Cool old Carl Zeiss microscope

I found this old critter here at VPL, a Carl Zeiss Jena microscope. The right eyetube is also stamped with a Bausch and Lomb Optical, Rochester, New York logo. The last photo is after cleaning, the brass and nickle plated elements look great after a little bit of elbow grease, the would probably look even better with a lot of elbow grease.

Current lab renovation projects

So, I guess if one is going to start a blog, they must occasionally post to it. This is just about the last thing I remember to do, since I'm not yet in the habit.

There are two projects dominating my time right now, designing new work surfaces and planning for the re-plumbing of the compressed air line. I'll go into greater detail on both soon as the projects come together, both are a lot of fun, and both will be something I have to live with for quite a while, so I want to get them right. The tables are almost out of my hands, I'll be placing the final order for the tabletops tomorrow or Monday, and my sketches have been handed over to the fabricator in our facilities department to start construction on the bases.

I'm also working on cleaning up a fume hood that I rescued from the UT Surplus warehouse that will serve for a few years until it is upgraded. Pictures of that process will follow in future posts as well.

Oh yeah

Don't let this happen either.

Hey, That Ain't Gatorade!

Have you seen a situation like this before? Sure, it is very convenient, and cheap, to store lab chemicals in food containers. But it's not cool. For one, the turpentine in that coffee can isn't much use now that the volatiles have all evaporated out. Then, what the hell is the white powder all over the mayo jar of xylene? I don't think it is mayo. I think this kind of storage is against the law, though I can't find a reference immediately, but it certainly violates both recommended practice (see NIOSH/CDC guide) and common sense.

The Grolsch bottle in the background full of acetone reminds me of a story from a few years back, a friend was working on his boat, and pouring waste epoxy into a nearby empty beer bottle. A few minutes later, when reaching for his bottle full of beer, he grabbed the one with epoxy in it. One short trip to the emergency room later and a cheap and handy way to dispose of a chemical becomes neither cheap or handy. A final example before I go. One prolific collector that I know loves to store thick solution adhesives (i.e. Vinac B-15) in little Visine eyewash bottles. Well, sure, they work well for dispensing adhesive cleanly and one drop at a time. But in the field, have you ever gotten dust or dirt in your eye, and wished for eyewash? Does a foreign object in the eye blur your vision? Might you consolidate your eye closed? So much for getting the red out.

Be Cool. Only store chemicals in properly labeled containers not intended for food use.

Jay in Roswell lost his job

What do you do when the perfume shop doesn't want you anymore?


Click photo to read the note

This is a no brainer, but...

iPhones are not designed for field use.

Microscope Madness!!!!!

I freely admit that I am a scope snob, so this row of metal and glass makes my heart glad. You can't prep well if you can't see your material, and when it comes to bang for your buck, Swiss optics are my choice for stocking a workbench. There is one interloper in this mix, the second boom from the left holds a Nikon SMZ-1, which happens to be the first microscope that I purchased for myself, however, I've recently made the upgrade to a Wild M8 for my own freelance work. To outfit the VPL lab, I chose two M8's, the beauties on the right, to be the real workhorses. As budget allows in the next few years, I will probably be replacing the rest of the Olympus setups that Bob Rainey used for so many years. For the purposes of training students and volunteers who come through the lab, I've purchased a Wild teaching setup outfitted with an M7 body and two upright heads. I will soon be adding a custom focusing mount developed by Mike Eklund at The Natural History Studio (also my source for much of my refurbished lab gear) that will enable the teaching setup to be mounted on a boom arm for maximum reach and specimen diversity.

These used scopes can be tough to come by in good condition and at a reasonable price, but I'm very happy with the deals that I've gotten on the last 4 or 5 that I've bought. The above packages have been outfitted with Fostec/Schott light sources and Schott ring lights.