Stereo Prep Microscopes and Boom Stands

[Fossil Fen]

Hello Forum!

 

I've been doing some reading on the forum about microscopes and I'd like to say thanks for the information provided, I've learned a lot about stereo microscopes and some of the things to look for. There seems to be a lot of used labratory equipment on certain online auction sites but my question is this; has anyone purchased, sight unseen, a used microscope and how was the experience? Are there specific things I should be looking for to ensure it's in good working order, or are stereo microscopes the type of product that potentially has lots of issues and is not worth taking the chance? Also when it comes to boom stands, are there any you'd highly recommended, because most scopes either have no stand or a traditional one.

 

At this point, I could purchase a brand new entry level scope, or a slightly older Nikon or Olympus. Any thoughts you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

 

Cheers,

Ryan

[Ptychodus04]

I’ve never bought a used microscope but have poked my eye through a few and all were great pieces of equipment. Mostly, I think it would be hard to damage one unless it was very poorly treated and that should be obvious from photos.

 

I’m currently using a cheap microscope from Amscope. They are hit or miss on quality but I apparently got a good one. Focuses well and I can prep for 10 hours without feeling eye strain. I caught it on sale for around $200 and added a wall mounted boom arm for another $200 that gives me 48” of reach. This is priceless for working on larger specimens as moving around a microscope on a base with a short arm can be very tedious.

 

Lighting is as important as the microscope. I have 4 16” led strip lights illuminating my prep cabinet and 2 4” strips mounted to the microscope itself. That is just enough to give me enough light to easily see what I’m working on, also helping to reduce eye strain.

[jpc]

I have bought a few American Optical microscopes.  We had one at work whose focus threads were trashed so it could not focus.  I bought one online and it had the same problem.  The second one I bought was a much better product with excellent focusing gears.  I think that by buying two of them, I still saved money comapred to a new scope.  And I really like the AO microscopes (Model 569 is the one useful to us).  Boom stands are much more difficult to come across.  For this reason we ended up buying a new AmScope at work.  So, in the end we did not really save money but we now have a spare microscope.    

 

For fun I just looked around on the interwebs... this one looks like a good deal.  

https://midwestmicroscopeboneyard.com/collections/american-optical-company/products/american-optical-ao-stereozoom-10-5-45x-model-569-microscope-on-boomstand

 

PS, the Barlow Lens is also tough to find, but with some patience one will show up. 

Edited November 16, 2021 by jpc

[Ptychodus04]

3 hours ago, jpc said:

PS, the Barlow Lens is also tough to find, but with some patience one will show up. 

 

I got lucky on the barlow issue. My scope has an 8" working distance without a barlow. I have a height adjustable workbench that allows me to compensate for extremely thick or thin specimens/slabs. The only downfall is the lack of zoom and a fixed ocular head so there's no ability to adjust the angle of the eyepieces. Minor inconveniences and definitely 1st world problems.

[Fossil Fen]

12 hours ago, jpc said:

I have bought a few American Optical microscopes.  We had one at work whose focus threads were trashed so it could not focus.  I bought one online and it had the same problem.  The second one I bought was a much better product with excellent focusing gears.  I think that by buying two of them, I still saved money comapred to a new scope.  And I really like the AO microscopes (Model 569 is the one useful to us).  Boom stands are much more difficult to come across.  For this reason we ended up buying a new AmScope at work.  So, in the end we did not really save money but we now have a spare microscope.    

 

For fun I just looked around on the interwebs... this one looks like a good deal.  

https://midwestmicroscopeboneyard.com/collections/american-optical-company/products/american-optical-ao-stereozoom-10-5-45x-model-569-microscope-on-boomstand

 

PS, the Barlow Lens is also tough to find, but with some patience one will show up. 

Thanks for the reply Kris, and JPC!! Being in Canada, the link above would cost me over $200 to ship, which isn't surprising given the weight of the boom. Which AMScope did you end up buying? There are a number of boom options out there that would be a little easier to buy and have arrive before the end of the year. I know it is an entry scope, but I'm an entry-level prepper so it would probably do the trick!

 

Cheers.

Ryan

[Ptychodus04]

5 hours ago, Fossil Fen said:

Thanks for the reply Kris, and JPC!! Being in Canada, the link above would cost me over $200 to ship, which isn't surprising given the weight of the boom. Which AMScope did you end up buying? There are a number of boom options out there that would be a little easier to buy and have arrive before the end of the year. I know it is an entry scope, but I'm an entry-level prepper so it would probably do the trick!

