Wolfram out of Britain. By 1912, the British gov't had a head shake moment and nationalized the mine, kicking the Germans out. No doubt, Germany by the first W.W. were versed in the many uses of Tungsten outside of light bulbs.
The lightly dirty but otherwise unscathed front housing of that Zeiss objective has all the earmarks of being tungsten and quite likely solid too, although I don't know what kind of tools it would have been lathed with. I am also unsure of the possibility of plating Tungsten on Brass.
Might make a unique microscope lamp conversion.

That's my guess.

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Re: Applied Precision immersion oils

#13 Post by microcosmos » Sat Jun 11, 2022 10:38 am

ImageImage

The cap on my objective unscrewed easily. It doesn't seem to be plated as it looks similar on both sides. On the inside, the lens is shaped like a ball (I ascertained this using a 10x loupe and tilting the lens at different angles).

Although there is a serial number on the cap, there isn't any serial number anywhere else on my objective. Could it be that the serial number on the cap refers to the entire objective rather than just the cap? However, I understand your logic about making the cap replaceable.

This is the inner tip that is protected by the outer cap:

Image

I am reproducing this part of the discussion in the thread about the microscope on which this objective lives, as the topic of the current thread is more about the Applied Precision oils. But please feel free to respond in whichever thread you deem fit. Thank you very much for your insights.

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