For the engravers that are doing larger pieces, movement of the vise and movement of the microscope seems to disorient the centering of the scope. Perhaps it is just the way I engrave. Do any of you gun engravers have this problem? If so, how do you recenter the scope without lifting the vise off the turntable?
Centering your microscope
- Thread starter Glenn
- Start date
fegarex
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
You center the vise in the center of the turntable. Then you position the scope to the center of the vise. GRS had a centering tool at Reno they are coming out with. I don't see on the web site but I know it will be available.
The GRS turntable comes with a centering post. Maybe there's something new in the works as well.
What I do is center everything and then lock the scope into position. I never move my microscope when engraving. The only time I need to recenter is if something's been bumped. Chasing the work around with the microscope can be an exercise in frustration.
What I do is center everything and then lock the scope into position. I never move my microscope when engraving. The only time I need to recenter is if something's been bumped. Chasing the work around with the microscope can be an exercise in frustration.
Tim Wells
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
The thingamajig that GRS has for finding the center is the same thing that Lynton McKinzie used in those videos he made; only theirs has a little cross hair looking thing on the end. Foolproof.
dlilazteca
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
What did Lynton McKinzie use? To center his work? Can someone post a picture.
Carlos De La O III
Carlos De La O III
highveldt
Elite Cafe Member
For centering work to be engraved I have a laser mounted on a three-point base(that I built) and have it placed on the ceiling above my engraving stand turntable. With the three-point adjustment I center the laser spot at dead center of my turntable. Then when I place something in my engraving vice/ball I center where I want to engrave on the work to be done using the laser spot---then everything is centered to the dead center of the turntable. I built the turn table using ball and roller bearings and a 70 pound 12 inch diameter, 2 inch thick lathe face plate as the turntable top. As you might suspect the turntable is rock solid steady and smooth as silk in turning. The laser mounted on the ceiling above the turn table is controlled on/off with a simple pull chain switch as one finds on a ceiling fan. The three point adjustment is necessary as humidity from summer to winter will cause minute movement in the ceiling, and I adjust the laser when it needs it back to the dead center of the turntable. The reason I refer to the center of the turntable as dead center is that I have a pointed 60 degree lathe type dead center in the center of the turntable (mounted in a center hole) and the point is where I align the laser spot.
The laser works real slick. I built one of the McKinsey pointers, but it was a pain and got in the way of anything I was trying to do, at just the time I did not want. So I went to a five dollar laser pointer and modified it.
The laser works real slick. I built one of the McKinsey pointers, but it was a pain and got in the way of anything I was trying to do, at just the time I did not want. So I went to a five dollar laser pointer and modified it.
My head is spinning reading all of this about microscopes,turn tables,lasers mounted on ceilings,how did I ever get by what did I miss? I have a microscope sitting on my bench gathering dust. J.J.
dlilazteca
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
scott99
Elite Cafe Member
I made a little holder that mounts a cheap laser to the scope itself, it works unless I bump it off center. Useful for centering a part of a piece of work under the scope on a turntable if you are referencing from your work.
For centering the vice to the turn table and scope easiest thing I have gone to is a 1 inch round disk with crosshairs on it. I set the small mounting pins so the disk is centered on the vice when tightened, then just move the vice around untell the crosshairs are centered in the scope (spin it ,you can see center easily). I never have to move or lift the vise except for cleaning.
I keep my scope itself locked down.THANKS FOR THAT ONE SAM .That way you only have your work to adjust around not both.
scott99
For centering the vice to the turn table and scope easiest thing I have gone to is a 1 inch round disk with crosshairs on it. I set the small mounting pins so the disk is centered on the vice when tightened, then just move the vice around untell the crosshairs are centered in the scope (spin it ,you can see center easily). I never have to move or lift the vise except for cleaning.
I keep my scope itself locked down.THANKS FOR THAT ONE SAM .That way you only have your work to adjust around not both.
scott99
Carlos,Yes just optivisor's maybe I'll need the microscope after my next birthday when I turn 75 on April 6,My son the smart a$$ said he would help blow out the candles what a pal.
J.J.
J.J.
dlilazteca
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
JJ
Hahahahahahahahah ahhhhhh I needed that!
Love your sense of humor!
3.5x? (Power)
Carlos De La O III
Hahahahahahahahah ahhhhhh I needed that!
Love your sense of humor!
3.5x? (Power)
Carlos De La O III
McKenzie had a custom balljoint vise mounted on two dovetailed slides for keeping the work positioned under his scope. Attached to his scope stand was a pointed rod that would he'd swing over the vise for centering the scope, then swing back out of the way. Later on he used a turntable arrangement.
Mike Fennell
Elite Cafe Member
Hi Glenn.
Drop to the lowest power on the scope; give the vise a spin. You will easily see the point around which your piece is rotating. Move the scope so that this point is at the center of your field of view and start cutting. Your eyes are the best centering tool you will ever have. It's quick and easy and no tools to purchase.
Drop to the lowest power on the scope; give the vise a spin. You will easily see the point around which your piece is rotating. Move the scope so that this point is at the center of your field of view and start cutting. Your eyes are the best centering tool you will ever have. It's quick and easy and no tools to purchase.
mitch
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2007
- Messages
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here's my 'no tools' method that i've been using successfully for over 25 yrs:
http://www.engraverscafe.com/showth...ee!)-fast-amp-easy-Microscope-Centering-trick
http://www.engraverscafe.com/showth...ee!)-fast-amp-easy-Microscope-Centering-trick
Willem Parel
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
This is the way I do it but I add a red spot in the center point of the turntable with a marker while turning the table, so it's more easy to correct if necessary.
Brian Marshall
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Almost automatic - with surgical scopes that have "Through The Lens" lighting systems (TTL)... Zeiss, Leica, etc.
Turn on the light to the highest brightness and instantly you have your center.
Brian
Turn on the light to the highest brightness and instantly you have your center.
Brian
mitch
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
- Joined
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no, but if you're using a standard vise on a turntable instead of using a special centering vise/block with an "eccentric centering adjustment mechanism" you would move the vise/block on the surface of the turntable when that's called for in my instructions, and move the whole block & turntable as a unit instead of moving the whole eccentric positioning block on the bench for that operation.
NOTE: one thing you need to avoid when working under a microscope- to preserve both your centering position and whatever sanity you currently retain- is tipping the ball vise in the 'donut'. pulling & pushing the vise around, tilting it off the microscope axis will upset matters.
Mike Fennell
Elite Cafe Member
Mitch, you are correct, but with a low-profile vise like the one Ellis Sawyer and Gregg Neely built for me, tilting the vise has little or no effect.
mitch
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2007
- Messages
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yes, Mike, some blocks have spherical bases with a sufficiently large radius of curvature to make the top of the vise jaws more or less the center of the 'sphere', so what you're focused on doesn't move much, if at all, when the block is tipped over, depending on how close the actual surface of what you're engraving is to this central point in space.
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