Microscope upgrades

[hadrosauridae]

I finally broke down and bought a new thing for my prep lab. The boom arm on my microscope is nice, but lacked a little in reach. I've been looking at articulated arms for quite a while, and even designed one that wouldn't have been too hard to make. But the more I thought and analyzed, I worried that the joints wouldnt have the tension to hold up a scope head, while having the flexibility to still be moved around as needed. 

 

So I finally broke down and bought one. If you look for one, you find this exact model under dozens of names, with dozens of different prices.  This came from the great auction site.  I tried researching but couldn't really find any negative reviews. I did find university prep lab photos with same model being used, so I felt that is a good enough "recommendation". 

Now I just need to get my new prep table built so I can start working again 

 

 

 

it has a span of 40 inches so it should be plenty for my table. I chose the clamp mount, although i dont know if it will work with my table plans. I have found a bolt on mount that fits this, but that one piece is half the cost of this entire arm assembly, so ill probably try to make the clamp work and see how i like it.

 

Edited August 26 by hadrosauridae

[jpc]

nice addition..

 

[oilshale]

I have that thing too, but it honestly drove me crazy. The microscope swings back and forth and up and down at the slightest touch. This is particularly annoying when working at high magnification. I then built myself a microscope stand:

 

It is much more stable than the purchased part and does not vibrate as much. But it has two disadvantages
- The bars are 80 cm long, so I need a bit of room and can't set it up against a wall.
- The height adjustment is a bit awkward, but I can compensate for most of it with the height adjustment of the microscope.
.

Edited August 28 by oilshale

[hadrosauridae]

Thanks.  I may end up hating this and finding another solution.  Sadly, there is very, very little in the way of reviews for microscope arms.  But since I have it, I'll give a go.

[oilshale]

I still use the articulated arm for my sandblaster. The blasting chamber is against the wall - so I can't use my double-arm boom stand. And apart from that, I've simply got into the habit of working with my right hand and stabilizing the microscope with my left hand.

 

Edited August 28 by oilshale

[jpc]

oilshale.. can you set the microscope down onto the glass of your sandblasting box to stabilize it?  

[hadrosauridae]

3 hours ago, oilshale said:

I still use the articulated arm for my sandblaster. The blasting chamber is against the wall - so I can't use my double-arm boom stand. And apart from that, I've simply got into the habit of working with my right hand and stabilizing the microscope with my left hand.

 

 

 

My workspace has the same problem.  My table has to be against the wall, and the size of your boom-arm wouldnt work.  

[oilshale]

15 hours ago, jpc said:

oilshale.. can you set the microscope down onto the glass of your sandblasting box to stabilize it?  

That would be a possibility. I would then have to hold the fossil in my hand and move it to focus the microscope. Unfortunately, I often have large and heavy slabs.

[Ptychodus04]

I found the boom on the wall or boom on the table to be fury inducing. It was always shaking as I worked from minor bumps to the table or from the AC compressor turning on. I also found the reach and location to always be somewhat ineffective. So... I put on my fabricator's hat and built a mobile stand. I used a roughly 36" piece of 2" steel pipe threaded into a pipe flange on each end. The bottom is bolted to an 18"x24" steel plate that has casters and the other end has a 2x4 lag screwed to it to provide a clamping location (the desk clamp does not close enough to clamp onto a steel plate. The hardest part was threading the flanges on tight enough to keep the contraption from moving on the vertical plane. Pipe wrenches with cheater bars took care of this (I hope I never have to take this apart).

 

Great plan right? Nope. I didn't account for the tangent arm force. The microscope head is at the end of a roughly 6' tangent. It was horribly unstable. This was easily solved. I simply set 150 pounds of lead plates (it pays to have hundreds of pounds of lead for making black powder rifle balls in your garage) on the base. It's rock solid now!!

[jpc]

38 minutes ago, Ptychodus04 said:

I found the boom on the wall or boom on the table to be fury inducing. It was always shaking as I worked from minor bumps to the table or from the AC compressor turning on. I also found the reach and location to always be somewhat ineffective. So... I put on my fabricator's hat and built a mobile stand. I used a roughly 36" piece of 2" steel pipe threaded into a pipe flange on each end. The bottom is bolted to an 18"x24" steel plate that has casters and the other end has a 2x4 lag screwed to it to provide a clamping location (the desk clamp does not close enough to clamp onto a steel plate. The hardest part was threading the flanges on tight enough to keep the contraption from moving on the vertical plane. Pipe wrenches with cheater bars took care of this (I hope I never have to take this apart).

 

Great plan right? Nope. I didn't account for the tangent arm force. The microscope head is at the end of a roughly 6' tangent. It was horribly unstable. This was easily solved. I simply set 150 pounds of lead plates (it pays to have hundreds of pounds of lead for making black powder rifle balls in your garage) on the base. It's rock solid now!!

who needs lead when you have a garage full of rocks?

 

Can we see a photo of this cool set up? 

 

 

[Ptychodus04]

52 minutes ago, jpc said:

who needs lead when you have a garage full of rocks?

 

Can we see a photo of this cool set up? 

 

 

 

Lead is far more efficient. Plus, it gives me something soft to chew on as I work. 

 

I'll take a pic the next time I'm in the lab.

[hadrosauridae]

1 hour ago, Ptychodus04 said:

I found the boom on the wall or boom on the table to be fury inducing. ....

 

You're not inducing feelings of happiness here. 

[Ptychodus04]

10 minutes ago, hadrosauridae said:

 

You're not inducing feelings of happiness here. 

 

That's not one of the services offered. 

[Ptychodus04]

Ignore the mess, my maid is on vacation. Microscope stand in all its functional glory.