I came across an interesting article on the Internet about how to make a microscope out of a smartphone. The process in it was described in very detail and clearly - the author really understood what he was writing about. I even wanted to read the rest of his notes. But what a disappointment I was when I discovered that the note was translated and borrowed from a German site.
Among the creative intelligentsia, borrowing ideas is not particularly condemned. So I wanted to repeat the foreign experience and write more detailed material. It is not difficult to repeat the design of a table for a smartphone. The table can be made in one evening if you stock up on everything you need.
Four M8 x 100 mm bolts, M8 nuts and a pair of wings were purchased at the nearest hardware store.
Turning your smartphone into a microscope is very simple: you just need to put a small lens on the camera lens. The lens can be removed from an old CD drive or from a laser pointer purchased at your local kiosk. But when you attach the lens to your smartphone. then you will encounter one problem: holding the smartphone level at a short distance from the subject is very difficult due to the small depth of field. This is where you need to start making a special table.
The base of the table is made from scrap boards 20 mm thick. Holes for bolts with a diameter of 8 mm are drilled in the corners. I got 3mm thick plexiglass at work and borrowed a stationery stand. From it I cut out a table cover on which there will be
lie smartphone. Just like in the base, holes for bolts are drilled in the cover. A subject table was cut out from the same stand to accommodate objects of study.
We secure the lid. It rests on four nuts and is secured with nuts from above.
Insert the bolts into the holes in the base. Their heads will be the legs of the table.
We fix the bolts with nuts.
Now we install the stage. The table rests on two wings, which also adjust its height.
A hole is drilled in the cover for the lens. Even two, since I managed to find two different lenses. The hole is drilled with a diameter smaller than the diameter of the lens, and then bored to the desired size with a round file. The location for the hole for the lens must be selected by placing the smartphone on the cover and marking the position of the camera lens with a felt-tip pen.
We make the hole conical (it tapers downwards) - then the lens fits into the hole and does not fall through. There is no need to secure the lens with anything.
Visually, the piece of glass for scrapbooking provides a very decent magnification.
Last year I ordered various pieces of glass for boxes from Ali. A bag of 20 transparent cabochons with a diameter of mm cost about a dollar. This cabochon was used as a lens.
Poppy flower, stamens. Shooting in the sun without a table, handheld. The magnification estimate is 30…40x.
The first object of study is a banknote. We fix the hundred-ruble note on the object table. We combine the lens with the lens, turn on the camera mode and place the smartphone on the cover. Next, using the thumbwheels, we adjust the position of the stage, trying to achieve maximum image sharpness.
Hundred ruble bill. The picture turned out to be quite clear, the image was slightly blurred only at the edges. The magnification estimate is 30…40x.
Dandelion under a microscope. Shooting without a table, handheld. Magnification estimate - 30,..40x.
DIY LENS FROM A LASER POINTER
Still, I wanted to improve the quality of the microworld images. “Perhaps if you used a real lens, the image would be better.” - I thought. On the way home from work, I bought a laser pointer at a newsstand for 150 rubles.
Microfont on a 500-ruble bill: the image was slightly blurred at the edges. Magnification rating - 60...80x.
Fine river sand. It turned out to be a very beautiful photo!
I disassembled the device and got a small lens. The soft pad from the pointer also came in handy.
The lens with the gasket fit perfectly into the place of the cabochon. All that remains is to combine the camera lens with it. Surprisingly, the smartphone itself focuses the lens, taking into account another optical element. How he does this remains a mystery to me.
Experimenting with cabachon. I completely forgot that a good microscope should have a standard backlight. The better the subject is illuminated, the better the photo will be. This is where the powerful LED flashlight from the survival kit came in handy. By changing the angle of illumination of the subject, I achieved greater image sharpness.
Fragments of a mosquito that wanted to bite me. Shooting in reflected light, magnification rating - 60...80x.
Afterword
Make a microscope at the dacha - open a window into the microworld for children! Perhaps this experience will determine their future specialty.
MICROSCOPE FROM YOUR PHONE WITH YOUR OWN HANDS – VIDEO AT HOME
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Free shippingBefore you make a microscope with your own hands, you should understand what it can be used for, as well as what materials will be required for this. It should be noted right away that you can build such a structure yourself, and you do not need any expensive elements.
What is the device used for?
