Frankenscope
Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2024 8:33 pm
I'm jealous of you guys with your fancy scanning electron microscopes. I have neither the budget nor the space for such contraptions, so I've tried to be content with my $40 Amazon USB scope.
A couple weeks ago, I spotted a binocular microscope that my buddy had. He handed it to me and said it was now mine. And then to sweeten the deal, he handed me a light source and another microscope frame that was missing an eyepiece. I had no idea where to get an eyepiece or what I would do with all this stuff.
This afternoon I was sitting at my desk, and it occurred to me that my $40 USB scope could be made to fit the microscope frame. It would be a bit clunky for what I want to do, but it would be much steadier than it was. So I slapped it together and tried it out. As you can see in the first picture, it came out pretty good. It's much easier to get a good image now.
After that first success, I went down to the garage to play with the binocular scope. The left and right sides are misaligned, and I don't know what to do about it. But it works ok if I close one eye and pretend it's a monocular scope. Low magnification is ok, but the higher magnifications are hampered by dust and dirt. I need to clean this baby up. It might not be super useful in getting my knives sharper, but it will be a fun toy nevertheless. Attached is a quick shot of the knife that was in my pocket. With a little effort, I should be able to get better images.
A couple weeks ago, I spotted a binocular microscope that my buddy had. He handed it to me and said it was now mine. And then to sweeten the deal, he handed me a light source and another microscope frame that was missing an eyepiece. I had no idea where to get an eyepiece or what I would do with all this stuff.
This afternoon I was sitting at my desk, and it occurred to me that my $40 USB scope could be made to fit the microscope frame. It would be a bit clunky for what I want to do, but it would be much steadier than it was. So I slapped it together and tried it out. As you can see in the first picture, it came out pretty good. It's much easier to get a good image now.
After that first success, I went down to the garage to play with the binocular scope. The left and right sides are misaligned, and I don't know what to do about it. But it works ok if I close one eye and pretend it's a monocular scope. Low magnification is ok, but the higher magnifications are hampered by dust and dirt. I need to clean this baby up. It might not be super useful in getting my knives sharper, but it will be a fun toy nevertheless. Attached is a quick shot of the knife that was in my pocket. With a little effort, I should be able to get better images.
