Zeiss OpMi-1 surgical microscope

[maynah]

I have a friend who works at a hospital, and they were disposing of a Zeiss surgical microscope, ENT office, and he asked me if I was interested. Just the name Zeiss had me interested so I said sure. First let me say I'm a retired gunsmith and I usually am in the antique forum and every once in a while poke my head in one of the other areas. I figured members here would be most familiar with my questions. My new microscope was made in West Germany so it must be at least 40 or so years old.
Is there anyplace I can get users manuals or parts? I know nothing about microscopes so need all the help I can get. On the front and bottom of the head are dovetailed mounting surfaces, (5th picture), what accessories would mount there? I haven't cleaned it up yet so the pictures I post are in as found condition. My research so far only finds much newer equipment. I don't really need this but it may turn out to be one of those things you didn't know you needed until you had one. I will say this, everything on it is so silky smooth it reminds me of turning an Albrecht drill chuck. It feels like the head is counterweighted inside the column, so again, silky one finger vertical movements.
Thanks for any insights.

 

[jim rozen]

Go buy a lottery ticket now. Possibly some of your incredible luck will carry over. You may want to find a smaller arm support so you can use this on the bench. That microscope (zee german optiks!) is considered to be among the best.

 

[maynah]

Yes, I know from rifle scopes it doesn't get any better than Zeiss or Swarovski.
And I actually also got a second microscope that I thought I might turn into a bench mount and leave the Zeiss as a roll around. This one is a JKH Fiberlight and must be for colonoscopies given its name. FO 101 Colposcope. It's smaller and much better suited for a crowded work bench. And given how a colonoscopy is done it's set up for horizontal work. I'll have to do some altering to make it more versatile. It also has a greenish light for some reason. Its not as green as the picture looks.
Excuse my shop. I moved recently and am still setting things up.

 

[Renardiere]

Regarding the Colposcope it's for the other hole! It's for microscopic examination of the cervix in ladies.

I'd love to get hold of an operating microscope like that Zeiss. The dovetail receiver by the way is likely for the attachment of sterile handles once the procedure has started so the scrubbed surgeon can manoeuvre the 'scope himself.

 

[maynah]

Oops! Thanks for that information Renardiere. I guess that still explains the horizontal positioning.
I think I’ll try to contact Zeiss and see if they can help me with any information about a decades old microscope.

 

[jccaclimber]

The only thing I have to add is that you should make a cover for those eyepieces if you're going to store it oriented vertically. At some point it was explained to me that the correct frequency to clean microscope eyepieces is as infrequently as possible. Every time you clean them you might cause a scratch. Keep them covered and it's less of an issue.

 

[maynah]

Good advice jccaclimber. Thanks.

 

[eKretz]

The only thing I have to add is that you should make a cover for those eyepieces if you're going to store it oriented vertically. At some point it was explained to me that the correct frequency to clean microscope eyepieces is as infrequently as possible. Every time you clean them you might cause a scratch. Keep them covered and it's less of an issue.

Yes! I have a full cover on my microscopes and they *still* gather dust on the eyepieces. So I started separately covering those. I also use a "canned air" duster frequently to prolong time between actually needing to clean the eyepieces. That works pretty well. Just a few soft, short blasts every time I use the scopes.

 

[Mike Henry]

Not sure how much it helps, but I 3-D printed covers for my stereo scope that are slip fits over the eyepieces.

 

[jccaclimber]

I’m not home for a week and don’t have a picture, but I did the same. I printed a wide cover that covers both eyepieces at once.

The working distance may be much longer on yours than mine, but if not you might also secure a thin glass disc (available on McMaster Carr) over the objective. I worked at a place that regularly crashed the lens due to trying to focus on the bottom of deep holes. Turns out they aren’t designed for that, and they aren’t cheap to replace either. I know better than to crash my own scope, but in group settings I typically fit a cover if one is not included. It can result in minor chromatic abbreviations at high magnification, but it’s very minor with a thin cover and much cheaper than a damaged objective lens.

 

[jccaclimber]

Finally got to taking a picture of my printed eyepiece cover. Removed for the photo, but I normally have the fabric dust cover for the scope over it as well unless I’m actively using the scope. The room it is in is a dusty mess, but the scope stays clean.

 

[maynah]

Thanks jccaclimber, that's a nice set-up.

I contacted Zeiss about literature and parts but never heard back.
So of course I checked ebay and there was some old Zeiss paperwork there.
I got a bundle of Zeiss information. The factory manuals aren't super detailed and that must have been a problem for the instrument seller because they wrote their own instructions. I'm going to post a few pages here for some future soul who is searching for some knowledge like I am. Hopefully it will help someone.
I have more so if someone is looking for more information I may have it.
This will all be for "Made in West Germany" scopes.

From: Storz Instrument Co., St. Louis, Missouri

 

[jim rozen]

There's tricks to setting the diopter adjustments. Do your dominant eye first - block the non-dominant eye from the eyepiece with a card. Zoom close, focus the microscope. Zoom out, adjust the eyepeiece diopter to recover the focus. Repeat this several times until the zoomed image and the zoomed out image are both in focus without touching the microscopes focus rack. Then swap the card to your dominant eye and repeat the process with your non-dominant eye.

If your microscope has only one diopter adjustment, put it on your dominant eye.

If you just close the eye your are not using the shape of your eyeball will change a bit and make the adjustment process not as good as it might be, hence block the unused eye with a card, don't squint the eye closed.

 

[specfab]

Maynah, you scored nicely. I have wanted a similar setup for some years, both for lathe work specifically, and general oddball microscope needs in various oddball situations in the shop. Color me deep green with envy.

 

[maynah]

Thanks all for the replies.
One thing I'm looking forward to is a little surgical work.
I hate those little splinters. You know the stilettos that you can't see but every time you brush against something, shoots a burst of pain through your hand.
I'll be like the character in the Prince and the Pauper. The pauper was sitting on the throne of the Realm and he was using the Great Seal of England to crack walnuts.
I'll be cracking walnuts with the Zeiss.