In principle, the main goal of any microscope is to magnify an object by several tens or hundreds of times. The presented devices are used not only in biology lessons at school, but also in medicine, electronics and other fields. For example, thanks to a digital microscope, it is possible to repair very small microcircuits, mobile and computer boards.
The most convenient is the electronic device, since it is capable of magnifying the object very much. It should be noted that building a microscope with your own hands is not difficult. You just need to know its structure and also collect the necessary materials.
What can the device be made from?
Naturally, you can construct a microscope with your own hands from scratch. However, often those people who understand electronics, computer technology and optics make the presented device based on other units: cameras, binoculars, web cameras.
Before starting to manufacture a structure, it is necessary to accurately determine its functions and select the necessary elements. It is also advisable to make a drawing of the device on paper. Naturally, all the necessary calculations are made.
We make the device from scratch: necessary materials and tools
In order to make a microscope with your own hands without ready-made instruments, you will need the following equipment:
Glass tube. Its length should be approximately 20 cm and its diameter up to 6 mm.
Several plates (preferably copper). The thickness of the metal should not be large (about 1 mm). As for the overall dimensions of the plates, they are 3*6 cm.
Several small pieces of glass.
Small diameter drill.
Gas-burner.
Hammer.
Screwdriver.
Nuts and screws.
If you do not have metal that will serve as a base for the structure, you can use thick cardboard. However, keep in mind that in this case the device will not be durable and will not last for a long time.
Making a device: instructions
Before making a microscope, familiarize yourself with the sequence of work:
1. First of all, you need to make a small ball from a glass tube using a torch, which will serve as a lens for the device. Please note that this element should never be touched with your hands, as marks will remain on the surface, which will subsequently distort the image.
2. At this stage you need to make a housing for the lens. To do this you will need metal plates. To make the use of such a device convenient and safe, it is necessary to round the corners. Holes should be drilled in the “body”: 4 mounting holes and one inspection hole.
3. Now you can assemble the entire structure together. To do this, a “lens” is installed between the plates, and the body is bolted together. Next, on one side of the lens, using tape, you can glue the glass onto which the object will be placed.
This microscope design is manual and the simplest. The presented device can be used by adults and children at home. For professional work, you will need a more complex, digital device. Next you will learn how to build it.
How to make an electron microscope: necessary materials
To make the presented device, a webcam is usually used. Before making a microscope of this type, collect all the necessary material and tools:
Personal computer or laptop.
Webcam (preferably with manual focus). Please note that we will need a lens, so it should be easy to remove from the original device.
Several large and small corners, from which a stand will subsequently be constructed.
A steel tube of small diameter and a special mount that can move and be fixed on the metal surface.
A small mirror or flash from a mobile phone to create lighting.
Metal plate for making a platform.
Fasteners, as well as a hot glue gun.
Instructions for making a digital microscope
Making a digital microscope with your own hands is very simple, you just need to follow a certain sequence of actions:
1. First you need to build a “skeleton” of the structure. To do this, you need to connect the metal plate to the corners. All elements can be bolted together. A small diameter metal pipe can be used as a tripod. It has certain advantages. For example, using special fasteners, you can screw another small piece of pipe to the vertical element, to which the lens will be attached. If necessary, you can raise or lower this element. In addition, to build a platform, you can also use a small cardboard box into which a tripod is inserted and filled with tile (or other) glue. Please note that the structure must be as stable as possible.
2. Next, you can make a focus adjustment knob. For this, a nylon thread (or elastic band), a movable sleeve, and an eyelet are used to fix the thread on a tripod. That is, you need to make a kind of gearbox, thanks to which the focusing accuracy of the lens increases.
3. Next, making an electron microscope with your own hands is simple. Now you need to unscrew the lens from the webcam. Do this carefully so as not to damage the element. Next you need to turn it over and put it in place. Use hot melt adhesive for fastening. The finished structure can be attached to the movable part of the tripod. Under it you should organize a subject table with lighting. For this, a regular LED is used.
4. Lastly, you need to process the webcam wire. That is, you should cut off its thick braid. In this case, it will become more flexible and will not interfere with the movement of the lens.
Now you know how to make a microscope with your own hands. Good luck!
How to make a simple Leeuwenhoek microscope
First, we will learn how to make small lenses - glass balls with a diameter of 1.5 - 3 mm.Take a glass tube at least 15 - 20 cm long and 4 - 6 mm in diameter. Heat it in the middle over a fire until the glass softens, remembering to turn it around its axis all the time. Feeling that the tube has become plastic in the middle, sharply move its two ends apart. You will end up with two tubes with thin, long tips at one end.
