[HN Gopher] OpenFlexure Microscope
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OpenFlexure Microscope
Author : o4c
Score : 60 points
Date : 2026-01-21 04:16 UTC (6 days ago)
(HTM) web link (openflexure.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (openflexure.org)
| gnabgib wrote:
| Popular in:
|
| 2024 (189 points, 20 comments)
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42115243
|
| 2021 (113 points, 39 comments)
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27216452
| ChuckMcM wrote:
| Yeah, the user 'o4c' appears to be a bot that reposts things
| that have been previously popular.
| o4c wrote:
| Hello, first of all sorry. I am not bot, a human user.
|
| I was searching for open source DIY microscope projects and
| found the OpenFlexure Microscope as the first search result.
| After reading through the project and finding it technically
| interesting, I submitted it to Hacker News. Fortunately, it
| reached the front page approximately five days after
| submission.
|
| If you search for the term "open source microscope," you will
| see the same link appearing as the top result.
|
| https://www.google.com/search?q=open+source+microscope&oq=op.
| ..
|
| From my observation, information related to precision
| engineering is not widely known and can be difficult to find.
| Because of this, overlapping submissions can sometimes occur.
| I apologize if this caused any repetition. Detailed teardowns
| of precision instruments such as gauges, metrology tools, and
| scientific equipment are relatively rare, which contributes
| to this situation.
| anfractuosity wrote:
| Another 3D printed microscope https://github.com/TadPath/PUMA
| looks very interesting too.
| nickparker wrote:
| Fun old project but the technology has improved[0] since then.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgQbPdiuUTw
| Aurornis wrote:
| Since you seem familiar with this space, are there any other
| open source well documented projects that I could look at? The
| nice part about OpenFlexure is the documentation and community.
| Would be great if I could find another project going the same
| direction, even if it's up and coming.
| kwk1 wrote:
| If I may jump in, here's a neat one:
|
| https://www.braillerap.org/en/
| abdullahkhalids wrote:
| The core of a microscope are the lenses. For this, you are
| required to buy three different ones [1]. One of these can be
| acquired from Thorlabs for 65 USD [2].
|
| How difficult would it be to build lenses of this quality "at
| home"?
|
| [1] https://build.openflexure.org/openflexure-
| microscope/v7.0.0-...
|
| [2] https://www.thorlabs.com/item/AC127-050-A
| dekhn wrote:
| It's not super practical to make objectives. While I suppose
| it's technically possible, what you produce will almost
| certainly be worse, more expensive, and more time-consuming.
|
| $65 for a good lens is really not a huge amount of money; you
| can also find slightly cheaper lenses (about $20 on
| aliexpress).
|
| To make a lens like this, you would have to buy a glass blank
| of the right type (two, actually- a doublet is made of two
| different types of glass), grind and polish them (very messy),
| and then bond them and apply an antireflective coating. Getting
| the lens geometry just right is very challenging. Or you can
| just give Thorlabs $65 and focus (ha) on building a microscope
| around it (I do this as a hobby; I'm sitting next to one of
| those lenses right now).
|
| However, folks do this, see http://www.microscopy-
| uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www... but I can tell you
| from the images that you could get the same results (better
| really) with a $150 microscope (which also embeds many hundreds
| of years of practical technology that make your experience
| significantly better).
|
| Also, if you're really keen on doing it yourself for
| pedagogical reasons, then have at it, I just don't think it's
| the best use of time.
| dekhn wrote:
| If you have a 3d printer, I think one of the most practical
| things you can do is make UC2 cubes (or just buy them). It's
| simpler to print, a bit more flexible, and a good introduction to
| the various technologies.
| augusteo wrote:
| I don't work in hardware, but projects like this are inspiring.
| Taking something expensive and specialized and making it
| accessible with open designs.
|
| The WHO recognition for low-resource settings is the kind of
| impact that matters.
| jacquesm wrote:
| Amazing and possibly related:
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46771881
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