One answer to the Microscope Boom Problem

[watchmaker]

I have 4 booms in my watch shop.  They are terrific for getting over obstacles like a lathe and bench side panels. But they take up a lot of real estate.

As you can see, my temporary (while I experiment with configurations) lab bech is already cramped.  I have about 20 feet of good horizontal space in the watch shop that is well lit and I am thinking of downsizing that operation and moving the lab to there.  In the meantime, needs must.



Anyway, I do not have the space for a boom mount base.  I did have an AO desk mount. Weighted down by my polishing block, it works well.  The mount is attached to gasket paper with double sided tape so I can move it without screwing up my surface cover.

I may use a focuser to mount a PCB holder and clamp it to the end of the bench so I can raise and lower the board for focus rather than change my sitting position which would be required by focusing at the head.

I looked through the catalogs and there exists a desk mount with double slides on a U-foot that looks like it was made exactly for this purpose.  I am now fishing for one.

I simply take the head off my watchbench and carry it to the lab bench.  Here I use a .4x barlow which gives me the right head position and working distance.