21
New from Old / Re: An Encounter with a Surgical Operating Microscope.
« Last post by awemawson on August 13, 2018, 04:27:18 PM »Sadly not the one that I had in mind, which was far better engineered and cost a fortune !
Recent Posts
22
New from Old / Re: An Encounter with a Surgical Operating Microscope.
« Last post by PeterE on August 13, 2018, 04:08:03 PM »To my eyes it looks very much like a standard DIN-connector. An older version of this f ex. https://www.ecvv.com/product/4569845.html
BR
/Peter
BR
/Peter
23
New from Old / Re: An Encounter with a Surgical Operating Microscope.
« Last post by Pete W. on August 13, 2018, 03:58:02 PM »Hi there, again, Andrew,
Here's another photo of the connector.
The half-shell fits on to the main part of the connector and is retained by a very slim thrust washer and by the screw-jacking collar. Then the outlet shroud screws onto the threaded portion of the connector body, in the process securing the flexible strain relief tail.
That thread is 0.7 mm pitch (or maybe 0.75 mm pitch, I forget). The original outlet shroud is a moulding which I couldn't duplicate. So I turned up a new shroud from a piece of acrylic, that seemed the most suitable of the materials available to me. I'd never turned an internal thread before, I took it slowly and it fits quite well considering the male threaded part of the metal connector body is bent out of line! It's neat but not gaudy!!!
That connector is five-way - the connector that's on the cable from the Pedal Unit is a twelve-way. That was OK but I'll be writing some more about that cable in a later post.
Here's another photo of the connector.
The half-shell fits on to the main part of the connector and is retained by a very slim thrust washer and by the screw-jacking collar. Then the outlet shroud screws onto the threaded portion of the connector body, in the process securing the flexible strain relief tail.
That thread is 0.7 mm pitch (or maybe 0.75 mm pitch, I forget). The original outlet shroud is a moulding which I couldn't duplicate. So I turned up a new shroud from a piece of acrylic, that seemed the most suitable of the materials available to me. I'd never turned an internal thread before, I took it slowly and it fits quite well considering the male threaded part of the metal connector body is bent out of line! It's neat but not gaudy!!!
That connector is five-way - the connector that's on the cable from the Pedal Unit is a twelve-way. That was OK but I'll be writing some more about that cable in a later post.
24
New from Old / Re: An Encounter with a Surgical Operating Microscope.
« Last post by awemawson on August 13, 2018, 03:36:31 PM »The reason I mention it is because I think that I recognise it as being the same as on one of my Heidenhain touch probes, or at least the same series.
I managed to source a suitable socket for it a few years back but can't find any photos to confirm
I managed to source a suitable socket for it a few years back but can't find any photos to confirm
25
How to's / Re: Grinding the jaws on my three jaw chuck
« Last post by awemawson on August 13, 2018, 03:33:38 PM »Surely with your Chinese connections you can source a suitably sized chuck at a very modest price 
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How to's / Re: Grinding the jaws on my three jaw chuck
« Last post by AdeV on August 13, 2018, 03:24:06 PM »Now there's an idea... my "good" 3-jaw is starting to get stiff spots in the scroll (customer abuse, I suspect...), it's "not bad" when it comes to repeatability, but it's not particularly brilliant either.
So.. maybe the time has come (er, is coming - I'm waaay behind on every single one of my projects
) to look at the idea of making a fresh scroll for the more knackered chuck - the theory being, if I cock it up, no harm done.
Or maybe I should just suck on the bank account and buy a decent new chuck... naaah, who am I kidding?
So.. maybe the time has come (er, is coming - I'm waaay behind on every single one of my projects
) to look at the idea of making a fresh scroll for the more knackered chuck - the theory being, if I cock it up, no harm done.Or maybe I should just suck on the bank account and buy a decent new chuck... naaah, who am I kidding?
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New from Old / Re: An Encounter with a Surgical Operating Microscope.
« Last post by Pete W. on August 13, 2018, 02:57:54 PM »Andrew, I didn't reply to your point about the connector.
It's an obsolete German component. I haven't been able to identify it.
I have some more photos of it dismantled but they come later in the saga!!
As near as I can tell, the contacts are close to size 16.
