Is there a use in the model engineers workshop for a USB Microscope?

I saw the USB microscope on the UK Maplin site for just under £50 (although I have seen them on eBay for around £22 now!) and it seemed worth buying to see if it had a use in the workshop. When it arrived I was very impressed with its performance and ease of use. It has the facility to make videos as well as still pictures very easily and shows up very well using the full screen on my spare laptop. After ‘playing’ with it for a while I decided to take it out into the workshop and see how it performed in that environment. I made two tests as it were. One was to see how well it would operate as an aid to centre drill an item on the milling machine. I didn’t take the time to make a stand mounting for the trial and just held it by hand. Because the item I was about to drill wouldn’t allow a centre drill to get there I used an ordinary drill with the disadvantage that all drills have without centre drilling first, that of wander. Video of a small 1/16th\" drill and starting it centre with a USB Microscope I was very surprised at the view I had and the 1/16th drill shown in the video. You cans see quite clearly the drill wander straight away, but by watching the screen I could adjust the use of the quill until the drill was running true before continuing to drill the part and an early success. The second test was to use the microscope as an inspection aide and this area in particular may be where the greatest benefits will accrue.  The item I used for inspection was a camshaft I had just started working on following completion of the main machining. What I have to do is finish the profile by filing then sanding the cam lobes with fine grade wet ‘n’ dry paper. The first cam has had some filing done and a little sanding but the other cams had a lot more work needed. By using the microscope it was very easy indeed to see the work done on the first lobe compared with all the others. Video of a close look at a model camshaft for the Seal engine So what do I think of the Maplin sourced microscope?  Well I believe it does have a place in the model engineer’s workshop for areas where high accuracy is required. Whilst the camera is fairly robust I cannot see me using it all the time since the workshop environment could cause it damage, but if there is anything I want to see clearly I now have a tool that can operate between 20X and 200X to see what is what.  The next thing to do will be adapting the DTI stands to hold the microscope which does come with its own stand and clamp.  

About Mike Freeman

Hello, my name is Mike Freeman and I am a retired Chief Fire Officer from the United Kingdom with a keen interest in model engineering, silver caddy spoons and sea fishing. I live in the pretty fishing port of Brixham, South Devon, in the United Kingdom. I am a sufferer of degenerative osteoarthritis, which impacts on the amount of time I can spend in the workshop, and is the reason why you will see seats and a stool in some of the photo's. I have only recently added the above sentence after a discussion with one of my Doctor's from the excellent pain clinic, based in Torbay. This does affect concentration one of the reasons why I double then re-double my measurements and set ups. Before completing nearly 30 years of public service I and my wife Sandy, owned and ran, a small restaurant in Okehampton Devon. Prior to marriage I worked for my father in his various businesses, in the early days these were garages, which he bought in a run down state, then built them up before moving on, to start again. I took every opportunity in those early days, to work in his workshop's learning 'on the job' rather than as an apprentice. This, I suspect, is the reason why my building various model's in the early days, turned into model engineering, when funds allowed the required equipment to be bought. My workshop comprises one half of a detached double garage. It has a stud wall separating the two halves and unusually perhaps, its own shower/toilet/washbasin compartment! (the true reason for buying the bungalow - don't tell the wife!!!) It is fully insulated with a ceiling and fluorescent lighting supplementing the one window. Several double electrical sockets are dotted around in relevant positions. Equipment consists of 2 lathes (1 Myford ML 10 and 1 Chinese variable speed motor with etched glass DRO's), 1 milling machine (RF25 far East) floor standing pillar drill, Proxxon bandsaw, Warco bandsaw, 6" wire brush and polishing mop motor, 6" coarse and fine grinder, Proxxon mini drill, various benches and an engineers vice. I have just acquired a third lathe, a Myford ML7 which I am at present evaluating so I can decide which of the Myford's I will keep. I have only just bought the Chinese lathe and had it fitted with DRO's prior to delivery. And what a bonus they are! So good in fact that I decided to buy another set for the Milling machine. Whilst my engineering experience can only be described as limited, I find the use of DRO's has affected my accuracy levels which have improved tremendously (although that's not saying much!) and would recommend their fitting to any model engineer. Prior to retirement I built for my son's 17th birthday a Locost car. This was a tremendous project and a great feeling when it passed its test. The book it was based on suggests it can be built for £250. Ours was nothing special in the sense of all new parts but still cost about £900 to build!
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One Response to Is there a use in the model engineers workshop for a USB Microscope?

  1. I’d have thought that USB microscopes have a major advantage over a standard one in that they could be encapsulated in a workshop proof case much more easily. Perhaps a metal tube with a replacable polycarbonate window on the end? The cable could be covered too.

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