I Saved an Electron Microscope from the Trash

[@theslowmoguys]

Epic repair

[@projectsinflight]

Thank you! it was a lot of fun and some stress lol

[@nipz58]

crazy

[@yashrajshah7766]

Not expected you guys to be here :)

[@Mr-CRIZ]

SEM won't slow mo the light

[@S0dif]

word

[@notyourbusiness4169]

What's more epic is that the seller kept their word and actually messaged you back when they wanted to scrap it.

[@emeltea33]

Agreed, that was amazing.

[@AckzaTV]

Why? Of course he wanted to have free junk removal. It's probably a nuclear felony to throw this thing in a dumpster or landfill lol

[@Abderrahmane-zq3bw]

@@AckzaTVit’s not a nuclear felony and they totally could’ve sold it for parts

[@dylankeen3618]

@@Abderrahmane-zq3bwwrong crt’s have elements in them that need to be disposed of properly especially for labs

[@5th3rd-f6k]

@@AckzaTV it has no actual radioactive martial inside but it has an high power active source aka electric powered electron gun which is no different then what you have inside an old TV set just a bit more powerful your not likely to set off an explosion with it or containment an area 100 miles around it but could it kill somebody ya

[@argfasdfgadfgasdfgsdfgsdfg6351]

This is INCREDIBLY cool. Not just the repair itself, but also the fact that there is actually a 'repair-your-electron-microscope-at-home community' out there.

[@projectsinflight]

I was so lucky to find the SEM discord

[@humanplace1962]

the fact that it even exists 😭

[@CatBahptista]

@@humanplace1962 Humans yo

[@gloriousg]

@@projectsinflightwhaaaat there’s an SEM discord?? Is there a TEM ONE 😅

[@reubennelson4086]

Imagine telling the person who designed that microscope, that in the future there will be a library multiple timesgreater than the sum total of all information uptill that point, with a million for (forums) in it, one of which will be solely dedicated to repairing this guys one specific machine with about 50 people in it. I can barely comprehend my mind around it.

[@mussagan]

PhD Materials here. Please accept my heartfelt congratulations for such a phenomenal job; it was a heck of a repair.

[@seacowDUGONG]

Are you a bomb technician?

[@theorangeoof926]

“Gordon doesn't need to hear all this, he's a highly trained professional!” Sounds similar to being a materials handler lol

[@generic0000]

I worked for JEOL for 7 years as a field service engineer. I'm super impressed with what you've accomplished. As far as I can tell, you've done everything right. I'm surprised that pump failed, those things are bulletproof. They used them for decades and this is the first bad one I've seen. The image shifting issue looks like it's an issue with the CRT, or maybe it's driving circuit. It seems to only be on the bottom of the screen and is mag independent. The only things that could cause the image to dance around like that are the CRT or the beam scanning system, which would be effected by mag and the image shift (that is what the joystick is for if I recall). EMI can cause that too, but it would be everywhere not just the bottom. Keep up the great work.

[@projectsinflight]

Regarding the pump: i suspect that if i was more careful, i could find the issue and fix it, but unfortunately this pump is very difficult to troubleshoot because of it's odd design. Regarding the CRT: yeah it does seem like there is an issue with the driving circuit. seems like the whole screen stretches and shrinks at a time. i'll try replacing the caps and stuff first.

[@generic0000]

@projectsinflight I'm sure I don't have to say this, but be sure everything is discharged before you mess with the CRT or anything in its circuit. I actually got bit from a CRT I thought was discharged when I was converting an old SEM to LCD. I would probably try to clean up the image capture signal chain before fixing the CRT. Especially since the image output could be convenient for videos. You could probably just turn the beam off and poke around with an O scope. Then any signal you see is just noise. It's likely a bad connection or a ground. Possibly noise on the reference voltage of the ADC. I've never messed with one of those systems, so I'm just guessing. Good luck.

[@dale4034]

It's really cool that you got this dinosaur working even if not yet perfect. Finding things you want to examine with it may take a little time. I once saw an image of a coin that had an added mintmark. The microscope made it obvious that the mintmark was added.

[@Awaken2067833758]

After all those years, replacing all the crt capacitors is a must. Do you know what are the video signal specifications, a big non green screen is a nice upgrade

[@oleg.kordonets]

​​@@generic0000 JEOL BioMagesty 6010c? DiaSys, Germany? )

[@priyavkaneria]

35 mins of most interesting and satisfying repair ever

[@projectsinflight]

Glad you liked it!

[@treadmillrepair754]

@@priyavkaneria I think the same.

[@elliot14]

I loved every second

[@coenraadloubser5768]

@@projectsinflight Are you sure the CRT artifacts aren't just interference on your unshielded RCA cable? The blue one you removed looked like it was shielded pretty well, after all...

[@cyberbiosecurity]

@@priyavkaneria i agree, never saw a more interesting repair video lol

[@toast_recon]

Performing a repair on any machine with *this many parts* nonfunctional or degraded is incredible. Troubleshooting gets exponentially harder with the number of failures, and I'm shocked you got anywhere. Kudos.

[@projectsinflight]

The schematics are 60 pages long... it's a lot to look at lol

[@RowanHawkins]

​@@projectsinflightcan you put detailed scans online, or was each machine bespoke enough that the schematics and BOM are unique for every unit?

[@projectsinflight]

@@RowanHawkins There are some variances in the schematics for the JSM5200 depending on what year it was made, but they are largely the same. The issue at hand is whether or not it is legal to post schematics like this publicly. I suspect JEOL wouldn't care since it is a 40 year old design, but I suspect it is still not legal.

[@Gisiebob]

I'm glad you didn't have to go hunting through all that wiring and components for bad solder joints

[@somedude2492]

​@@projectsinflightschematics are part of the user manual for those kinds of things, and were generally provided to the end user either with the machine or if the owner of a machine asked the manufacturer for the documentation. Being that this is so niche, i would advocate for scanning everything you have and creating an entry in the internet archive for future reference. You never know when somebody might be trying to fix a machine similar to this 5, 10 or 15 years down the line. It may even be yourself if you ever lose the physical copy.

[@TheCharlieGordon]

That is the REAL restoration video. Not some fake "found old bike in a forest" scam. Beautiful and RESPECT.