There will now be a pause in my postings while I attempt to produce a tidy and legible circuit diagram (aka 'schematic') of the Control Unit.
It's an obsolete German component. I haven't been able to identify it.
I have some more photos of it dismantled but they come later in the saga!!
As near as I can tell, the contacts are close to size 16.
There will now be a pause in my postings while I attempt to produce a tidy and legible circuit diagram (aka 'schematic') of the Control Unit.
28
New from Old / Re: An Encounter with a Surgical Operating Microscope.
« Last post by Pete W. on August 13, 2018, 02:53:27 PM »So Pete when are you installing the Theatre Light and scrubbing up
(an end view of that plug would help in identification)
Hi there, Andrew,
Funny you should mention theatre lights! In order to get the illumination for the photos of the complete instrument, I had to commision a 400W halogen work-light, on telescopic pylon. I bought it some time ago, I can't remember whether it came from MSC or from CPC. The halogen tube came un-fitted and, inevitably, I touched it with my fingers while inserting it into the lamp-holder. I washed it off with VCR head-cleaning fluid. I bounced the light off the ceiling which seemed to avoid shadows.
There's a small crack in the quartz tube so I ordered a couple of replacements from RS, just in case!
This microscope has been dominating our living room since March! The photography required that I clear the mantelshelf so I could anchor the top of the background bedsheet.
My lovely but shy assistant has been OK with it so far but I know the job is on borrowed time.
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New from Old / Re: An Encounter with a Surgical Operating Microscope.
« Last post by Pete W. on August 13, 2018, 02:39:39 PM »I gave the lamp power supply a functional test. It has a mains power input with fuses and two double-pole sockets on its top face and a four position control knob and two lamps, green & red (maybe LEDs), on its front face. The double-pole sockets are for the output power to the lamp (6 Volts at 30 Watts). The four switch positions give 'Off' and three levels of lamp excitation - in position #4, the green light is extinguished and the red light comes on. This is because position #4 over-runs the lamp bulb to give the right colour temperature for photography but at the expense of bulb life. (There is no camera with this Op-Mi6.)
I then removed the Control Unit from the column and removed its back-plate.
I took a look at its contents (see the first photo), gulped and moved on to the Pedal Unit.
The exterior of the Pedal Unit didn't reveal much so I partially dismantled it.
Step #1 is to turn the Pedal Unit upside down and remove two M4 cap-head screws and washers from their recesses on the unit centre-line. As received, one of these was missing.
Step #2 is to withdraw the pivot rod for the rockers, now no longer secured by the two screws of step #1. The end of the pivot rod is accessible through a hole in the end of the housing cover.
Step #3: Turn the unit right-side up - the two rockers can now be removed. This reveals the plungers of the six switches protruding through holes in the cover.
Step #4: The cover is secured to the base casting by four blind tubular nuts on the upper surface and four more M4 cap-head screws and washers in recesses in the underside of the unit.
The second and third photos respectively show the Pedal Unit as received and with the rockers and cover removed.
I then removed the Control Unit from the column and removed its back-plate.
I took a look at its contents (see the first photo), gulped and moved on to the Pedal Unit.
The exterior of the Pedal Unit didn't reveal much so I partially dismantled it.
Step #1 is to turn the Pedal Unit upside down and remove two M4 cap-head screws and washers from their recesses on the unit centre-line. As received, one of these was missing.
Step #2 is to withdraw the pivot rod for the rockers, now no longer secured by the two screws of step #1. The end of the pivot rod is accessible through a hole in the end of the housing cover.
Step #3: Turn the unit right-side up - the two rockers can now be removed. This reveals the plungers of the six switches protruding through holes in the cover.
Step #4: The cover is secured to the base casting by four blind tubular nuts on the upper surface and four more M4 cap-head screws and washers in recesses in the underside of the unit.
The second and third photos respectively show the Pedal Unit as received and with the rockers and cover removed.
30
New from Old / Re: An Encounter with a Surgical Operating Microscope.
« Last post by awemawson on August 13, 2018, 02:22:16 PM »So Pete when are you installing the Theatre Light and scrubbing up
(an end view of that plug would help in identification)
(an end view of that plug would help in identification)