 

Cheers.

Ryan

https://amscope.com/collections/stereo-microscopes-boom-stands/products/se400x

 

This is close to the the one I have. They’ve changed a bit since I received mine and expanded their line. Currently on sale. The light is worthless but the working distance is great. There are other offerings that have gooseneck lights incorporated into the base.

https://amscope.com/products/asc-nf

 

This is the boom I use. I mounted a steel angle on the wall to mount the boom. This eliminates any shake from bumping the table. With the arm on the table, movements are exponentially worse as a bump moves the table and microscope at the same time. It did require some machining to get the microscope mounting post to fit the hole in the arm (hole is smaller). This only took about 30 minutes and a bit of patience on the belt grinder.

[jpc]

Here is a photo of the one we got at work...

 

 

 

The same thing is available without the camera attachment.   This one came with two Barlow Lenses.  The .5x seen mounted to the bottom of the microscope here gives you a much deeper working area; it allows you to focus from 8 inches or so away as opposed only three inches away.   In my opinion, this is very important for microscope prep.  

Edited November 17, 2021 by jpc

[hadrosauridae]

I"ve been researching boom microscopes this year, trying to nail down exactly what I need, and hoping a good used one will come up for sale. 

 

I hope you dont mind me asking a Q here... Is it possible to replace one of the boom arms with a length of aluminum billet rod?  I'd like to be able to extend the reach from the base plate, but I cant tell if there is anything special about the arms that would make this unworkable.

[jpc]

one issue is weight.  The longer the arm, the more likely the base will not hold it.  The arm on AmScope we have here is about as long as it can get without tipping over (I am guessing this just by feeling the balance when I pick it up).  On the other hand, for my scope at home I had a longer arm made at the local machine shop.  It was pretty straightforward and did not cost much.  To avoid tipping over, I have screwed the base to the work table.  Works great as both the base and the table are wood.  You could probably attach some sort of clamps or even drill some screw holes into a metal base (check out the machine shop maybe for that part). 

[Ptychodus04]

@hadrosauridae Stick a hunk of lead on the base plate with double sided tape and balance problems go away. Then, you can extend the boom as much as you want. Just keep adding lead until it is stable. Of course, with the price of metals these days, it might be cheaper to buy a purpose built articulating boom.

 

If you live near a tire shop, you might be able to talk them into giving you a bucket of old tire weights. Melt them down and cast a block that's the size you need. Or, you can drive down to Dallas and I'll hook you up with some of the bulk lead I use for casting bullets for my black powder rifles. I have 3 plates that I just procured that are round 50 pounds each!

[jpc]

8 minutes ago, Ptychodus04 said:

@hadrosauridae Stick a hunk of lead on the base plate with double sided tape and balance problems go away. Then, you can extend the boom as much as you want. Just keep adding lead until it is stable. Of course, with the price of metals these days, it might be cheaper to buy a purpose built articulating boom.

 

If you live near a tire shop, you might be able to talk them into giving you a bucket of old tire weights. Melt them down and cast a block that's the size you need. Or, you can drive down to Dallas and I'll hook you up with some of the bulk lead I use for casting bullets for my black powder rifles. I have 3 plates that I just procured that are round 50 pounds each!

or an eight inch piece of railroad track will do.   : )

I worked for a mechanic in Laramie, Wyoming and he had a 12 inch piece laying about.  It was all I could do to pretend to pick it up (probably 150 pounds... 70 kilos).  Where he got a hunk of RR track is beyond me, but Laramie did have some RR maintenance folks hanging about the rail yards.

[Ptychodus04]

15 hours ago, jpc said:

or an eight inch piece of railroad track will do.   : )

I worked for a mechanic in Laramie, Wyoming and he had a 12 inch piece laying about.  It was all I could do to pretend to pick it up (probably 150 pounds... 70 kilos).  Where he got a hunk of RR track is beyond me, but Laramie did have some RR maintenance folks hanging about the rail yards.

That would do the trick for sure! I have a couple pieces of it lying around the forge. I found 2 10’ pieces on a commercial property that had an old rail line servicing it. I had to use a fork lift to put them in the truck ant they were far more weight than I should have put in the truck! It took hours with a cutting torch to get them into useable sized pieces. They make great anvils. My plan was to make a large anvil with two pieces cut so the track portions were parallel and touching with a 3/4” piece of high carbon steel on top. I ultimately wound up giving it all away to fellow metalworkers bc it was too much to handle!