[@SwiftEMC]

I agree this is an outstanding video. Another restoration I love is this series of a dude restoring an old dozer, a 50+ episode series and its honestly something amazing. Highly reccomend checking it out if you're into restorations! kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6HJZJaAfsaYetk Merry Christmas

[@vanq86]

The entire knife making community would LOVE to see what sharpened knife edges look like with an SEM. Different edge profiles / thicknesses, different steels, etc.... It would make for a great collab to have someone like Dr. Larrin Thomas from Knife Steel Nerds send you some different material / hardness / angle coupons to see what they look like before and after use, to really understand how knives become dull etc.

[@projectsinflight]

Added to my list of things to image!

[@Hilianus]

I imagine having a look at such knives would be rather... Destructive. The chamber for the SEM doesn't look nearly big enough to fit an entire knife into it, meaning that it'll have to be sharpened in a specific way and then BROKEN to fit in. It'd be rather hard to measure "regular" knife use on such a sharpened blade if you effectively have only about 2-3 inches of it. Though perhaps smaller blades may fit? Like the punch-knives that are supposed to stick forward from between the fingers of your clenched fist? Certainly an interesting prospect though?

[@generic0000]

A knife blade at SEM magnification would probably be pretty underwhelming. Unless of course he had an EBSD detector. That can image the different grain regions in metals. A damascus knife might look cool, but even then the mag would still be too heigh.

[@arjen4120]

​@@generic0000he's talking about the edge of the knife. Not the blade

[@firstnamethenalastname]

​@@projectsinflight reach out to OUTDOORS55, he's a freehand sharpening *savant* who uses a cheap-ish digital microscope to show differences in edge quality

[@Gislos]

As a low-level professional industry mechanic. I remember long days of really trying to fix something that had multiple problems. You go over it 100 times in your head. Going home and still thinking about it. Then get a new idea (sometimes in dreams) and then try it, only to see it didn't work. But the beauty of it is that sometimes it's fixable, and the thrill you get from seeing it working again. Your work in this video really captures that journey. Thank you for sharing it (❤ 10 µm in size)

[@projectsinflight]

[@theeltea]

I can relate. Sometimes it borders on an unhealthy obsession...

[@vidyadharpatil6683]

And you can't wait to go to work next day and try the new thing you just got. 😅 One of the few days going to work was not a drag.

[@jxdigital]

@Gislos I can relate to the same experience, but with coding

[@somedude2492]

Jumping in happiness looking at something that's broken or has blown up is a weird thing to explain to people outside of this line... "YES it's burnt to a crisp, totally broken and destroyed, BUT now i know _what_ part of it is broken, burnt and destroyed, AND I CAN FIX IT!"

[@JamesStokes-y2f]

Had to watch it twice. My dad worked for jeol, in the mid '70. Always on the road, at mostly University and labs around. Always brought home prints of mineral and blood cells. Thank you now I know why he was always installing and lining the columns up.

[@projectsinflight]

Oh my god I wish I had him around to help me fix this column. It's clearly slightly misaligned and I have NO IDEA how to fix it

[@jtian1183]

Must have got the patience of a saint to perform this repair, congrats! A short list of the faults and interesting tips: 9:35 Shorted transformer replaced by a few ones 11:46 DC linear reg not working, replaced with modern ones 13:08 Pressure shenanigans, replaced all aged rubber sealing and tubings(steel coil reinforced ones for vacuums!), replaced the grandpa roughing pump(kudos for the efforts!) 17:01 Isopropyl trick for fixing external leaks, never heard of that before, I may use it to fix my leaking glovebox later! 20:42 Diffusion pump valve not behaving, serviced and re-vacuum greased. (key take: dow corning brand not good for moving parts, vacuum grease must be tailored to the case of application to ensure seal) 24:46 Broken RCA coaxial replaced 26:02 Broken switches caused by aging rubber, replaced by membrane "borrowed" from a game controller. 30:06 Probably Arizona Cardinals, so the chip would be likely originated from a fab somewhere in Arizona. (a fair guess since it's got really high silicon density) 34:42 It may be too far fetched but modern SEMS can do e beam etching or even EDS with a proper module, considering it's already a miracle you got it to work, I would suggest minimum modifications and leave the machine as is and just perform imaging. Or try etching if you feeling brave. Thank god the deflection system and sensor in the main column still works, along with all the logic(lucky!), but it does not diminish how impressive this repair is, once again, congratulations all around! One of the best repair videos I have ever watched, instant subscription! ------------------------ I have read the comment from the JEOL fellow engineer, I would agree it might have been the CRT deflection driver, it would be one of the more complicated parts down the path that is causing the issue, but not the flyback transformer.

[@ongjunhong]

thanks for the timestamps 🙏

[@MegaCadr]

That’s wild! Congrats on the Craigslist score of a lifetime!

[@projectsinflight]

what's crazy is that there are definitely other microscopes that have come and gone that are probably as good or better. usually a lot larger though...

[@omarassadi2455]

@@projectsinflight I am so, so, so envious. Congrats and tons of respect for getting it working again. And please keep up the long-form videos! I love the, "yeah, not buying it, buuut if you're ever tired of the hassle...", line; I am usually not one to be embarrassed or afraid to ask, but I guess it just hadn't occurred to me that, despite the seller possibly asking for thousands, it may end up rotting for so long that they actually take you up on that. Had you been actively monitoring Craigslist or was this a pure chance thing? Also, is that SEM Hackers Discord a public one? I've been hoping to do the same; I went down the rabbit hole of "reproducible" builds during a university project, which eventually led me to bootstrapping the entire system from "baremetal", and now I am at the stage of insanity where I am genuinely trying to ghetto DIY lithography.

[@remek_ember]

@@projectsinflight Something tells me that this isn't your last Craigslist SEM

[@whompronnie]

The repair is incredibly impressive. Your problem-solving skills come in full-force yet again. My favorite part, while a bit mundane, was the replacing of the old transformer and voltage regulators.

[@projectsinflight]

I tried to make the new transformer assembly as well-built as possible for longevity! I even sprung for the aluminum plate lol

[@thecasualcitizen492]

I was thinking to bypass the faulty secondary and replace the needed output with just one additional transformer. However, perhaps the aging original transformer would just keep decaying and produce more failed secondaries.

[@projectsinflight]

@@thecasualcitizen492 unfortunatly, when one secondary fails it shorts out the whole transformer. Even with nothing connected, the primary side acts as a short at 60Hz AC

[@MB-st7be]

I have an oscilliscope that had a failed wacky 1980s multi-output regulator IC in it. I replaced that with a bunch of LM78xx too. Not quite on the same scale as this repair, but it made me happy!

