Vik Olliver is doing micron-scale #RepRap #3D-printing! “This degree of accuracy was initially made possible by 3D printed microscope platforms designed by The #OpenFlexure Project.”
on 02025-08-27the "OpenFlexure" DIY microscope #microscopy
on 02024-12-19discussion of the #OpenFlexure DIY microscope #microscopy
on 02024-12-19#video somewhat poorly explained on #3D-printing #kinematic-coupling #mechanisms for #precision #optics. He shows his optical kinematic mount for a long time without showing what he’s going to use it for, instead trying to explain it in words. He has a green diode laser module mounted in a 3-D printed thingy which is pushed apart with screws (with ground and buffed ends rather than ball bearings as you’d expect) running through soldering-iron-staked brass inserts, pushing on flat stainless steel plates, pulled together with tension springs pulling on bits of welding rod, and pivoting on a 7mm stainless steel ball bearing; all the metal parts are inserted into the plastic framework. I think the idea is that you slide this thing around on a surface and the angle of the laser changes to show you the angle of the surface. The laser module is clamped into the thing with an M4 screw tightening a sort of plastic shaft-collar arrangement around it, and a Powell lens (?) turns the laser beam into a line, which I guess lets you determine the surface’s angle in both dimensions at once? He thanks “Zachary from Breaking Taps” for tips. He’s planning to focus the laser through a spatial filter with a microscope lens to clean up the dirty “cat’s-eye” beam. He’s going to put ball bearings in the base of the mount too, to hold it up (bizarrely, four of them instead of three!), and there’s a screw in the middle to hold it down to a screw hole on the optical breadboard. He's planning to replace the plastic with aluminum or stainless steel. In the comments, @bansci recommends using #OpenFlexure designs and captive nuts rather than heat-staked inserts.
on 02024-09-15