Heat the tip over the flame of an alcohol lamp or gas burner so that surface tension forces form a glass ball at its end.
Place the glass ball into the recess using tweezers. Place the second plate on top and tighten them together using screws and nuts. (We specially made a collapsible design in order to experiment with balls of different diameters). The heads of the screws should be on the side of the protrusion of the viewing hole, because when viewing the microscope touches the skin of the face.
Now, using adhesive tape (tape), attach the cover glass from the school microscope along the contour to the copper plate opposite the viewing hole. (If you don't have one, a clear plastic piece cut from a plastic bottle will work).
Place the object you want to view through the microscope opposite the viewing hole and cover it with a second cover slip. But you see in the photo that the object of observation is a simple thread.
The microscope needs to be brought to the eye itself and look through it at some light source. This could be a window on a bright sunny day or a table lamp. After this, an amazing microworld will open to you. A thread, for example, will look like a huge rope with broken cables sticking out. The leg of a common fly will most likely resemble the leg of an elephant, heavily covered with bristles.
It is no less interesting to consider different liquids. If you look at watercolor paint very diluted in water, you can see the famous Brownian motion of paint particles in water. The milk will appear before you in the form of huge floating islands of fat droplets. Water from a nearby puddle hides an invisible world of microorganisms that do not even suspect that you are closely watching them.
Frog blood looks absolutely stunning when viewed under a microscope.
During my school years, I really liked looking at different objects under a microscope. Anything - from the insides of a transistor to various insects. And so, I recently decided to play around with the microscope again, subjecting it to some minor alterations. That's what came out of it:
Under the microscope - the KS573RF2 microcircuit (ROM with UV erasure). Once upon a time, a test program for the Spectrum was recorded on it.
If you try to solve the problem “head-on” - placing the camera at the eyepiece of a microscope, then nothing good will come of it: it is very difficult to find a point where at least something is visible, the camera is constantly trying to adjust the exposure, the visible area is very small (in the video from this is visible in the first version of the eyepiece). So I decided to go a different route
A little theory
The image that the human eye sees in geometric optics is called a virtual image, and the image that can be projected onto a screen is called a real image.The camera perceives a virtual image, converts it into a real image using a lens, and projects it onto the matrix.
As my experiments have shown, in a microscope everything is the other way around: the image before the eyepiece is real (since by substituting a sheet of paper I saw what was under the microscope), and after the eyepiece it is imaginary (because it is visible to the eye).
Therefore, if you remove the lens from the camera and the eyepiece from the microscope, the image will immediately be projected onto the webcam matrix.
More details about geometric optics -.
From theory to practice
I disassemble the camera:
I remove the lens: 
First test:
To make something last forever, you need to rewind it with blue electrical tape...
I am making a tube that will be inserted into the microscope in place of the eyepiece: 
The tube is a little smaller in diameter than needed, so one end had to be “expanded” a little.
I secure the tube with hot glue to the camera without a lens: 
I insert instead of one of the eyepieces: 
Ready! 
