Question: Looking for a simple DIY microscope stage design with parallel plates

warren is asking a question about microscopes
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by warren | March 12, 2018 19:04 | #15926


600px-LifePatchMicroscope2.jpg

I came across this design via @partsandcrafts recommendation -- on this Hackteria page: https://hackteria.org/wiki/Laser-cut_microscopy_stages#LifePatch_DIY_WebCam_Microscope_Stage

@partsandcrafts noted that this could solve some focus issues with the current Basic Microscope Kit stage as well. I like that it may not require laser cutting!

Is anyone interested in giving one of these a go, ordering bolts and springs, and trying it out?


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It really seems to be really nice and simple, with two plates that could be identical, and even cut by hand out of wood. Plus these parts:

  • 3 bolts
  • 6 nuts
  • 3 springs

What's nice is that after Parts & Crafts' great work on breaking this into parts, we can keep the rest of the microscope pretty much the same, and iterate on this one part.

Although we may need to do some sourcing of these, say, on http://McMaster.com

450px-LifePatchMicroscope3.jpg

Here are some of the links I'm searching through -- there have been quite a few iterations!

https://hackteria.org/wiki/Laser-cut_microscopy_stages#LifePatch_DIY_WebCam_Microscope_Stage

https://diybiosingapore.wordpress.com/2014/06/22/diy-webcam-microscope-sg-style-2/

http://naaf.web.id/2013/11/25/diy-do-it-yourself-webcam-microscope/

Screenshot_2018-03-12_at_2.04.06_PM.png



3 Comments

hi, @dusjagr!! Still digging through all the great work on Hackteria -- have you used this design with a Raspberry Pi?

@partsandcrafts @bmela @kgradow1 @wmacfarl -- as we discussed a bit! :-)

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Also, I'd really like to give this a try as a more contained way to mount the lens -- although surely with some potential rigidity issues too...

IMG_20180312_163100.jpg

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We've ended up trying a webcam as an easier starting point, later upgradable to Raspberry Pi camera. It's working really well! And these laser-cuttable plates work super well:

https://publiclab.org/notes/warren/04-18-2018/hand-cut-or-lasercut-a-simple-diy-microscope-stage

stage

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