Author Topic: Microscopes for model building?  (Read 2356 times)

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Maletrain

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Microscopes for model building?
« on: January 09, 2023, 09:35:45 AM »
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I have read on some of Petski's posts that he uses a 3D microscope for some of his intricate work.

I am wondering what to think of these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/401683595609

C855B

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Re: Microscopes for model building?
« Reply #1 on: January 09, 2023, 09:59:09 AM »
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I've had this model for several years, mostly acquired for working with 0402 LEDs. It works well enough, I suppose, although I don't use it these days. I mostly rely on an Optivisor with the 10X add-on loupe for micro work.
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wvgca

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Re: Microscopes for model building?
« Reply #2 on: January 09, 2023, 11:20:37 AM »
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my eyes are not that bad, well not yet anyways , lol

Rivet Miscounter

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Re: Microscopes for model building?
« Reply #3 on: January 09, 2023, 01:13:41 PM »
+1
my eyes are not that bad, well not yet anyways , lol

Your eyes have 30x magnification?   Badass...
Doug

Maletrain

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Re: Microscopes for model building?
« Reply #4 on: January 10, 2023, 11:31:24 AM »
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I was thinking about the microscope for soldering up some 201 LEDs and putting them into CPL signal heads.  Is that the kind of thing you are doing with your OptiVisor and 10x ?  The working distance with the OptiVisor seems awfully close to my nose with a solderng iron.  :scared:

peteski

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Re: Microscopes for model building?
« Reply #5 on: January 10, 2023, 02:32:36 PM »
+1
Maletrain,
You probably already read my hobby magnifies stories in the other threads I mentioned the microscope, but here it goes again.

When I was in my 30s I bought an Optivisor and tried to use it.  I found it awkward and it sat mostly unused.  Fast forward about 20 years and one would be hard pressed to find me at my hobby bench without my trusty Optivisor (with #7 lens plate) over the reading glasses.  That lens plate has a usable viewing distance of around 7",  and I solder while wearing the Optivisor all the time, but I never had any accidents.

As for the stereo microscope, I first encountered it at work (about 35 years ago) while soldering and troubleshooting PC boards with SMD components with many leads and tight lead spacing  (mostly looking for tiny solder bridges).  The microscope was a zoom type Nikon and the zoom feature came in very handy.  It also had a 0.5 power Barlow lens screwed under the objectives.  While that reduced magnification, it increased the working distance (which again was beneficial).  It also had a hi-intensity fiber-optic illumination of the viewing area, and that was also vital for spotting the tiny solder defects.

The company I worked for at the time was also purging some old equipment. One was an old Nikon stereo microscope.  It had fixed magnification of 20X (and also a 0.5 Barlow lens reducing its magnification to 10X).  I was able to acquire it, and found it helpful in my miniature hobby work.

As the years went I found the AmScope company. They seemed to have good quality equipment for fraction of the cost of the Nikons.  I really missed the zoom feature of the microscope I used to use at work, and (probably around 15 years ago) I happened to have some spare funds, so I bought one of the AmScope zoom units.  I also bought a ring light (which is quite important thing to have).  With the 0.5X Barlow lens the zoom range is 3.5 - 22.5X (or 7 - 45X without the Barlow lens).  I mostly use it with the Barlow lens, and find that range of magnification perfect for my needs.

Do I use the microscope often? No.  But when I need to do some very precision miniature work (like soldering leads to SMD 0201 LEDs), I find it invaluable). It makes these specific modeling tasks much easier. As I mentioned, you will mostly seem me wearing the Optivisor, but if I didn't have my stereo microscope, I would miss it.

Also, as far as headband magnifiers go, you can't beat the Optivisor.  There are plenty generic versions (some of which I have tried), but the Optivisor is worth the extra few dollars it costs.   After all, I really enjoy my hobbies - why skimp on tools?

The microscope mentioned in this thread should be helpful, for soldering SMD 0201 LEDs, but it is basic. 
« Last Edit: January 10, 2023, 02:34:52 PM by peteski »
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mark.hinds

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Re: Microscopes for model building?
« Reply #6 on: January 10, 2023, 05:06:31 PM »
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Maletrain,
You probably already read my hobby magnifies stories in the other threads I mentioned the microscope, but here it goes again.

When I was in my 30s I bought an Optivisor and tried to use it.  I found it awkward and it sat mostly unused.  Fast forward about 20 years and one would be hard pressed to find me at my hobby bench without my trusty Optivisor (with #7 lens plate) over the reading glasses.  That lens plate has a usable viewing distance of around 7",  and I solder while wearing the Optivisor all the time, but I never had any accidents.

As for the stereo microscope, I first encountered it at work (about 35 years ago) while soldering and troubleshooting PC boards with SMD components with many leads and tight lead spacing  (mostly looking for tiny solder bridges).  The microscope was a zoom type Nikon and the zoom feature came in very handy.  It also had a 0.5 power Barlow lens screwed under the objectives.  While that reduced magnification, it increased the working distance (which again was beneficial).  It also had a hi-intensity fiber-optic illumination of the viewing area, and that was also vital for spotting the tiny solder defects.

The company I worked for at the time was also purging some old equipment. One was an old Nikon stereo microscope.  It had fixed magnification of 20X (and also a 0.5 Barlow lens reducing its magnification to 10X).  I was able to acquire it, and found it helpful in my miniature hobby work.

As the years went I found the AmScope company. They seemed to have good quality equipment for fraction of the cost of the Nikons.  I really missed the zoom feature of the microscope I used to use at work, and (probably around 15 years ago) I happened to have some spare funds, so I bought one of the AmScope zoom units.  I also bought a ring light (which is quite important thing to have).  With the 0.5X Barlow lens the zoom range is 3.5 - 22.5X (or 7 - 45X without the Barlow lens).  I mostly use it with the Barlow lens, and find that range of magnification perfect for my needs.

