On 02 Dec 2004 22:55:28 -0500, Allan Adler
wrote:


It would then make sense that Taig might
accomodate them by offering lathes without the accessories. But I'm not
sure under what circumstances someone (other than a complete beginner like
me, who doesn't know any better) might purchase a minimal $144 Taig that
doesn't even have a motor. Is there a significant part of the market
represented by people who already have a supply of motors?

Taig also sells the motors, but most people just use a scavenged motor
from an old washer, dryer or whatever. 1/4 horse is plenty, I ran
mine on 1/6 horse until I got tired of having to lift the whole thing,
and the old motor was from 1937, HEAVY! Changed it over to a 1/12
horse scavenged from an old Bodine gear motor with the gear broken.
If you can get a slower motor, maybe 1140 RPM, it would be better.
Don't know if they're available on the surplus market or not.

(2) You have a binocular microscope and you need identical eyepieces for
each eye. In the latter case, it sounds like you have all the eyepieces
loose in the drawer but not grouped in matching pairs. If you had enough
little boxes, you could group together all the ones that have the same
magnification and not have to spend hours looking for matching pairs.

Bingo. Actually 5 binocs, two trinocs and a whole bunch of monocs. I
like old things. Maybe too much. Matching them for power isn't too
bad, but making sure they have the same aperture is where it gets fun,
you have to hold the pair to your eyes, then swing the fields until
they come together, they should be the same. (But usually aren't.) I
don't have a good supply anymore, but used to work with J&H microscope
on mods and accessories. You can get into some really wierd stuff.

Regarding the threads on the threaded metal shells that hold individual
lenses in an eyepiece, are these threads that would be easy to duplicate
with standard tap and die sets or is there something special about them?

Most of them that were made in the US had an unwritten standard of 40
threads per inch. Sometimes an odd ball of 36 TPI, but usually 40.
Metric, I don't know about, I've been out of the attachment making for
about ten years now, They're usually not included in the normal tap
and die sets, but most of the supply houses will have them. The
objectives, with only a very few exceptions, are .800"-36 TPI, 55
degree Whitworth threads. Most of the supply houses also have taps
and dies for this as well. Prices are pretty reasonable.