[@davestorm6718]

Transformers do this a lot - especially in any equipment running in harsh environments like labs (especially ones with corrosive fumes in the air) or, in my case, music venues (old tube amps: it's the tubes, transformers, caps and/or pots) where band equipment is abused (smoke, beer, drops, etc).

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

The resolution on those last images you showed of the fly were utterly amazing. It's so crazy that this majestic, brilliantly designed machine came very close to being scrapped.

[@projectsinflight]

People in industry really don't have the time to repair stuff sadly, unless it's a 100 million dollar machine they'd rather upgrade to the newest one

[@soren6045]

Modern SEMs have much higher resolution in the nm range. I guess this is not Field Emmision Gun but Tungsten Cathode, so it is quite outdated. Also repair is more and more difficult. But usually the tools have quite long lifetime, 20 years and more.

[@soren6045]

The MTBF is not that great for such tools. They are repaired quite often. For example large labs in the semiconductor industry have always a team of service engs on site. Usually you have service contracts for several 100k $ per year to keep the tools running.

[@alexturnbackthearmy1907]

@@soren6045 Some VERY old tools too. Also that machine can do better, its clear that it is far from working well, with all the issues with circuits.

[@usofromusomic]

Thank you for sharing this very interesting journey (and congrats on the microscope!). Not only is the topic itself (how electron microscopes work) fascinating, but your undeterred debugging approach was very encouraging. You took a machine which no one in a specialised lab was able to repair, and you probed into its issues step by step until you fixed it. I had a broken motor on my garage door, for half a year. I was afraid to try and fix it, and instead tried (in vain) to hire some experts to do that. After your video, I approached it with a similar probing process, managed to find and replace the broken parts and now the motor is working again. It was a trivial problem compared to your microscope journey, but it only happened because I felt empowered through watching your video. Thanks!

[@daysejones968]

big nostalgia from when applied science started showing his EM

[@projectsinflight]

Ben definitely had a huge impact on my desire to get my own SEM!

[@bloodaid]

Fr

[@hackaboom]

I miss Ben uploading on the regular. :(

[@lbochtler]

word of warning, be careful with the window of the EDX (Energy Dispersive X-Ray spectrometer) window. Its only a few micrometers thick and usually made of either beryllium or a polymer (such as formvar). This window isolates the vacuum in the detector and Dewar from that of the SEM in order to allow sample changes without turning the detector into an Icicle. You will also likely need to recalibrate the detector when you first use it, haven't used that model in a while but in general, you put in a pure piece of copper, polished if possible, normal to the beam, then use the K and L peaks to set gain and offset. Also, the cathode in that model of SEM should last between 20 and 200 hours. its a Type K cathode if i recall correctly. Congrats on the microscopes first light. Also, if you haven't been told yet, keep the electron gun and its components spotlessly clean. Use a very weak abrasive slurry and cotton to polish the parts. There are various compounds that are suited and many that aren't. There is a Scouring agent in Germany made by Sidol which i recommend to new users, as its difficult to fubar a Wehnelt or anode with it, but it takes a bit longer to clean then using diamond or aluminum oxide polishing compounds. Basically, you need to be able to get everything off the Wehnelt and anode and keep the gun exceptionally clean.

[@bashkillszombies]

I used a toothbrush and colgate regular. Did I fsck up?

[@lbochtler]

@@bashkillszombies As long as the parts are not bulk Aluminium or chrome plated, toothpaste can work, though some have additives that will contaminate the vacuum of the gun, the simplest toothpaste with the least amount of additives is ok in a pinch, but i would not recommend it. As for Colgate regular, i took a quick look at the MSDS and its not great but its not going to destroy a microscope, assuming of course that its a normal tungsten hairpin type, a LaB6 or Field Exmission machine would be adversely affected if not cleaned perfectly. If the parts are chrome plated they will have that plating abraded rather quickly, if they are aluminum, you will leave micro scratches due to the abrasive being too hard. Basically, if the parts that where cleaned with toothpaste are washed twice in distilled water, at around 60°C to 80°C in an ultrasonic cleaner (take care to not use glass or metal surfaces to place the parts on, and always place them on a section of the part not exposed to the electric field of the gun. Exceptions apply, basically put don't scratch it by cleaning) then cleaned with acetone fallowed by absolute ethanol or isopropanol, you should be fine. You could also boil the parts in destined water if you don't want to risk using the ultrasonic cleaner.

[@generic0000]

Also, you can blow that window on the EDS if you vent too fast. That is why there should be some sort of needle valve on the vent line. We used Pol or Wenol polish with a cotton swab, then wipe clean. Then sonicate in alcohol then acetone for 10 minutes each. Use gloves the whole time and use the wooden stick of the cotton swab to get the wenalt (the cone part with the hole in it that covers the filament) out of the acetone. Blow it off immediately with canned air or a air bulb. If you use canned air, blow a puff away from the wenalt first in case some accelerant comes out from the can being moved.

[@mykhailyna1]

​@@lbochtler Although I appreciate your serious response, I think this was a joke 😅

[@Taras195]

​@@lbochtler Based, fully in-depth, detailed response to a joke comment.

[@DMLand]

I am so glad that the algorithm sent your video my way. What an adventure. Congratulations on your persistence and diligence in troubleshooting and fixing this amazing machine.

[@projectsinflight]

Thank you! It was a fun project

[@MaestroColucci]

This is insaneeeeee!!! I used one of these bad boys during college (not this model) and it's remarkable to see one fixed!! The memories went straight back to me, truly amazing, amazing work!!! Loved all the curiosity you've displayed from beginning to end, truly amazing work. Well done and good fortunes to your future endeavors

[@Suburp212]

I would never have thought that looking at a repair of some ancient insteument would so enthral me. Great video.

[@projectsinflight]

Glad you liked it!

[@KhaoticKalm]

I once found a freight scale that was built 1900 that had been crushed by a forklift. I found no info about it anywhere but after 3 months of tinkering I got it working. In equal parts I feel humbled in my accomplishment yet share the feeling of victory in yours. Such a daunting task feels defeating until the end. Truly inspirational man Thank you for sharing.

[@BillyLapTop]

Almost 50 years ago there was an article in Scientific American on how to build a rudimentary SEM with off the shelf components. I was captivated by it and always wanted to act on it down the road but never got around to it. So glad you were able to realize your dreams with this instrument. Power supplies are usually the first point of failure in electronic devices. So glad you were able to work around those issues, as well as the vacuum ones.