Do I use the microscope often? No.  But when I need to do some very precision miniature work (like soldering leads to SMD 0201 LEDs), I find it invaluable). It makes these specific modeling tasks much easier. As I mentioned, you will mostly seem me wearing the Optivisor, but if I didn't have my stereo microscope, I would miss it.

Also, as far as headband magnifiers go, you can't beat the Optivisor.  There are plenty generic versions (some of which I have tried), but the Optivisor is worth the extra few dollars it costs.   After all, I really enjoy my hobbies - why skimp on tools?

The microscope mentioned in this thread should be helpful, for soldering SMD 0201 LEDs, but it is basic.

Is this what you bought?  If so, what sort of depth of field might it have under average conditions?  I am tempted.  https://amscope.com/collections/stereo-microscopes-zoom-power/products/c-sm-1bs-48w

« Last Edit: January 10, 2023, 05:13:20 PM by mark.hinds »

peteski

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Re: Microscopes for model building?
« Reply #7 on: January 10, 2023, 05:29:10 PM »
+1
Yes, it is in the same family of microscopes, but I ordered the version with a camera port (trinocular), and with a longer-reach base.  I originally had a fluorescent lamp ring light and then upgraded to the LED version.  My LED ring light was designed to focus the light at the distance without the Barlow lens.  I had to adjust (bend) the LEDs to focus farther away (since I mostly use the Barrow lens.



http://classicplastic.org/image/Pete-workshop-1.jpg

Wow!  The Amscope site is full of crappy ads.  This is closer to what I bought: https://amscope.com/products/sm-3tz-54s but back then they had combos with fewer items in them (and I bought some items later).
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mark.hinds

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Re: Microscopes for model building?
« Reply #8 on: January 10, 2023, 05:53:12 PM »
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What sort of camera would you attach to that (trinocular?) variant, and how would you attach it? 

Just curious, as I don't really need anything better than the following, taken with an old 35mm digital camera and one of my lenses.  A stereo microscope would be useful for modelmaking small stuff however; hence my questions.


peteski

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Re: Microscopes for model building?
« Reply #9 on: January 10, 2023, 06:53:03 PM »
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What sort of camera would you attach to that (trinocular?) variant, and how would you attach it? 

AmScope also sells those digital cameras which plug into the camera port on the microscope.  Those are USB devices which connect to your PC and you can view or capture the images or live video through a program you install on the PC.

As for regular cameras, a trick I use is to take the closest possible picture you can, using macro mode with maximum zoom setting, taking it at the camera's highest resolution, then crop the photo to "magnify" the image.  Basically the cropping acts like digital zoom.  That is all assuming that the cropped image will still have resolution high enough for your needs.

What scale is that airplane, and what is it used for?  And here I thought I was making some small stuff  . . .  :o
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ncbqguy

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Re: Microscopes for model building?
« Reply #10 on: January 11, 2023, 01:27:22 AM »
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Amazon has a digital microscope for $12.95.  I have one and found it to be useful for modeling purposes.  Not as good as a high end digital comparator, but for a few bucks it might meet the needs for casual modeling.
Charlie Vlk

mark.hinds

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Re: Microscopes for model building?
« Reply #11 on: January 11, 2023, 01:59:27 AM »
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(text removed)
As for regular cameras, a trick I use is to take the closest possible picture you can, using macro mode with maximum zoom setting, taking it at the camera's highest resolution, then crop the photo to "magnify" the image.  Basically the cropping acts like digital zoom.  That is all assuming that the cropped image will still have resolution high enough for your needs.

That's basically what I did with the image in question. 

What scale is that airplane, and what is it used for?  And here I thought I was making some small stuff  . . .  :o
See the first 3 and the second-to-last posts in this thread:  http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=534204
« Last Edit: January 11, 2023, 02:03:35 AM by mark.hinds »

MK

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Re: Microscopes for model building?
« Reply #12 on: January 11, 2023, 08:45:41 AM »
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Amazon has a digital microscope for $12.95.  I have one and found it to be useful for modeling purposes.  Not as good as a high end digital comparator, but for a few bucks it might meet the needs for casual modeling.
Charlie Vlk

$12.95?  Do you have a link?

wvgca

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Re: Microscopes for model building?
« Reply #13 on: January 11, 2023, 09:06:08 AM »
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Your eyes have 30x magnification?   Badass...

well, no .. but small SMD LEDs are still doable with my eyes [glasses off] ... for REALLY small stuff i do have an optivisor, or a camera / microscope combination that i can use [USB or battery powered]  .. plus i normally deal with HO scale stuff which is a bit larger than N scale ..


peteski

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Re: Microscopes for model building?
« Reply #14 on: January 11, 2023, 10:59:17 AM »
+2
Amazon has a digital microscope for $12.95.  I have one and found it to be useful for modeling purposes.  Not as good as a high end digital comparator, but for a few bucks it might meet the needs for casual modeling.
Charlie Vlk

Sure, for $12.95 you are viewing a flat 2D image on a small screen.  The big difference is a the "stereo" part. Being able to see depth makes a huge difference.  Also looking through the eyepieces instead of viewing an LCD screen at some distance makes a difference too.

Remember, I'm not just using it as a magnifier examining some  model to count rivets. While working with a microscope I have both of my hands available for the tasks at hand. I can't be holding a smart phone and only work with one hand.
« Last Edit: January 11, 2023, 11:01:23 AM by peteski »
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