- Joined
- Oct 5, 2010
- Messages
- 1,044
Brian,
Back in the day when I did medical product R&D, I frequently had a surgical operating microscope kicking around in the shop. I found those microscopes quite useful for some jobs in the shop. (Like a loupe on steroids) I have always wanted one, but the $5K-20K price tag made that impossible. About 6 months ago a friend of mine gave me a desk top B&L stereo.(He sells microscopes and got it on trade and his company was going to scrape it) It was a great scope but it just sat in a corner in my shop and wasn't very mobile. So I started looking for a way to mount it on the lathe and mill. Better yet if I had it on a roller base I could use it anywhere. So I started looking for parts that would make that happen. I had a hard time locating 1.5" thick wall Al tube at the scrap yard. When I did I also located the components you listed and put the thing together. I don't know what the AL base came from, but it could have been a chair or some medical product such as a IV stand. The weight at the bottom is a 45# barbell weight. Set in the base are 5 casters from Harbor Freight. I just tapped into the original holes and screwed in the casters. On top of the base is 3' of 2" drill pile. Inside the pipe is @8# of weight to counterbalance the weight of the scope head and ancillary attachments. The 1 1/2" Al tube was some type nautical railing. It is not elegant but it didn't cost 20 grand either
)
Randy
Back in the day when I did medical product R&D, I frequently had a surgical operating microscope kicking around in the shop. I found those microscopes quite useful for some jobs in the shop. (Like a loupe on steroids) I have always wanted one, but the $5K-20K price tag made that impossible. About 6 months ago a friend of mine gave me a desk top B&L stereo.(He sells microscopes and got it on trade and his company was going to scrape it) It was a great scope but it just sat in a corner in my shop and wasn't very mobile. So I started looking for a way to mount it on the lathe and mill. Better yet if I had it on a roller base I could use it anywhere. So I started looking for parts that would make that happen. I had a hard time locating 1.5" thick wall Al tube at the scrap yard. When I did I also located the components you listed and put the thing together. I don't know what the AL base came from, but it could have been a chair or some medical product such as a IV stand. The weight at the bottom is a 45# barbell weight. Set in the base are 5 casters from Harbor Freight. I just tapped into the original holes and screwed in the casters. On top of the base is 3' of 2" drill pile. Inside the pipe is @8# of weight to counterbalance the weight of the scope head and ancillary attachments. The 1 1/2" Al tube was some type nautical railing. It is not elegant but it didn't cost 20 grand either
)Randy