Magnification to view Microstructures? 4

[chrisperry12345]

What is the typical magnification required by a light microscope to view and analyze the various microstructures of steel? Does anyone recommend a good, cheap microscope with a digital hookup to a computer that I can purchase?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[arunmrao]

100X is commonly used for the first instance and then to 500X . Look for used equipment catalog,you may find some good bargains.

_____________________________________
"It's better to die standing than live your whole life on the knees" by Peter Mayle in his book A Good Year

 

[EdStainless]

It is a rare day that I work outside of 50x - 600x.
Look for an old Unitron Versamet and add a digital camera yourself.

A Nikon or Zeiss will have better optics but cost too much.
There should be a lot of decent used ones out there

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Plymouth Tube

 

[arunmrao]

I agree with Ed,Unitron Versamet is a good choice, I worked with it for over 10 years,similarly if you get Carl Zeiss Jena ( then East Germany model) superb optics at reasonable oost.

_____________________________________
"It's better to die standing than live your whole life on the knees" by Peter Mayle in his book A Good Year

 

[Maui]

Although it hasn't been mentioned by any of the previous posters, you will likely want to purchase an inverted microscope, not an upright scope. An example of such a scope can be found in this link:

http://www.labwrench.com/?equipment.view/equipmentNo/9556/Nikon/Eclipse-MA200/

In these types of microscopes the sample is placed face down on the stage to view the sample surface.

Maui

http://www.EngineeringMetallurgy.com

 

[chrisperry12345]

I found a good deal on an olympus GX 41 with an attached Paxcam and software (

http://www.olympus-ims.com/en/microscope/gx41/).

Would this be a good starter unit for microstructural characterization?

 

[Maui]

Yes, it would. It should have the capability to achieve an overall magnification of 1000X, it has the capability of using a digital camera attachment, and probably has decent image analysis capabilities. The optics on this microscope should be good as well. What you will find if you demo enough of the name brand microscopes is that the higher end Zeiss and Nikon microscopes tend to have the best quality optics.

What was the budget that you were working within?

Maui

http://www.EngineeringMetallurgy.com

 

[Maui]

By the way, if you have the budget the GX51 is more versatile and would be a better overall choice.

Maui

http://www.EngineeringMetallurgy.com

 

[Guest102023]

It all depends ... what kind of steel is it?

For a metallograph you can purchase a cheap Chinese knock-off from amazon.com or a $40k Zeiss with all the bells and whistles.

 

[mxracer17788]

Hi all,

The scope that I have only goes up to 500x total magnification. Is it absolutely necessary to achieve 1000x magnification for analyzing microstructures? The 100x objective is another $2000. In the past, I've used 1000x, but I'm wondering if I an get away with only 500x. Thoughts?

 

[mrfailure]

mxracer,

Depends on what you are using it for. I seldom use my 1000X (eyepiece) objective and achieve 1000X printed micrographs using the 500X objective.

Aaron Tanzer

http://www.lehightesting.com

 

[mxracer17788]

I have a paxit cam installed. Can i achieve 1000x with this unit?

 

[mrfailure]

That's what I have on my system. You will just have to figure what size of print on your system will give you 1000X on paper where eyepiece magnification is 500X.

Aaron Tanzer

http://www.lehightesting.com