Below are a few videos that were shot using this lens:
Fly's eye
eInk screen from PocketBook 301+
Retina screen from iPod
Nokia 6021 screen
CD surface
Do you want, without purchasing a complex microscope, to observe the most interesting life of the simplest algae and other invisible inhabitants of a drop of stagnant water, to penetrate with your gaze into the secrets of plant cells and to discern red blood cells? Do you want to see what the wonderful scales of a butterfly’s wings and the smallest flower pollen look like under high magnification? If you like to do everything yourself, then making a 200-500x microscope will not present any difficulty for you. The microscope is original - without a single glass lens (a regular one has several). Its main optical part is a tin plate with a small hole of 0.3-2.5 mm, into which a drop of water or, better yet, glycerin is placed, held by capillary attraction. If the hole is well processed, the drop takes the shape of a regular, strongly convex lens. Through this single, but very strong “lens”, a transparent or fairly small object is viewed in transmitted light, which is placed at a distance of 0.2-3 mm from the lens, depending on its magnification. The tin plate with drop is held by the top wooden block, which can be raised and lowered with a screw. The block is hinged on the stand. On another, located just below the fixed block, there is a tube glued together from paper, into which another movable tube is inserted, secured with a screw. A round stationary plastic table with a 6-8 mm hole is glued to this tube on top, along which another movable square plastic table moves in two horizontal directions with the help of screws and a spring. A metal bracket prevents it from lifting and jumping off. The hole in this table is made larger. A round plate, also with a wide hole, is glued to the top of the square movable table. A glass slide is placed on it. The diameter of the tables and plates should not exceed 50 mm. To protect the liquid lens from dust and from deformation, it is protected with a piece of clean celluloid film, which is glued to a small plastic washer. For convenience, a round, 30 mm in diameter, eyepiece shield with a hole for the eye is attached to the upper movable block. The shield can be moved to the side when replacing the lens. The object is illuminated from below by a movable mirror through a diaphragm equipped with holes from 2 to 15 mm, providing a significant improvement in image quality if the diaphragm is placed no closer than 100 mm from the object. The central post is fixed motionless in the stand. The object to be examined is placed on glass that does not extend beyond the table. To obtain a good image, it is especially important to carefully process the hole for the drop in the plate, since even a slight irregularity in the hole, an imperceptible blockage or burrs will distort the drop and spoil the image. Therefore, when drilling and processing a hole, its quality must be constantly checked using a strong magnifying glass. To prevent the drop from spreading, the plate is lubricated with Vaseline and then wiped almost dry. The plate and glycerin must be immaculately clean: the smallest debris in the glycerin will settle to the bottom or float to the top of the drop and turn into a foggy spot in the very center of the field of view. For greater magnification, smaller diameter holes must be used. It is better to make a set of plates with holes from 0.3 to 2.5 mm. With skillful handling, the microscope can provide magnification up to 700 times. Every tinkerer can make such a device in a short time from small pieces of wood, plastic, a tin can and a few screws.
"Technology of Youth", 1960, No. 1, Grebennikov V.S.
Here are drawings of a very simple pocket microscope, which is convenient to use on a hike. To make it you will not need any scarce parts, not even lenses. It is replaced by... a drop of water. In a wooden block (40x70x20 mm) you drill (turn) a through hole with a diameter of 8 mm and paint it from the inside with black gouache paint. This is a microscope tube. It must be located exactly relative to the center lines of the bar. Then cut out two disks from tin (from a tin can), one for apertures, the other for lenses. When riveting the diaphragm disk to the bracket, remember: 1) that it should be pressed so tightly against it that there is no side illumination into the tube, and 2) that the center line of the tube should coincide with the holes of the diaphragms. The focusing bar is attached to the block (the base of the microscope) also with strict adherence to the axial alignment of the centers of the lenses with the center of the tube. Be especially careful when making the objective disk: the quality of the microscope’s operation depends on the cleanliness of the holes made. Having marked the disk according to the drawing, punch holes in it and unfold them with an awl. Sharpen the resulting burrs on a whetstone. The holes must be of the correct shape and the required diameter and, most importantly, must have a bevel (chamfer) necessary to form a droplet sphere. The counterbore of the holes is directed outward. The objective disk is attached to the focusing bar with a rivet and washer. Before using the microscope, carefully wipe the objective disk with a cloth, and lightly grease the edges of the holes intended for water lenses with some kind of grease, then the water droplets will not spread. Cut out glass slides (15x70 mm) from photographic plate. Place the object in question between them and slide both glasses into the socket of the bar so that the object in question is opposite the viewing lens. Then use the pointed end of a match to draw clean water and touch it to both holes of the objective disk. Once in the holes, the drops will take the shape of biconvex lenses. This will give you liquid microscope objectives. Do not allow drops to spread over the surface of the disc. Bring the finished microscope to your eye with a liquid lens and point the tube towards the light source. Rays of light, passing through the hole in the disk and through the object in question, enter the eye. By rotating the bolt, you can move the lens disk closer or further from the subject in question and thereby achieve the best image sharpness. The degree of magnification can be changed by turning the objective dial and placing first one or the other lens against the object in question. The best magnification will be obtained by a drop lens placed in a hole of a smaller diameter. The aperture dial makes adjustments easy and gives the subject in question brightness and clarity. In the wind, on hot days, drops of water quickly evaporate, so new drops of water have to be released into the holes from time to time. Water can be replaced with pure glycerin.
S. Vetsrumb
and. Young Technician 1962, No. 8, pp. 74-75.