[@projectsinflight]

Plenty more to go- but i am super satisfied it works now!

[@chileo1]

Now fast forward 50 years Scientific American is telling us that women performing worse than men in sports has nothing to do with gender differences lmao. We have gone backwards as a species

[@GabrielMartinezValois]

I've recieve my "fire baptism" back in 1983 when I started to study physics with a SEM made by Cambridge Ltd. in UK, the model was Stereoscan S4-10. It was from the 60's and used vaccum tubes! I have had a lot of freedom in the lab of "Advanced Physics", where I worked as apprentice from first semester and I did my own experiments, so I started to introduce biological samples such butterfly wings, ants, etc previously dehydrated and aluminium covered by an Edwards Base Evaporator, later I observed some samples of vynil L.P. records. It was a fun times! Great video and great salvation effort! My respects! Greetings from Mexico City!

[@sldkjh]

Bypass the monitor to pc circuit and use real 75 ohm cable, that will improve the signal a lot. Also use an external monitor to check for errors in the old monitor.

[@mactep1]

He could do it for testing, but in the end i assume hes gonna want to keep it so he can use it for videos.

[@sldkjh]

​@@mactep1 The images he managed to capture from it are stunning and they do not seem to suffer from interference at all. The signal to noise ratio is way better because of the scanning method that gets adjusted by the program, very neat!

[@Dungeonseeker1uk]

If that board is from around the same era as the PC then I'd wager the issue is the board. Caps from that era are notoriously bad.

[@kstricl]

There is another comment thread from a tech that used to fix these machines that points out that although it looks like that machine is generating a standard video signal, in fact the signal syncs directly to the electron beam. When the PC interface takes over the crt apparently goes garbled.

[@crewrangergaming9582]

ok smartypants 🙌

[@chrisurman6192]

So cool! I'm no expert by any means, but I have experience with repairing electronics. Replacing old electrolytic capacitors usually solves a lot of noise problems. Especially any located in amplification circuits. Might not be the issue here, but it's cheap insurance and should prevent any old caps from damaging anything. I can't wait to see more of this!

[@thepropcollet]

I second OPs comment. This machine is quite old-school, it would for sure benefit from a capacitor refresh.

[@projectsinflight]

I plan to go through the boards and replace a bunch of components in the near future

[@FluffyPuppyKasey]

@@projectsinflight I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the noise is caused by the RCA cable you're using. Most of those tend to be unshielded!

[@AKAtheA]

replacing everything with good quality caps will drive the guy into bankruptcy! :D

[@chrisurman6192]

@AKAtheA I just recently recapped an older analog device, and it took 100 capacitors. It was 46$ from digikey +8$ for shipping, using mostly nichicon caps (good quality). He doesn't need to go with custom vishay precision caps.

[@sanramondublin]

As an retired manufacturing Engineer in semi conductors , I loved every second of this video. I worked with E M technician only one time , these machines are awesome. You have the bestest toys. My toys are woodworking tools and cameras these days. Thank you from California.

[@projectsinflight]

Thank you (also from California)!

[@Wilhelm_Leibniz]

People that have performed DIY repair can appreciate this video. I tried fixing a CRO once and that's when I knew how difficult it was to fix electronics without prior exposure to the instrument. Fixing a beast of a machine is insane. Kudos brotha.

[@danielleeper5784]

My grandfather was one of JEOL's senior technicians and from the dates I saw on the PCBs he may of installed / serviced it before he retired in 1994 sadly, he passed in 2008. I got the opportunity to read through some of those documents/schematics in those blue binders which was thr companys colors, although at the time I was too young to understand and still learning electronics though he always highlighted and cautioned about the high voltages those machines operate at. Great job if you find anything indicating HJL Sr. And/or Harold Jay Leeper Sr. was part of its installation and/or service know someone who really cared a about those microscopes put quality time into making sure it operated as one of the best instrument for its time. BTW Great job on the resurrection!

[@LaLaLand.Germany]

Wow, this is (to me) the coolest "will it start" in YT land. Electron microscope… Let that sink in. Years ago I found sem pictures (real photos) when the university hired us to get out some trash. I thought this was too cool so I stole a bunch of them. They show plant cells in the 25 µm range. My favourites would be the Trini…kaboom glass and chips graffity. So cool You pulled this off- nerd. Inspiring. Gives me motivation to get thru my own stuff. I collect old electronics and am trying to learn how to fix them -by doing. Today I fixed an ac milivolt-meter. It seemed like something was shaky and I re soldered the main board with lead solder. I only use lead solder, it flows with less heat and looks pretty. And I have such a de soldering gun- a cheap chinesium but it works. Sometimes it clogs up tho- I still figure it out. And I rebuilt the switching for the vacuum pump, the old way it lagged. But still: get Yourself a ZD-915 desoldering gun. It´s entry level but good enough. I wouldn´t have started the repair today if I only had wick. I digress… Still: a very impressive thing to have, that Sem. Kind Regards

[@projectsinflight]

Thank you! I'm holding out for my own hakko but i'll check out your model as well

[@LaLaLand.Germany]

@@projectsinflight Thanks- It´s the cheapest model on the market with acceptable parts availability. The Hakko can´t do anything better, it´s just more expensive. Give the Hakko a run for its money. Desolder all and everything in one go- does it clog? Run it above 320C for leadfree, at 290C for lead solder. Mine does clog and it´s annoying. If it does I heat it up to its max until it can suck itself free. I modded mine with a relay for the pump (before all the power went thru the handpiece) and a buck converter for the annoying fan. But that´s it- I just re did a voltmeter mainboard in chase of a shaky connection (found it). I never would have done that with solder wick… Thank You again, glad I could help. I´m still at awstruck over Your project. That´s the good stuff…

[@Steelflight773]

This was such an epic repair. I did not understand most of it but throughly enjoyed the video. “Go Cards” is probably referring to the ST. Louis Cardinals of Missouri. It is a National League team in Major League Baseball here in the US.

[@projectsinflight]

Could be the university of louisville too!

[@PMCJohn]

The joy I got, someone whose only used high school microscopes, when you zoomed in on the specimen plate and could see the details on the plate. I was so excited for you

[@Thijmenpost]

Dang i just watched 35 min about a microscope i dont know shit about. This was really entertaining to watch. Keep up!

[@Elikatie25]

Same. How did I get here? So fun!

