Microscopes offer a glimpse into a world that we could never know without them. But this strange and alien place can be confusing to an untrained or inexperienced eye. Microscope pointers can help navigate the landscape of this tiny realm.
To use a microscope pointer, you must adjust the coarse and fine adjustment knobs to bring your sample into focus, then use your stage control knobs to center the item you want to highlight in your field of view. The microscope pointer will remain in focus regardless of your current magnification.
This article will discuss what microscope pointers are and the benefits of using them. We will also explain how they are used and how you can install them.
What Is a Microscope Pointer?
A microscope pointer, also known as the eyepiece pointer, is a thin but sturdy piece of material built into or mounted onto a microscope’s eyepiece. The precise construction material can vary, but fiberglass is often used. Its placement inside the eyepiece makes it part of the microscope’s lens assembly, and it isn’t affected by zoom magnification.
This is a massive improvement over the needle pointer. A needle pointer uses a narrow needle to point to items of interest manually. Its usefulness begins to drop after just ten times magnification when the tip of the needle approaches the same size as the specimen you wish to view.
It can be difficult or impossible for students and amateurs alike to identify parts of bacteria, cells, or other microscopic structures visible in a microscope’s field of view. For instructors, the microscope pointer is an invaluable learning tool. With it, you can highlight what you want your students to see and easily explain the item and how it relates to its surroundings.
Some microscopes come with a built in LCD screen for projection or an HDMI cable which allows a connection to a projector or television screen. Microscope pointers are great for real time analysis and discussion.
As a hobbyist, this tool allows you to point things out for interested parties rather than attempt to describe something for someone who may not be able to identify anything they see under the microscope.
Instructions: How to Use a Microscope Pointer
A microscope pointer is a fixed needle stretching to the center of the microscope’s field of vision. Like a targeting reticle, you can’t adjust the pointer on the fly. Instead, you move the sample you are viewing by adjusting the microscope stage.
These platforms can shift left, right, up, or down with small knobs at the side of the microscope. When partnered with a slide, the stage can make tiny and precise changes to the viewing area.
Using a microscope pointer is very simple:
- Use the coarse and fine adjustment knobs of the microscope to bring your sample into focus so you may see it clearly. Coarse and fine adjustment knobs move the stage up and down.
- Use the stage control knobs to bring the item you want to observe to the center of your field of view so that the pointer is pointing to it directly. The X-Y translational knobs move the stage forward, back, left, and right.
Having a slide clamped securely onto the microscope stage is, by far, the best way to take advantage of your pointer. You can move the stage smoothly in increments relative to the size of your magnified viewing area. It is simply too difficult for a person to make such tiny adjustments by hand on a scale smaller than what is visible to the naked eye.
Note: The microscope pointer is best used when the subject is not live or otherwise able to move out of view. It is least useful when observing live samples, especially if suspended in a solution as with concave slides. If an item can ascend or descend out of focus, it makes the pointer difficult to use.
Best Microscope Pointers
Many microscope pointers are professionally designed and manufactured. You can find high-quality products like this on Amazon.com, and here are the top items we have found:
- AmScope WF10X Microscope Eyepiece with Pointer – This AmScope microscope eyepiece features a wide field of view, ten times magnification, and a built-in pointer for highlighting objects of interest. At 23 mm (0.9 in) in diameter, this eyepiece will fit the most common compound microscopes. Having the pointer built into the eyepiece removes the need to install it yourself and the extra work which that entails.
- PT101 – Eyepiece Pointer Wire – Designed by Walter Products SE, this pointer wire is held inside a disk that will fit into most eyepieces and comes with a spring to hold it in place. If you do not want to replace your eyepiece or your microscope, but you want the convenience of a microscope pointer, this item is a very inexpensive fix to your problem.
How to Install a Microscope Pointer
The installation of a microscope pointer is not hard, and even the most complex of them is as easy as one, two, three. In fact, the most challenging part of the process is to keep dirt and dust off of your eyepiece and other microscope lenses.
Follow these steps to install a microscope pointer:
- Unscrew your microscope eyepiece and set it on a clean, dust-free surface. The eyepiece should be upside-down, so the viewing lens is flat, and the eyepiece’s tube is facing up. Take care not to touch the lens with your fingers as the oil on your skin can smudge the delicate glass and require careful cleaning and sterilization.
- Insert the disk containing your pointer into the eyepiece tube so that it lays flat.
- As with the PT101 model mentioned above, insert the spring into the tube on top of your pointer, securing it.
So it is that simple!
Creating Your Own Microscope Pointer
Though there are perfectly good microscope pointers available for sale, you may be tempted to create one for yourself because there is little to no cost involved. The process is simple, and you may already have the materials in your home or workplace right now. Keep in mind that once you install it this way it is not easily removed so you may want to do this only if you have an eyepiece to experiment with. You will need:
- A narrow, straight, and stiff fiber, like a bristle from a painter’s brush.
- A sharp cutting tool, like a pair of scissors.
- A strong epoxy, like glue or rubber cement.
- And optionally – A small ruler for your pointer’s desired length.
Then follow these steps, similar to those for installing a pointer:
- Cut your fiber to the desired length.
- Unscrew the microscope eyepiece and place it upside down on a flat surface.
- Locate the black ring in the wall of the eyepiece tube. It protrudes about 1/8th inch all around and is present in all eyepiece models. Attach your pointer to the side of the black ring closest to the eyepiece lens using a tiny amount of your chosen adhesive.
All finished! You have just crafted and installed a microscope pointer.
Takeaways
A microscope pointer is easy to use, but its usefulness is hard to overstate. As an instrument for both teaching and learning, its value for instruction far outweighs its minimal cost. If you do not own one but are a teacher or parent who wants to share microscopy knowledge, this is a small purchase that you will not regret.
