Microscope tilt question

[kd8tzc]

1 hour ago, Endeavor said:

and an insult to kd8tzc own brain capacity.

No insult taken.

[Waggy]

58 minutes ago, kd8tzc said:

No insult taken.

Thanks, just trying to be helpful, pleased that you took it in the way it was intended.

[HectorLooi]

I found this video that might answer some questions.

[HectorLooi]

Aliexpress has some microscope stands that are quite affordable too.

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mrFgKLw

 

[Waggy]

52 minutes ago, HectorLooi said:

Aliexpress has some microscope stands that are quite affordable too.

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mrFgKLw

 

These look good and very reasonable price, nice find! 

[Endeavor]

4 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

I found this video that might answer some questions.

Thanks for the video 

As for the mounting of the microscope bracket onto the monitor arm, I had some other (in my mind more simple) idea's, but I'm not sure if that will work until I see the arm and mounting in reality.

We will find out if/how this setup is going work and what the pro's & con's are.....  another exciting endeavor

Edited May 16, 2023 by Endeavor

[Endeavor]

For the people interested, I like follow up and conclude my monitor-arm experiment.

The new gas-spring monitor arm (Atumtec ATMS032) was purchased of eBay for the grand sum of €47.50, including shipping.

The back of the Vesa plate had a plastic bracket which allows the screen to be uncoupled from the monitor arm. Instead of following the idea in the video given earlier in this thread, I saw opportunities with this plastic bracket.

That plastic bracket (with two M6 holes) fitted nicely to the back of the microscope bracket. The microscope bracket had already one M8 hole in it, so it required drilling one more hole and to cut M6 thread in it. The other hole in the plastic bracket was enlarged to allow a M8.

 

To make sure that  the plastic bracket wouldn't crack, due to its hollow inside, washers were used to fill the gap.

This all worked according to plan;

Combined a nice tight fit with the monitor arm;

Installed the monitor-stand to the table, electricity for the ring light, mounted the microscope and adjusted the gas-spring tension.

With the monitor-stand positioned roughly in the middle of my work-desk, a large area can be covered, and the microscope can be swung out of the way when not needed.

Now the big question: Does it work !?

For me, YES it does !!

Is the arm rock-solid? No, the arm is not rock solid.

But with the 0.5x Barlow lens it works quite well. Much better than I had anticipated. When adjusting the height of the microscope with the big knob or adjusting the magnification, yes the arm "wobbles" a bit, but one can still see clear and adjust clear. Having no reference to an expensive microscope arm, I doubt whether my setup "wobbles" a whole lot more than such an arm. I would love to hear from people, who have such an expensive arm, whether these are rock solid when adjusting the knobs?

Once you've adjusted the height and magnification, the monitor arm comes quickly to a rest and the view is crystal clear. The picture will start to shake if you bang the desk with a hammer, but by which arm it wouldn't?

If I need the microscope on its "original" base, all I need to do it to uncouple the microscope from the monitor-arm, remove the plastic bracket (2x screws) and it's ready to be installed on the original base. The only alteration done to the original setup was adding one M6 hole.

Perhaps the official arms are better (?), but you have to grab much deeper into your pocket. For me, I don't see any reason for purchasing anything else, as it works very well.

Off to my next Endeavor

 

 

 

Edited May 25, 2023 by Endeavor

[Malocchio]

I have the Amscope double arm boom stand and it's really, really heavy and doesn't move at all while turning the knobs.

[dadistic]

Great solution fo you.  Best of both worlds. My double arm boom stand is rock solid, but I don't have to move it very often.  Moving the stand is a great way to do weight training exercise

[kd8tzc]

I have the single boom stand, and it swings out of the way when not being used.  This is an interesting concept.  I forget how much the stock Amscope stand was, but I'm sure this solution is significantly less.  Being that you should not be putting your forehead on the eye pieces, being rock steady I don't thing is a huge problem. 

The arm on mine is rock solid, but you are correct, if you pound your fist on the desk, it will cause it to shake.  It does not change the altitude over the piece... that would be the only thing that might concern me with the arm setup you have.  Do you find that you need to adjust it say 24 hours later due to it going lower?  I wouldn't think so as the head of the microscope is not all that heavy (all the weight is in the base and arm).

The one thing I didn't see in your write-up, and maybe I missed it, is can you adjust the head tilt?  Meaning, can you tilt it toward you so the lens is looking more towards the middle to back of your work area?  The only way I can do that with mine is to put the base off to the side, but then the main arm tends to slip and rotate in the joint.  I'm sure if I got a set of channel locks out and really cranked it down I could get it to stop doing that, but that is the biggest frustration for me.  Currently I don't have it set on the side and have it just straing ahead like you have yours.  I now just tilt whatever I am working on a little when I need to use a screwdriver and the problem is solved.

[Endeavor]

2 hours ago, kd8tzc said:

The one thing I didn't see in your write-up, and maybe I missed it, is can you adjust the head tilt? 

Yes, indeed I haven't mention that. Yes, I can tilt the head, I think down to -85 degrees, which is of course in our case of no use

Here a nice video showing the "flexibility" of the arm: https://www.amazon.com/live/video/d17e121bd6544d3799d344e472b2682e?ref_=asvh_vdp

Initially I tilted to @HectorLooi's approx 20 degrees, but I perceived that as a bit too much. Currently it's set to about 10 degrees at the most.

I also like to mention, at least with the arm I have, that the arm doesn't sink down or moves up on its own. In fact it needs a certain "force' to be pulled down or to be pushed up. The microscope and bracket weights 2.7kg and the trick is to get a monitor-arm which isn't too strong or too weak.

Today I had another trial, and if the official stands are rock-solid, than this one isn't. That's to say, with the 0.5x Barlow lens, the maximum magnification is 22x and even with that magnification, the movement in the arm, while adjusting for example the focus, is still very acceptable. One can operate the knobs without losing focus. Once you let go of the knobs, the arm comes quickly to a rest and the picture is nice and clear. The movement in the arm becomes a total non-issue with reduced magnifications.

I could imagine, without the 0.5x Barlow lens and with a 45x magnification, things may become less acceptable. For in that case I have the original stand with base. The only reason for me to have this arm as an additional stand, is to be able to work with the 0.5x Barlow lens and for that, this monitor-arm is very workable.

 

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by Endeavor

[kd8tzc]

It's a nice setup you have... certainly takes up far less real estate than the base with an arm.  Granted, I could always get the other Amscope mount (articulating arm) but that would cost quite a bit more than this and I don't know if you would be able to tilt the head.