[@mariobatguy]

same here

[@karoliuxas121]

This video was suggested for me by the KZbin algorithm and oh boy I do not regret this. Instant subscribe. As a Materials Engineer who loves troubleshooting lab equipment, I can't put it in words how much I appreciated this video. And just by going through comments section seems like you have managed to gather thousands of like-minded people. Phenomenal.

[@Ati-cj9gs]

So satisfying to see it working in the end, let's see what you do with it!

[@projectsinflight]

I have so much planned! First up is gold nanoparticles

[@Andro500]

Videos on this channel are my favorite TV Show now, definitely.

[@projectsinflight]

Thanks, it means a lot that people like the videos i've made :)

[@TooMuchMiddle]

@@projectsinflight KZbin decided to grace my feed with your presence, and I couldn't be happier! I absolutely love long repair videos made about super technical lab equipment. Keep it coming.

[@projectsinflight]

will do!

[@colelooney1430]

"go cards" likely refers to the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team in STL Missouri USA : )

[@projectsinflight]

It's apparently actually the University of Louisville!

[@metatron5199]

I was thinking the same thing lol.

[@rickylogsdon367]

@@projectsinflight Indeed

[@MrNascar757]

Given that it's on an IC, I wouldn't be shocked if it could also be for the Stanford Cardinal in Palo Alto

[@jwhite1016aol]

Yup I was thinking the same, gotta be Stanford

[@createproduce1222]

You beat me to it, and I'm absolutely 100% envious. I've always dreamed of finding an old SEM in the trash somewhere that I could fix up, as a SEM has always been very near the top of the list of things I want. Don't care how big it is or how much room I have to make for it. You are very fortunate, sir. And excellent job fixing it up and getting it working!

[@__gavin__]

I almost got teary-eyed when the first images of the specimen stage were coming through. This has got to be, without doubt, my favourite video of the year! It feels like a Christmas gift, thank you.

[@EngineerNotFound]

Halfway through the video, I completely understand why the guys at the lab, where this SEM was kept, got nowhere with it and just left it in the warehouse; what a behemoth of a repair. Every time you went to try an untested function and asked, " will this work?", my heart was in my mouth.

[@mohammedalkhalidi8348]

I work in a cleanroom for superconducting circuits fabrication and just using an SEM is difficult enough and seeing you tear one down and fixing it was astonishing and super interesting. Well done!

[@projectsinflight]

Thank you!

[@Dan-jf1nw]

Awesome stuff! I've worked in field service in EM for 10 years and I learned a couple things. I rarely get to see these older systems and I love to see them get a second (or third) life! Please be careful with radiation, it's a unseen danger working with these systems especially with modifications that may or may not have been communicated over time. Seemingly innocent things like a modified pressure gauge can be an ideal escape route for x-rays.

[@projectsinflight]

I used a geiger counter with pancake detector and saw nothing, but i am awaiting an X-ray spectrometer to see if there are any leaks

[@timohartong]

I think 25 kV does not emit that much X-rays in the past there have been some issues with color televisions

[@Dan-jf1nw]

@ it’s a fair point, but you’re also not changing the illuminated material with a CRT display. Different samples impact emission of X-rays differently. By design, major EMs are extremely safe, and risk is much lower than as the accelerating voltage decreases. I think my main point is that if something has been modified on the column, it’s good to check rather than make assumptions. I mostly work with 200-300 kV instruments, so I’m probably overly cautious.

[@Well_Edumacated]

this is the cool stuff i love finding on youtube. I love science but do not have the discipline to pursuit but i can truly appreciate people who do.

[@sofronio.]

When i saw the hole image appears on the old crt, i felt so excited, like i watched cells from microscope for the first time.

[@projectsinflight]

I was so happy when I first realized that the machine was actually imaging something- best feeling in the world lol!

[@HuskyMachining]

If you ever need a complex part machined for this SEM project, please DM me! I own a small 1 man, 5 axic cnc machine shop and I would love to help out this or any other similary cool projects.

[@projectsinflight]

Thank you! That is really generous. I definitely have at least one thing I need to make for it soon! feel free to email me (channel name + gmail) if you'd like

[@kd5nrh]

@@projectsinflight might want to check with Martin and any other owners you've run across before remaking a part: this is definitely where you want that cross reference, and it's also the best opportunity to make multiples of anything that's likely to need replacement again. I'd bet you can find some electronics and microcontroller content creators that would love to collab on updating any of those 30 year old guts too.

[@benistingray6097]

Fantastic work, thats how classic failure diagnosis works and why i learned to be a car mechanics once upon a time, you start with the basic things and work your way up the systems and in complecity step by step. Sadly nowadays a car mechanics mostly dont work like that anymore, you rarely do classic failure diagnosis or even basic mechanical repairs anymore, you plug in your computer with its automated diagnosis tools and then it tells you which assembly to replace. Oh well, it is how it, that was very enjoyfull to watch and have fun with your new toy.

[@relaxingmusic9934]

great effort, hats off mate

[@projectsinflight]

thanks for watching :)

[@RoyaltyInTraining.]

It's amazing to see this old tech running again! I would love to see more videos about improving the SEM. I bet you could hook into the scanning logic and turn it into an electron beam lithography writer. Breaking Taps had success with using regular acrylic as a resist.

[@projectsinflight]

Oh that is definitely on my list!

[@EpicAglet]

Acrylic is just PMMA. So that's basically what I've always used for ebeam litho. We use MIBK and IPA in a ratio of 1:3 to develop the resist. I don't know how easy it is to source MIBK though, but from I believe distilled water also works so that may be an alternative. Removing PMMA you can do with acetone and then IPA to remove any residue from the acetone. If you can get your hands on some tool to deposit metal, you could even do lift-off and make a real device that way. Very cool project. Looking forward to future updates

[@osuuma6935]

Congratulations for getting this SEM functional! A little tip, the next time you come across membranes switches that do not conduct, gently rub the contact surface of the membrane (black part) across a sheet of paper. Maybe an inch. This will wear off the oxidized surface and make it conductive again.

[@projectsinflight]

I still have the originals- I'll give that a shot!

[@johnrehwinkel7241]

There is also fluid available to restore the surface. Chemtronics CW2605 is one possibility.

[@peteraugust5295]

The world of obscure hobby machine repair people is incredible. I sometimes fix old machinetools, and for those there is an incredible community. Over the years I got into contact with several people that repair the same, 70 or 80 year old machines, of which maybe 500 were built ever. Its insane what the internet allows you to do.

