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Techniques for CollectorsTurn tables mentioned by Donald

12th May 2009 21:20 UTCEddy Vervloet Manager

Donald,

those turntables you mentioned in the other thread sound great! I think I have seen one at the Ste Marie Show.

We had our annual club show last weekend, and I did a little exhibition with the Micro Team of our club.

We filled two display cases with micros, accompanied by photos of the specimens. It had great succes.

Many visitors were surprised pictures could be taken of such small items!

See picture.

Your turntable could be a great idea for next year! Would you happen to have any pictures or design sketches?

13th May 2009 17:11 UTCDonald Peck

Eddy,

I love your displays! It is a great way to show the specimens to the public. When my photo talents progress far enough, I intend to try it.

It will take me a few days, but I will photograph my turntable and microscope and show it in this thread. Mine is made from the bell end of a 10 inch PVC sewer pipe. The pipe is the housing and I cut it to provide a pleasing profile. The round table inside can be lucite, fiberboard, or metal, it doesn't matter. It is mounted on a lazy-susan ball bearing race (it could be a center post) with a friction wheel below. A shaft from the friction wheel extends through the pipe/shell and has a knob for turning the table. The inside of the shell and the table are coated with black flocking and the outside is painted to match the stereo microscope. A plate or disk is cut into the bottom of the shell so it either bolts can be inserted in the clip holes of the microscope base or a disk fits into the disk depression. This is to keep the whole thing from sliding around. The top is covered with 1/4 inch thick lucite and held in place with thumb nuts. There is a hole under the scope that we learned (the hard way) to keep covered with a square of glass.

There is another design that I will add later.

Don

13th May 2009 18:58 UTCDonald Peck

I decided to get this done this afternoon.

MY TURNTABLE

M.T 002 shows the turntable attached to my microscope. Note the:

* knob for turning the table on the side of the housing shell;

* the 1/4" lucite top; the viewing hole through the top with a microscope slide fixed over it;

* the thumb nuts for holding the top in place

* the disk that fits the recess in the microscope base

M.T. 004 shows the underside of the turn table. Note the

* disk that fits the recess in the microscope base.,

* the center post that holds the turntable: I wanted ball bearings, so I stripped the fins from an old radio tuning condensor.

* the friction wheel at the right side (more in next message).

M.T. 003 shows the turntable from the top side. The rim has been doubled in thickness by cementing a strip cut from the circumference of the pipe to the inside edge. This hides the opening between the circular table and the shell; as well as providing a better seat for the top.

The paper disk inside the turntable is keyed to a list of specimens (species and localities) If the specimens are not quite parfocal, I use a tab of double-stick tape to fasten a small thin cardboard square to the bottom of any box that is "short".

13th May 2009 19:07 UTCDonald Peck

M.T. 005 shows a close up of the center post mount for the table.

M.T. 006 shows a close up of the friction wheel that drives the table. Here again, I used an old radio condensor. I stripped the fins and slid the shaft out to insert a rubber tired wheel (have to be careful, those da#%$&d ball bearings can really run away). The shaft goes through the shell to a knob on the right side, as you use it. A strip from the pipe was glued in the bottom edge in order to accomodate screws in the three rubber feet.

13th May 2009 19:21 UTCDonald Peck

Another design for a turntable.

Some micromounters from here prefer a turntable that holds fewer specimens. They cut a ring from the PVC pipe, about 8 inch diameter and inset a bottom mounted on a 4" lazy-susan bearing. The lazy-susan bearing is then mounted to an aluminum/aluminium plate and screw holes are drilled to mount the plate on the microscope base, using the stage clip holes. The top edge is doubled up by cementing a narrow strip cut from the pipe and recessed the thickness of a glass disk, which is inset to make its top surface flush with the top edge of the pipe ring. Use glass for the top, not lucite. Since the whole assembly turns, viewing is through the glass, all around the circumference.

This is a more simple design. It holds six or eight micros without crowding. And the table (ring, glass top, and all) is easily turned under the scope.

14th May 2009 09:09 UTCEddy Vervloet Manager

Great stuff, Donald!

You inspired me.

You also improved my english... NEVER heard of lazy susan... lol.

14th May 2009 16:13 UTCDonald Peck

Eddy, I don't know what folks across the pond call these, but a lazy-susan here is usually a round tray or table that rests on a circular ball-bearing mount so it can spin around its central axis. The hardware companies and home centers sell the bearings, most of which are two square steel plates with the ball-bearing races pressed into them. They are quite inexpensive, and well suited to mounting anything that one wishes to rotate.

Don

3rd Jul 2009 08:08 UTCRay Hill Expert

Just for your info Eddy, the name derives from a gadget used on dinner tables with all the serving dishes set on a revolving wooden turntable that rests on the center of the dining table. When guests or family want to serve themselves from a serving dish on the other side, they don't have to get up or ask for the food to be passed to them, they just gently turn the big turntable until the serving dish or other item is in front of them. Saves time and effort and hired help to serve, hence a LAZY SUSAN.

3rd Jul 2009 15:09 UTCDonald Peck

I was once at a table in a Chinese restaurant in Seoul, Korea that had a lazy-susan that must have been close to 8 ft. (2.4 meters) in diameter. The food was great, but the lazy-susan was lethal when they started to play drinking games with Chinese white whiskey.

4th Jul 2009 09:31 UTCEddy Vervloet Manager

Hehe! lol Donald!

5th Jul 2009 10:20 UTCRay Hill Expert

Hi Donald...LOL ...

I guess that Drunken Korean version would really not be a Lazy Susan, but rather a Hyper-Susan

5th Jul 2009 15:04 UTCDonald Peck

Ray, I think you go that right. In Korea (and maybe China, too) one does not pour one's own drink. Someone else pours it for you. That Chinese "white lightning" has a kick. So, what was happening was that someone would pour a drink, put it on the rotating table and turn it to face another person. That person was to down the drink, fill a glass and turn it to someone else. However, shortly one or two at the table acquired bottles that they did not put on the table. The result was that chosen individuals received an abundance of spirit . . .all with high spirits!

11th Sep 2009 15:13 UTCDonald Peck

I took my turn-table and scope to our local mineral club meeting last evening. It was loaded with carbonates so the specimens were fairly colorful. About half of the members and guests had never looked at a micro through a microscope, and there was high interest in doing so.

Our newsletter has a feature, "Mineral of the Month". In future, I think I will take micros of that mineral to see if we can build some interest in this aspect of the hobby.

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