'scope questions

[lost okie]

Getting a handle on sharpening, maybe. My drawing skills rival those of a marsupial.
Picked up an Olympus sz-4045 and stand yesterday. Everything seems to work on it as it should; but I have a couple of questions before I start sawing up my drill press for a table.
1. The ring light on it was incomplete. Basically a fiber optic ring and cable minus the illuminator. The cable transmits.
Do I need to find another illuminator? and where? Or just get another light system?
2. The scope has a working distance now of 110 mm. What ocular do I need to get it farther up?
3. I can't seem to keep my eyes aligned with the eye pieces. Will a headrest help that? Should my eyes be touching the lenses?
Sorry for twenty questions and thanks in advance.
Mike

 

[GTJC460]

Did you check the bulb? I have a fiber optic light that needs a new bulb. I'm not worried about it as it takes up way to much space on my bench. I will sell it to you if you want it cheap.

Probably a .5 or .67 Barlow lens would give you necessary working distance.

No your eyes should not touch the eyepieces. If the eyepieces have rubber cups around them, those are to protect your eyeglasses from getting scratched. Basically your eyeballs should be about 1" away from the scope. Make sure you adjust the width of the eyepieces to match the distance between your pupils. This means so you see one clear image.

 

[lost okie]

Thanks Bert;
It has the ring and optic line cable. All the rest is missing. What can you expect from microscopes from a scrap yard? Will look for a lens. Start on fabricating headrest.
thanks
Mike

 

[Sam]

I've been using a microscope for engraving since 1982 and have never used a headrest. Nothing at all wrong with them, but they are not a necessity.

 

[monk]

the .5 objective doubles your working distance by 2x. also cuts the power by half. this level is ok for all but the most demanding applications. if xtra optical power is needed, you can use 12 or 15x occulars. these will increase the magnification but without changing the working distance.

 

[lost okie]

It has 10x occulars but even at its lowest zoom it seems hugely magnified. I think the .5 will work fine. It needs much more light than I had supposed.
Sam; I had read that you did not use a headrest. I must have wobble head syndrome; I can not look but for a few seconds before I lose my " spot". It seems very critical of eye position.

 

[Sam]

Sam; I had read that you did not use a headrest. I must have wobble head syndrome; I can not look but for a few seconds before I lose my " spot". It seems very critical of eye position.

It's not just you. Everyone experiences this when first starting with a scope. It's easily overcome after a few hours use, but the headrest does help I think. I don't have headrests on my student scope at home and it presents no problem.

 

[Donny]

It has 10x occulars but even at its lowest zoom it seems hugely magnified. I think the .5 will work fine. It needs much more light than I had supposed.
Sam; I had read that you did not use a headrest. I must have wobble head syndrome; I can not look but for a few seconds before I lose my " spot". It seems very critical of eye position.

Are you standing and looking through your scope or sitting down? If standing then you will not be steady...if sitting are you in a very comfortable position? If you are craning your neck or bent over too much you will have a lot of movement thats why so many buy a very sturdy boom. no movement. Then, as Sam said, you will get used to looking in and each time you will get more and more used to it. Then inturn you will be able to sit and cut for hours on end

Donny

 

[Marcus Hunt]

I must admit I've always used a headrest until now. To a certain extent it enables you to have a certain amount of sideways steerage. However, I just got a Leica A60F that doesn't have a headrest and it has taken a bit of getting used to. Not only does the objective give much more working distance which means the work is lower and so my shoulders are far more relaxed but the 38º viewing angle is more natural so I find I don't really need the headrest as much. But this also means I've had to get used to not getting as close to eyepieces as with the Meiji.

Personally, I still think the Meiji is a great scope especially if you are primarily engraving flat work or things such as knife bolsters but for the gun engraver the extra depth of field and field of view that the Leica gives is fantastic. However, I don't feel entirely convinced by the Leica's plastic body. Although the optics are fantastic (the best I've ever seen or used) I really get the feeling it's been built down to a price. Obviously, with precision optics you need to treat them with respect no matter what they are constructed from so what the body is made of should not make a difference but (in my opinion) the Meiji just feels so much more substantial than the Leica. Others might disagree on this point. But overall I am really pleased with the Leica's optics and the led lighting is nothing short of amazing.

 

[Sam]

Marcus: my Zeiss Stemi 2000 series scopes also have plastic bodies, and I believe the lighter weight is an advantage when using them on an articulating arm type stand. Leica and Zeiss certainly know what they're doing and I think there's more to it than cutting corners to make them cheaper.

You are right that the Meiji is a very substantial scope.

Keep us posted on your new Leica.

 

[Marcus Hunt]

I'm sure they do Sam. It's just a perception thing that's all. It's like modern cars, they're safer than they've ever been but the bodywork often feels less substantial than the cars of 30 years ago. But although made of lighter material the modern car often lasts longer than the old ones did. I hope the new scope does as well as a new car does

 

[mitch]

Marcus, your comment reminds me of the scene in "Jurassic Park" when they're in the jeep and the boy finds a pair of night vision binoculars.

the lawyer asks him, "Are they heavy?"

the boy says, "Yeah."

"Then they're expensive. Put 'em down."

 

[Tira]

Marcus, all the internal workings of the A60F are still metal. It was developed for the computer board inspection / electronic market and they put a plastic shell on it so it would be antistatic. I've been able to look inside of one when it was in pieces.

 

[silverchip]

Love my A60!!!!!!

 

[Chujybear]

Do the a60's have ergo components? Either wedge or other adjustment?

 

[Tira]

No, the A60s do not have ergo components. The more expensive line of Leica scopes have all the ergo components. The eye tubes are at 38 degrees instead of 45 degrees.

 

[silverchip]

But the A60 can tilt and you can work on an angle if you like. I tilt mine slightly and it still allows me to work relatively flat too.

 

[Marcus Hunt]

I found the same Silverchip.

 

[Gemsetterchris]

Marcus, your comment reminds me of the scene in "Jurassic Park" when they're in the jeep and the boy finds a pair of night vision binoculars.

the lawyer asks him, "Are they heavy?"

the boy says, "Yeah."

"Then they're expensive. Put 'em down."

Lol! That's the trouble these days, I still have my lads playing with toy cars I used 35 years ago, while their new stuff is busted in 5 minutes.

 

[lost okie]

The 'scope works like it should. Head rest helps. Now I can plainly see just how bad my lines are cut. But; on the up side; my cutting is not as poor as my drawing.
Used one of my drill presses as a rotating table as shown in some of the posts here; works great. I cut some .025 delrin sheet into a bearing for the table to turn on in it's socket. Turns pretty smooth and only.015 runout.
Practice;in 10 years or so I might cut on something that matters.
Mike