Re: DIY phase contrast annulus

Posted by Kathleen Pullin on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/DIY-phase-contrast-annulus-tp7584253p7584260.html

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>Seems a lot of high salaried personnel spending time on a relatively cheap
microscope accessory ($80?)... just sayin ... don't want to ruin the fun

(Just finished my degree, going to code school, job-hunting
starving-artist, so, my 2 cents is cheap.)

How about three-d printing one? The new printers are great, no reason you
couldn't print it on a slide, and you could meet some technicians and
coders at the local maker space to guide you through it, they'd have fun,
and you may have some more ideas for 3-d printing; or if your school has
one you could do it on campus.

India ink, as Guy suggests, does work well on glass, though--I use it for
my glass negatives, and it is opaque to my enlarger light for very long
exposures.

Kleo Pullin

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kleo Pullin
Denver, CO
[hidden email]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kleopullin
https://twitter.com/resolvingdust

On Tue, Sep 29, 2015 at 10:31 AM, Leoncio Vergara <[hidden email]>
wrote:

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> Sender:       Confocal Microscopy List <[hidden email]>
> Poster:       Leoncio Vergara <[hidden email]>
> Subject:      Re: DIY phase contrast annulus
>
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>
> Seems a lot of high salaried personnel spending time on a relatively cheap
> microscope accessory ($80?)... just sayin ... don't want to ruin the fun
>
> On Tue, Sep 29, 2015 at 5:54 AM, Guy Cox <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> > This all seems really over the top.  I made one simply by drawing it with
> > Indian ink on optical glass.  I cleaned the pattern off an old one which
> > didn't match any objective I had, and used a Rotring pen to draw the
> inner
> > and outer circles with a compass, then inked in around them.  Of course
> it
> > took care, but microscopists are surely used to delicate work.  Cost -
> > zilch.  This was 35 years ago -  I still have it and anyone is  welcome
> to
> > visit and try it.
> >
> >                                        Guy
> >
> > Guy Cox, Honorary Associate Professor
> > School of Medical Sciences
> >
> > Australian Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis,
> > Madsen, F09, University of Sydney, NSW 2006
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[hidden email]]
> > On Behalf Of JOEL B. SHEFFIELD
> > Sent: Tuesday, 29 September 2015 11:29 AM
> > To: [hidden email]
> > Subject: Re: DIY phase contrast annulus
> >
> > *****
> > To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> > http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> > Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your
> posting.
> > *****
> >
> > We have made Hoffman condensers using aluminum foil.  I see no reason
> that
> > you couldn't do something similar, using the mask that you have
> generated,
> > to carefully cut out the ring in a sheet of aluminum that is already
> tacked
> > down to a piece of glass.
> >
> > Joel
> >
> >
> >
> > Joel B. Sheffield, Ph.D
> > Department of Biology
> > Temple University
> > Philadelphia, PA 19122
> > Voice: 215 204 8839
> > e-mail: [hidden email]
> > URL:  *http://tinyurl.com/khbouft <http://tinyurl.com/khbouft>*
> >
> > On Mon, Sep 28, 2015 at 8:56 PM, Rusty Nicovich <[hidden email]
> >
> > wrote:
> >
> > > *****
> > > To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> > > http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> > > Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your
> > posting.
> > > *****
> > >
> > > Ben,
> > >
> > > You could use chemical etching to reproduce your printed annulus on a
> > > piece of copper or brass.  Electronics DIYers make PC boards by laser
> > > printing a pattern onto glossy paper, using an iron to transfer the
> > > toner to a piece of copper-clad PC board, and the ferric chloride to
> > etch away the copper.
> > > Same principle will work on brass.  Takes some trial and error and a
> > > few nasty chemicals, but is a great way to get high-resolution parts
> > > out of sheet metal.
> > >
> > > Another option is to have the annulus laser-cut.  Shouldn't cost more
> > > than
> > > $20 for something annulus-sized.  Usually you need to supply the
> > > operator with an Adobe Illustrator or other vector drawing format but
> > > you already have the drawing.  The cutter here is run by the
> > > architecture design school and their cutter has a resolution of ~300
> > > microns.  Should be able to get stainless steel or even powder-coated
> > > aluminum cut without too much hassle.  This would be my preference
> > > since it requires less OH&S work on my part.
> > >
> > > Rusty
> > >
> > > On Tue, Sep 29, 2015 at 9:53 AM, Smith, Benjamin E.
> > > <[hidden email]
> > > >
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > *****
> > > > To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> > > > http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> > > > Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your
> > > posting.
> > > > *****
> > > >
> > > > Hey Microscopists,
> > > >     A lab here has a nice phase objective but no annulus, so I
> > > > decided to see if I could make one for them.  I measured the phase
> > > > plate diameter at the focal plane, and printed out an annulus that
> > lined-up perfectly.
> > > > However, too much light gets through the ink to be of much use, so I
> > > > was wondering if anyone had experience with an easy way to make a
> > > > fully
> > > opaque
> > > > annulus.
> > > >
> > > > Cheers,
> > > >    Ben Smith
> > > >
> > > > Benjamin E. Smith, Ph.D.
> > > > Samuel Roberts Noble Microscopy Laboratory Research Scientist,
> > > > Confocal Facility Manager University of Oklahoma Norman, OK 73019
> > > > E-mail: [hidden email]
> > > > Voice   405-325-4391
> > > > FAX  405-325-7619
> > > > http://www.microscopy.ou.edu/
> > >
> >
>