Anyone ever use an Mantis viewer?

[Aaron Nelson]

Has anyone every heard of or used a Mantis viewer for engraving? it seems to be some kind of mircrocope, but without the eyepieces. It's on page 253 of my gesswein catalogue. This would be my first real purchase of something better than my optivisor, for close up working.

 

[Glenn]

I have used a Mantis for several years on limited time intervals. (Part time engraver). This scope has both advantages and disadvantages. It has a wonderful viewing screen. You can even wear your glasses. You also look straight ahead so your neck muscles don't get crampy. The disadvantage is you loose the three dimensional look. I also have a Meiji stereo zoom which I really like and I use it more.

 

[Aaron Nelson]

Thanks for the advice Glenn. I do wear glasses, and am wondering which of these I should purchase. I was particularly curious about the clearance underneath the viewer, and if it was enough to engrave under comfortably. It looks, from the pictures, like the microscopes may be more bulky a contraption, but have a better work area underneath. I was looking at the 'compact' model, which also only goes to 6x magnification. Any thoughts?

 

[jimzim75]

Hi,
When I was looking into getting a scope. I went on my first class at GRS.
I used the Meiji and really liked it. I asked about the Mantis and was told of it's draw backs.
I bought a Meiji. I wanted to buy a second scope for a engraving only bench. I went to
Armstrong Tool & Supply in Michigan. They sell GRS equipment. For some reason they had
a sale on a acrobat and scope for $1200.00 So I order one, to find out the scope was
from Otto Frie. This scope is almost identical to Meiji I bought. I saved $500.00
You can look up Armstrong on Google.

 

[rhenrichs]

A jeweler friend of mine loaned me a Mantis Microscope. The Mantis is wonderful to look into but it is not a stereo microscope and therefore it has no depth perception which makes it lousy for engraving. The manufacturer calls it a inspection microscope and that is just what it is. There are many more short comings with the Mantis that makes it a poor choice for engraving. There are many good microscopes out there that are cheaper than a new Mantis and work far better for engraving. My freind didn't want the Mantis back very bad so I mounted it on my light table and use it for pattern making where it works very good.

Roger Henrichs

 

[Glenn]

Aaron, I think there are over all better choices for a microscope than the Mantis. As I said, I have a Meiji which I bought on ebay for $375.00. I then bought a .5 objective lens for $100.00. To me this is the prefered setup. There are many postings on this forum which discuss microscopes. You might want to review these before spending the bucks. My 2 cents.

 

[Swede]

I've also heard that the drawbacks to the Mantis for engraving are serious. It's an intriguing setup, but the need for a true 3D depth perception is great, and you'll lose it with the Mantis.

I'm yet another eBay Meiji buyer. Mine was $400 with the stand. It's a great scope. I also recently bought some high-quality 2.5X dental loupes, and while I can see the great potential there with them, they are going to take some getting used to, just like a scope. But I find myself liking and using my Meiji more than anything else.

Read the turntable threads. My engraving improved 100% (I am a beginner) when I FINALLY set up a vise on a turntable. With the scope over the exact center of the turntable, anything you see is in the center of rotation. Trying to use the vise's native rotation with a scope is an exercise in total frustration.

The other thing that took a lot of "getting used to" is depth of cut. It looks like you're carving the grand canyon under a scope, yet when you look at the work without it, often the cuts are too light. But for fine shading - wow, cannot imagine not using a scope.

 

[monk]

aaron: a few months ago i bought a "sciencescope" brand stereo zoomer with the .5 aux lens. i never heard of this brand before, but it has worked very well for me-- no problems at all. cost $500.00 on e-bay with the xtra lens. when you bid on a scope, try to bid or buy only on one that includes the .5 lens. it allows a much greater working distance ( space to get your hands into ). you will love working with a scope !