Field Microscope
Figure 4 : Shop inspection microscope and platform stage with a few accessories: sub-stage condenser, polarizing fi lter, Rheinberg darkfi eld fi lter, and sub-stage mirror.
Figure 6 : Flashlight app, running on a Kindle Fire, employed as an illumination source for the fi eld microscope. This works best if the stage is placed directly on the screen. The photo shows a blue screen to illustrate the color fl exibility of the app, but it works as well as a white light source.
hole is to allow light to shine up from below the stage when operating in transmission mode. Finally, the segments of insulation strip are cut and mounted along the two upper edges of the stage. T ey should be positioned so that only the rubber portion covers the microscope rails, as shown in Figure 3 .
Figure 5 : A typical fi eld kit. All this and more fi ts easily into a camera or CD/DVD carrying bag like the one pictured.
second routing, centered on the first, creates a plane lower by another 1/4", and cut below and 2" wide, just narrower than the first cut thereby creating the slide specimen plane. Using a drill press, two concentric holes are cut into the center of this stage: the fi rst 1" in diameter going all the way through the wood and the other a “well” 1 3/4" wide and surrounding it. T e central complete hole is easily cut using a standard 1" drill bit, but the 1/4" deep recessed outer “well” requires a bit of customization, which I leave to the carpentry imagination and skills of the reader. T e idea of the central
2015 July •
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To hold the stage above a light source, the authors fashioned four legs from standard 3/4" diameter dowels cut to size, and then they drilled incomplete holes on the four corners of the underside of the stage as sockets for them. One of the authors (Robert Hoelter) invented a modifi ed form for these legs with two crosscut slots at one end of each of them and a wood screw placed at the intersection of the slots to adjust tension to hold the legs fi rmly in position. One-inch self-sticking circular felt pads at the other end fi nish the leg preparations. Sanding and fi nishing the wooden parts with urethane varnish is advisable to allow easy cleanup from specimen spillage and smooth movement of the slides and microscope stand.
When fully assembled, a light source like an LED “puck” light can be positioned under the stage platform for brightfi eld- transmitted light work. T e author has also fashioned a substage
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