This last installment will be a look at the B&L STM Electroplater’s Microscope. A refinement on the Standard Teaching line, this Metallurgical microscope is designed for simplicity and easy of use. Superficially it resembles any of the other stands of the ST line, enamel grey with an integral, two-position nose piece, it manages to provide all that is needed and nothing that is not. A single intensity transformer powers a Nicholas style light source that is fixed to the side of the stand just above the nose piece. The light path features a filter holder but is not equipped with either field or aperture diaphragm, rather the light path is permanently restricted to a degree appropriate for the two supplied objectives.

Each objective is of 215mm tube length construction and is corrected for use without any cover glass. One is a low power finder (5x) and the other a higher power (40x). One will quickly notice that neither is of the power one expects to find on a student microscope; 10x and 43x being the usual combination. The reason for this quickly becomes apparent when one calculates powers in consideration of the characteristics of the stand. A 215mm tube length, correction for no cover glass and the nessecity of a short working distance. At right one may see the working distance of the 40x objective.

In place of a standard eyepiece it features a filar micrometer ocular as for most all metallurgical work one would desire the ability to take measurements. In that same vein the fine focus adjustment is graduated as well. Although the stand features an inclination joint, there is no adjustment for the stage and no arrangement to provide for transmitted light work. Internally, the light source is directed downwards by a half silver mirror which is not adjustable without tools. This was no doubt done so that it may be aligned once and may then be employed without a further thought to the matter. When I first acquired this stand the reflector was shattered. No matter, it was easily replaced and enabled me to have this delightful little stand for no more than $40 USD plus shipping!

In the interest of providing a little eye-candy I placed the seemingly polished brass surface of a pocket knife in a bit of putty on the stage. Putty or a specimen holder of the standard sort is recommended for most specimens for the sake of stability. A photomicrographic ocular of 7x power and a Pentax microscope camera adapter was used to take the photomicrographs.

Pentax Microscope adapter in place on STM Electroplater’s Microscope

Low Power

High Power

In the above images we may observe the compromises made in the STM Electroplater’s Microscope. The low power photomicrograph shows that the apperture size employed in the illumination system is such that slightly less than the entire field is evenly illuminated. In normal visual use with the 10x filar micrometer eyepiece this is only very slightly noticeable. The 7x photomicrographic eyepiece exaggerates the defect because of the larger field of view it provides. It would be possible to artificially crop out the uneven area by using a greater photomicrographic tube extension, but the one I use is perfectly sized as to be parfocal with the eyepieces when employed on a trinocular stand.

In the high power image we will immediately notice how the curved portion of the specimen surface falls out of focus and quickly devolves into a mess of chromatic aberration. This is why flat surface polishing is such an important part of metallurgical microscopy! Luckily enough, the (exceedingly self-congratulatory) microscopist managed to place the specimen such that the two larger scratches (dark marks slightly left of center in the low power photomicrograph) remained in the frame under the higher power objective. Note how the formerly dark high contrast scratches are now fully illuminated and visually interesting.

Next time: Adventures in Large Format Photomicrography! -K