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Agreed -- feels like a real waste of time after I Google'd the costs for the optics ($100 minimum if I did it right) and other parts (Raspberry Pi, etc), then G

by claar 6y ago

Agreed -- feels like a real waste of time after I Google'd the costs for the optics ($100 minimum if I did it right) and other parts (Raspberry Pi, etc), then Google'd what a pre-built way-nicer-than-I'd-need microscope goes for ($157 shipped at https://www.amscope.com/40x-2500x-advanced-home-school-compound-microscope.html https://www.amscope.com/40x-2500x-advanced-home-school-compo...)... Definitely seems to fall in the "3d printing is cool" bucket more than "look how much money I can save" bucket.

dekhn 6y ago
The big difference here is the stage is automatic, and it supports multiple types of illumination. I've built high-end 3D microscopes using aluminum extrusion and 3d printed parts before (with commercially produced objectives, but everything else pretty much sourced from places like Adafruit and OpenBuilds). I got pretty good results and contributed the hardware drivers to MicroManager (an open source tool to drive many different scopes with the same UI). In retrospect, I would have instead found a way to get a Nikon Ti scope body and accessorize that. It's hard to replicate the high quality and full ecosystem of the Ti for anything less than the list price of a Ti.
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