[@jetseverschuren]

Heya, awesome project! The old computer probably still has a harddrive in it (spinning rust), which tends to significantly degrade over time. I'd highly recommend to make a backup and/or transfer the drive onto a modern disk/SSD

[@projectsinflight]

good news, i have imaged the disk! though i'd really like to replace the computer with a more modern one or make my own capture device. this thing is really clunky lol

[@dohabandit]

@@projectsinflight I'd recommend that you capture the disk image, convert to a VMDK/virtual disk, and then run the computer using a virtual machine. Physical to virtual isn't that challenging, but i am VCP/VCAP certified engineer though. My brother has a CNC system that had an old legacy PC and single point of failure. Once virtualizing it, the hardware can fail and it's a quick and easy process to have it working again. Can even turn it into a high availability solution. His only SPOF today on the control side is the software requires a USB hardware dongle key to operate.

[@ThylineTheGay]

tho if it did somehow have an ssd in it, it likely would have lost the data by now, as hdds are much better at 'cold' storage of data

[@AKAtheA]

@@dohabandit the capture card might be a problem if it's not PCIe

[@JFirn86Q]

@@dohabandit You can't just do this, these sorts of machines have an accessory card (often multiple) connected into the motherboard that receives the data from the SEM, and special drivers that handle this. For this vintage, I highly doubt it is PCIe or something simple like that as well.

[@packetguy42]

Thank you for the enormous effort you went through to produce this fantastic video! I admire your determination in soldiering on through the most difficult challenges when all seemed lost. You remind us that in the end it’s all physics, not magic, and that there is more than one way to get to a goal. I especially like your ingenius transformer substitution, and the attention to input voltages, and the fact that transformers don’t have to work with the exact listed input as long as you’re willing to calculate the desired output. Too many scientists and technologists today are married to the specification sheets. They can’t see beyond them into the underlying electronic theory. I look forward to your future videos using this fantastic instrument.

[@projectsinflight]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I can't wait to do some stuff with nanoparticles in the next video!

[@mumujibirb]

27:38 There are actually conductive pads you can apply to broken membrane switches to fix them, but this is also a nice method

[@projectsinflight]

I thought about doing that- but i was too impatient to wait for shipping :P

[@pablodignani7766]

@@projectsinflight I fix the conductive rubber pads by rubbing a 3B of 4B graphite pencil on their surface. Excellent work you´ve done !

[@kumorikumorii]

WOW! This is incredible. The knowledge and patience you had towards this project is extremely admirable, and you can really tell that this is a topic you're super passionate about. The way you explained things was so straightforward and entertaining that you made an art school student watch the whole thing without skipping a thing! You're incredible! Please keep posting stuff like this- It's really fun to watch, and your narration of these super complex topics is really accessible. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us! I can't wait to see what other projects you're planning to work on. :D

[@HavenInTheWood]

Congrats! You certainly worked for that outcome, much respect!

[@projectsinflight]

Thank you! I've got so much interesting stuff planned for the sem!

[@jamest999]

Wow as a physicist who used SEMs i'm really impressed by your work and dedication to fixing that old machine. Also it's so cool to see that you can acutally fix it because you have schematics. If you buy a new SEM now you get pretty much nothing.

[@projectsinflight]

You'd be surprised at what you can scrounge up with the help of the manufacturer. JEOL was actually able to locate all the documentation minus the schematics

[@-danR]

This lack of documentation is becoming the norm across many industries. AvE (BOLTR) repaired a big industrial compressor assembled from multiple subsystems from multiple countries, working in multiple languages. The only people who knew entirety of its working were the personnel who built the first one, and (evidently) their notes never got assembled into an actual _repair_ manual. In another decade, nobody will do anything but the most basic repair and replace work. Equipment will be scrapped and you go out and buy a new one. Maybe this is yet another explanation for Fermi's paradox: civilizations eventually fail from informational entropy.

[@05Matz]

@@-danR It's not a passive process of entropy, it's industry and law actively turning against repair and maintenance and towards more profitable (and destructive) replacement. If we had legal requirements that new equipment be shipped with full repair documentation (including schematics) and copyright for such things was hard-limited at 20 years max so it still existed by the time people needed it archived, the phenomenon would be reversed overnight.

[@UnrealMatter]

Thanks to the seller for giving it away and thanks to you for making such a great video!

[@projectsinflight]

The seller is the GOAT for letting me have it rather than parting it out

[@UnrealMatter]

@projectsinflight Absolutely!

[@yukidaruma3177]

One of the most satisfying videos I have ever watched on youtube. It must be one hell on troubleshooting

[@aaronsmicrobes8992]

I've always wondered if SEM/STEM would benefit from some of the same algorithms used in astrophotography. With AP we usually have to take many long exposures, then combine them in software to get a SNR that's remotely decent. It gets even more complicated when you use filters and a monochrome camera. Also, the software usually has functionality to align the images based on the detected stars in the image, and the more advanced algorithms can even stretch and squish your images to account for things like sensor tilt, optical distortions, etc. That part would be more difficult with SEM images, but it's certainly doable, and you don't have the problem of a moving target. Since you're only scanning at one beam energy level at a time, I wonder if it'd be possible (or even sensible) to take the same image at different beam energies, then treat those like RGB channels. These are just idle thoughts, I doubt they're very original and likely other people have already attempted it, but it's the sort of thing I'm interested in.

[@SloganPlay]

Considering that a SEM image is still nothing more than a Matrix of intensities, it is generally possible to apply all the same CV algorithms for things like feature detection, stitching or similar. It should be noted, though, that stuff like calculating homographies (e.g. for panorama stitching) gets harder, the smaller the imaged area is, obviously. So if you go with a higher magnification, many algorithms need to be more sophisticated. Would be an interesting project to implement a bit of CV sugar with the SEM!

