gemini://gem.snowgoons.ro/posts/2020-10-16-makeable-usb-microscope-stand.gmi

┌────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ What │ Where │ ╞════════════════╪═════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡ │ GIT Repository │ https://gitlab.com/snowgoonspub/microscope-stand[1] │ ├────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Thingiverse │ https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4625200[2] │ └────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

I've recently had to confront my life-long denial of Surface Mount Devices when it comes to building my own electrical devices, and accept that I need to deal with it :). That means soldering tiny - a fraction of a grain of rice - components down by hand, something I'm not doing without some kind of visual aid! So, I invested in a super cheap USB microscope - they are easily available under many brand names, but the OEM appears to be ToupTek[3]; An example for sale is here on Amazon[4].

The scopes themselves do the job pretty well (you get what you pay for, but for tasks like surface-mount soldering, they're perfectly adequate). But the stand that comes with it is pretty flimsy and not good for much. So I designed a more reliable stand with a built-in focus adjustment.

According to Blender, it's supposed to look like this: {{< figure src="img/final-assembly.png" caption="A render of the whole thing..." captionPosition="right">}} {{< figure src="img/final-assembly-gears.png" caption="...and with the cover removed, showing the focusing gears" captionPosition="right">}}

Meanwhile, in the real world, this is what it actually looks like: {{< figure src="img/photo.jpg" caption="Not bad..." captionPosition="right">}} {{< figure src="img/photo-smd.jpg" caption="...and in action, with the scope output on screen" captionPosition="right">}}

You'll find full instructions over on my Git Repo[5] or on Thingiverse[6], so I won't post detailed instructions here - I'll just say that it's licensed under a Creative Commons[7] Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike[8] license, so if you want one head over to one of the above, download the files and get printing.

gem.snowgoons.ro

USB Microscope Stand

What does it look like?

How can I make one