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First microscope

vivat
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vivat WRT Addict

vivat

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Hello everyone, my boss wants a microscope in our service. Would be great if you recommend something good around 9k dollars or less with light under the platform where the object is laying and may be with an option of output to the screen.

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dadistic Distinguished Member

dadistic

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You have a nice budget, which  is helpful.  It means that you can go with one of the better manufacturers like Nikon, and won't be limited to medium or low quality Chinese kit.

Rather than a specific scope, I'll recommend  a class of scopes and some ideas so that you meet your requirements. 

First, the microscope head itself. This would be a Trinocular stereo scope, stereo eyepieces and a separate port for mounting a camera. It should be simul-focus, which means that focus for the eyepieces and the camera change together. You can choose camera type and resolution, and then connect the output to a screen size of your choosing, and most have the ability to record to built in card, or can be connected to a computer. 

Then, you need to decide on what kind of stand/mount you want. I would highly recommend a boom stand, a dual boom stand can be very sturdy and stable, and allows great flexibility in positioning the head and moving it out of the way when needed. This is the setup most often used in "inspection" microscopes, ones that are used in manufacturing, and are common in the electronics manufacturing and repair industries.  This is a much larger market than watchmaking, but since the requirements are much the same, we get the benefit of all that development. 

Don't be tempted to buy the stand that is sold for use in a scope meant for biological use, that has the built in light for backlighting a specimen slide. Unless you are very space constrained, this will limit the flexibility of the scope. In other words, you won't be able to set it up over your lathe. A better solution is to either build or buy a "light table", and set your parts on that when you want them illuminated from underneath.  

As far as magnification, common basic zoom head will be approx. 1x - 5x, Using 10X eyepieces makes it 10X - 50X,  if that's too much you can add what's called a "barlow" lens, which are available in different strengths. I use a 0.5 for most of my work, which on my scope gives me a magnification range of 3.5X to 22.5X, which to me is the sweet spot for disassembly/assembly. 

Lighting is also very important. I use a ring light, which is attached to the nose of the scope, but there are also more powerful lights that are on "goosenecks" that allow you to position the lights to best effect. It seems to me that more light is almost always better, but then again I have old eyes 🙂

Good luck with your search!

 

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dadistic Distinguished Member

dadistic

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They are mostly used by artists, my wife has ours and I can't find it, or I'd take a picture.  Ours is old, modern ones are better but I can't recommend specific one. 

Here's a link to one on US Amazon, should give you an idea of what I'm talking about. 

https://www.amazon.com/Lightmaster-Diagonal-Lightbox-Super-Bright-Ultra-Thin/dp/B00NRE2G6M/ref=sr_1_33?keywords=light+table&qid=1692564673&sr=8-33&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0

 

 

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