[@projectsinflight]

Interesting idea... I suspect that it would be useful to overlay different images, but only at the same beam energy. I do not know if it would be useful to do it at different beam energies. The reason is that at different beam energies, the amount of surface detail actually changes, and so at lower kV you see more detail, but have more chromatic aberrations in the lens. so you'd be trying to overlay different but equally valid images. It's a really intriguing idea and kinda makes my brain hurt thinking about exactly how you'd go about solving that one. I should definitely look this one up to see if others have tried

[@aaronsmicrobes8992]

@projectsinflight I'd be willing to spend some time messing with it if I had some of your images. I've been tinkering with some of the Python libraries out there for this sort of thing for astro so I can build my own software for automatically importing, organizing, calibrating, and doing a "first pass" processing before I bring it into tools I know are beyond my skill to replicate. I'd have to put together a plan of what to capture to be truly able to tell if it improves image quality, but I also wouldn't be surprised if better software already exists. SEM image processing isn't exactly something I've come across in my career as a software developer. It'd also be a lot of work on your end to capture a bunch of different exposures, and you may be happy with the quality you already have. Astrophotography is a masochistic hobby so I wouldn't mind doing it, but that's not universally considered fun.

[@lbochtler]

Quite a lot of the algorithms for SNR increase used in astrophotography are already used in modern EMs. There are even more advanced techniques avalible for electron microscopes when compared to astrophotography. At lest compared to advanced amature astrophotography.

[@projectsinflight]

feel free to email me if you'd like and i can send some images when i get a good sequence. my email is the same as this channel name at gmail

[@daniel38535]

Nice machine, is wonderful that you give it a second live

[@projectsinflight]

I hope it works for many years to come!

[@msxcytb]

@@daniel38535 especially that others gave up on it!

[@Stoney3K]

Pretty cool to see that an SEM is basically not much more than an old-fashioned analog CRT camera tube where you can stick a sample into. So most of the repair techniques from analog televisons apply here -- the lack of vertical stability is probably due to capacitors in the deflection circuits.

[@projectsinflight]

it's true, the SEM is basically just a CRT, but with extreme care in designing a CRT with a VERY VERY narrow beam and small spot size lol.

[@DonFleming-v2u]

Well summarised ❤❤

[@metonymic896]

Instant subscription. I didn't expect to watch the whole thing, but the 35 minutes flew by. I'm a former mass spectrometer field service engineer and I was fascinated by this deep dive into an old model of a similar instrument. Honestly, things haven't changed too much! That said, we've definitely gotten better at miniaturization over the years!

[@tomyorados974]

Thank you for sharing this

[@projectsinflight]

Very happy to share! I've wanted one for so long and I wanted to show people it was possible (with some luck and help)

[@jonastjepkema]

This is super cool! We have a more modern Jeol in my cleanroom, that we use for making superconducting nems devices. It's also origonally an SEM, but it has been converted into an EBL using NPGS, which is kind of the cheapest litho software that is available(as far as I know). Maybe there is a way for you to get your hands on that, and start proper electron litho experiments?

[@JoshuaNorton]

That's amazing. SEMs don't have to be that large anymore, though. There is such a thing called tabletop SEMs. Still tens of thousands of dollars but compared to the typical half a million they're ALMOST affordable. Like, if you were not planning on buying a new car in the next 10 years, you could get a Phenom or a Hitachi tabletop. The guy from the Breaking Taps channel does his SEM images on a Phenom tabletop IIRC. The Chinese are just getting into that market. Maybe one of these days we'll see just like with the mini lathe and mini mill a mini SEM for less than ten thousand. I imagine it actually might be possible. In the most basic sense you need a vacuum chamber, a roughing pump, a high vacuum stage, an electron gun and an imaging detector. All of these components in themselves could be acquired for about a thousand each. So, a mini SEM could be viable for less than ten, if you're not planning on making any profit, ha.

[@KallePihlajasaari]

Yep, as each of the components becomes a commodity item used in large volumes the price drops. The availability of control hardware, I/O and software has plummeted and no longer needs to be fully custom designed saving a lot of money for new startups. Also the patents are expired and the theory is pretty much well understood letting smaller companies try to compete. I love the way China is prepared and able to build to a price when the technology is mature. Modern SEM gear is phenomenal and some let you image at higher pressures so you can do biological samples with less preparation and obviously higher resolution and all the XRF stuff. This means the basic equipment is no longer of much interest to thebig players and there is a market opening for new 'budget' SEMs. I look forward to them flooding the market and reaching the used market.

[@projectsinflight]

I am convinced that in the near-ish future a new SEM will be at or below the price of a new car (and not just a Lamborghini lol)

[@Janika9Z8R]

As a biologist it was really good to see this repair and a working SEM in private. Hats down for you. I had experience with old school TEMs in the university... thoose machines were huge

[@neutronstorm]

Congratulations on your amazing achievement in bringing the machine back from the dead.

[@projectsinflight]

i honestly cannot believe it myself

[@reedman1142]

this is one of the best videos ive ever seen🙌

[@projectsinflight]

thank you! i am very excited to use the machine

[@dziban303]

Great job getting it working mate. Super cool!

[@projectsinflight]

glad you enjoyed it!

[@zach5539]

Thanks for this - fascinating watch!

[@projectsinflight]

Thank you! I'm nearing completion on my next video about making nanoparticles- hopefully that'll be out before the new year

[@DamirUlovec]

9:26 In case you ever want to fix something with a blown fuse again, replace the fuse with a incandescent light bulb. Yes, a light bulb must be connected in series with a circuit under test, instead of fuse. If a short circuit occurs, the bulb will glow continuously. If it doesn't light at all or blinks, only then can you put in a new fuse. This "tool" is easy to make, but of course extreme care is required when handling due to life-threatening voltages. And you will not waste any more fuses.

[@dohabandit]

@16:32 Don't use those cheap hose clamps. Get Oetiker clamps and a crimp tool. They provide uniform clamping force without pinching and lifting the hose around the screw area that those cheap clamps create. You will need to measure the diameter with a caliper and purchase the correctly sized oetiker clamp.

[@pork_cake]

found the VW engineer

[@ian3580]

Those clamps are fine for what he is doing. They're not really for the seal, they're to keep the hose from slipping back off.

[@WilliamHaisch]

33:44 Why does it say *“Designed by the Tyrell Corporation”* on that housefly? 😂

[@Tamalan]

Nice job! That was fun. As someone who has worked in EM for 30 years I applauded your patience and problem solving to get this system up and running.

[@critical_always]

I clicked "Like" simply because it's a non AI video. But then I was blown away by how determined you are to get the results you want. I am unqualified but I still want to say if anyone deserves a machine like this it is you. It must be so satisfying for the people donating this that you didn't just toss in in a garage with old rusty junk.

[@ggsap]

21:14 how did you get those cuts?

[@projectsinflight]

Did you see that tiny hose connected to the bigger of the two vacuum valves? That was stuck on pretty good- and when it abruptly popped off my hand went flying back into the gears on the smaller valve. Just a flesh wound though

[@fishHater]

She’s a beautiful machine.

[@projectsinflight]

I really like the green CRT :)

[@JesusCSGO]

pls do some e-beam litho, in labs they do features with a few nm resolution using SEMs. :)

[@projectsinflight]

I will definitely be trying to do e-beam when I get some more information on how exactly to drive the beam externally

[@Stoney3K]

@@projectsinflight Maybe you can drive the electron gun in reverse? Just keep the same scanning method but modulate the intensity, and more or less feed a video image into the gun's cathode to control beam intensity.

[@projectsinflight]

@@Stoney3K The intensity of the electron gun is determined by its temperature, which cannot be adjusted on small times scales unfortunately

[@ls3laminarflow]

@@projectsinflight to do e beam lithography you will need to be able to blank the beam, typically done inside the column by steering te beam to a position where a plate intercepts the beam. Search for ‘conjugate blanking’. If you are interested in looking at IC’s you may want to check out “voltage contrast”, a method that lets you observe circuits as they work in real time. Well done with the great methodical approach to restoring your SEM!

[@richymoto]

On the one hand … very well done! You have my deepest respect. On the other hand …. i feel pretty inadequate after watching the whole repair 😢

[@turun_ambartanen]

13:00 "... in percent instead of an _actual_ pressure unit, like torr" I can accept your insult of bar and pascal if you can explain what the difference between torr and mmHg is. And if you then can repeat that statement from the video without laughing out loud ;) Edit: awesome work on the SEM, good video!

[@projectsinflight]

For whatever reason, most of the components and stuff involving vacuum that i've seen deals with Torr rather than Si units. Probably a legacy thing. Honestly I prefer it at this point, kinda like how I still measure the temp in F when dealing with weather and baking, even though I use C for everything else.

[@Ham-nuggetgaming]

I have that one 😮 0:28

[@projectsinflight]

I would recommend you build or buy a better microtome! The one that comes with those units suck, and the quality of your sample prep really matters!

[@christophercharles601]

WOW, don't know how this popped into my viewing list but I watched the whole thing and all I can say is you are a true craftsman on getting this going again and not into a landfill!

[@gvanderest]

This video was so much fun to watch. Thank you for taking the time to document and share! I have a background in software, so every time I see hardware projects/restorations, I am absolutely blown away. Keep up the great work!

[@chrismartin4892]

Sooo cool dude, great job repairing this electron microscope. I love repairing older electronics, primarily old CNCs. The first thing I always check on dead machines are the power supplies. Can't imagine having so many analog circuits using so many different voltage outputs. Thanks for sharing this journey on repairing a piece of revolutionary equipment.

[@mycosys]

Was really cool to watch - its basically a CRT with a 1mm screen. I'm an electrotech trained on CRTs and guessed all the electrical issues as you described the symptoms, but that mechanical repair was something else.

[@bikramdebchakraborty8235]

Being a regular FESEM user I really appreciate the time and effort you put into giving new life to this dead SEM! In this process you got a new subscriber!

[@trololo4217]

I have no idea how i ended up on this channel but i love it. Never learned about such advance piece of engineerin,math and physics. Tbh more information on the screen was available to machines i worked at in 70s 80,90 hoing on 2012.

[@thegingercritic7706]

I just spent 1 1/2 months fixing a Compaq 2 computer with no experience, and I cant imagine the maddening troubleshooting that went into something this convoluted. This is the most impressive restoration project I’ve seen this year.

[@teddeebayre3433]

As an electronic technician for 40 years, I must say, you have a knack for electronics and mechanical repair.

[@miyabera9103]

This was such a beautiful representation of the engineer mindset. It felt like a video game, with puzzles on each layer. I was almost sad when you finally got it working lol. Would love to see more videos like this! Also, can you perhaps make a video while determining the regulation of the microscope? I'm sure there is a lot of people like me who would love to watch that as well.

[@VerbalCoffee]

The amount of stars that aligned to get this thing running is staggering. What an amazing event! Thank you for documenting it and sharing.

[@MattPilkiePilkiewicz]

The skills to repair something like this is amazing. To a lab, this EM might be replaceable scrap. But imagine a high school with one of these -- you could inspire generations of STEM students with just one of these machines. Thank you for the video, it was a fantastic watch.

[@AndreyDyatlov]

You are a legend! What a perseverance! Congratulations!

[@artisans8521]

I used one of these babies in the 80th. I used it to check out the coupling of microbeads to cell organelles....it had a Polaroid camera to make shots of the image. Congrats on saving one of these machines from the scrapheap.

[@kareemfadly]

I like the way you analyzed the faults. I am sure that easy telling of the story does not mean that the job was easy. Thanks for sharing this experience.

[@jonathanklein9168]

Super cool video! Just finished watching through the rest of your videos and they are all great. I recently acquired a few pieces of ultra pure polysilicon (11N% pure). I would love to see an attempt to grow your own rod and cut it into wafers! I have no idea if it’s even possible, but if you need a seed crystal, I can send a piece over!

[@Spirit532]

Great video and good results! It's nice that you found our SEM group early :)

[@projectsinflight]

Thanks! I really appreciate all the support I've gotten from the group. It definitely cut out a lot of time i'd have spent spinning my wheels

[@keatonmertz2756]

Would it be possible to join this group? I've got a JEOL 6400 that I've repaired!

[@projectsinflight]

@@keatonmertz2756 message nmz787 on discord for an invite!

[@AustrianDeathMachine9]

@@projectsinflight I was always interested in SEM's and contemplating buying one.. this video is definitely my calling card to get one! Would it still be appropriate to join the server if you are looking to buy one, and what to look out for?

[@woodbuse]

Dude this is absolutely insane, congrats!! I also did hundreds of hours of SEM in my undergrad research in biomaterials using a more modern JEOL system, I'm shocked by the high image quality of this JEOL that is so old :O

[@jonbmet]

I used the same imaging software in a metallurgy lab early in my career. Feeling nostalgic seeing it again : ) You really never know what your neighbor has going on in their basement! Very impressed you got the SEM running.

[@markignatovich3379]

The buildup to the first actual magnified image reveal at 28:35 was nothing short of exhilarating. I'm completely serious when I say your sense of pacing is immaculate and evokes the same levels of excitement as watching the winning goal of a sports game, or the climax of a movie. Crowd-cheering worthy material.