I am having difficulties in getting the PMMA condenser lens.
Can anyone please point me to a current supplier ? I am not sure why but aliexpress delivers only rubbish when I search for PMMA lens 5mm 13mm (or 12.7mm).
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Aliexpress search is awful, this is the listing I used last time I had to order some https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1052713746.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.58.6d381802xP6GLf
Thank you for your reply, Filip. I am now wondering if I have an access problem to AliExpress, because your link leads to a “Sorry, the page you requested can not be found:(” display. Does it work for you?
That’s very strange, it does work for me, maybe they are doing some geo blocking?
It works for me, but maybe the link is more universal as https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1052713746.html , without the extra data after the ?.
Or the full item description is “PMMA LED optical convex lens diameter 13mm Height 5.0mm Plano convex LED lens 1W 3W Reflector Collimator” which might help on search.
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Tried both ways, but it is not working here. Tried a browser without any plugins, does not work either. Where are you located? I might give it a try with VPN, but no luck so far.
I am accessing from the UK. Have you tried searching using the description, or using the item number?
Which version of the microscope and optics are you building?
I am going for the high resolution one. I am located in Germany. And I have indeed tried using both the description and item number. This is driving me crazy slowly. I believe this has to do with some custom issues. Anyone would be up to selling me 2 PMMA lenses, please? I will keep on searching though.
Ok, I will ask some family members in France to forward me the item. It seems to be an issue with the German delivery address. Many thanks for your help, that was very helpful.
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That is odd, but I am glad that you now have a solution. I also see that setting the delivery to Germany gives only things like phone covers with searches for lenses, but France or UK gives lenses of various kinds.
Please do post some pictures when you have built your microscope.
How very odd! I know there’s a lens included as part of the Sangaboard/illumination kit from Taulab.eu, I don’t think they are listed separately though (from experience, it’s hard to ship very cheap products without a ridiculous markup, due to the overheads involved in doing it at a small scale).
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That is exactly the reason why it’s not listed separately, because of those overheads buying 20 lenses from aliexpress would likely be cheaper than a single lens via taulab. However, I’m now looking into moving the store to a proper system (prestashop most likely) I can manage myself, mostly to better handle VAT but it will also allow things impossible with the SumUp/Lectronz setup, so I might add individual small items but set a minimum order size or small order handling fee.
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The issue is that the German custom office now requires proper custom declaration before shipping. Before that there was an amount under which tariffs were not due at all. This has been dropped to basically zero a while ago (details apply).
Some vendors on AliExpress now handle custom declaration and add the tariff onto the pricing. Other vendors are no longer allowed to ship to Germany and AliExpress simply hides their articles.
That said I also had a lot of trouble sourcing the right lenses for various microscope related projects - including the 12.7mm ones for the condenser. I am currently playing around with lenses for mid power LEDs and cut off the bottom ring with a jig saw. But that is less than perfect. So if anyone has a source that ships to Germany I’d also be interested.
Interesting, that change to VAT threshold applied across the EU and the process (IOSS) should now be the same for all EU countries, but it looks like German customs are having some problems with it (etsy thread). I recently sent 2 orders to Germany using IOSS so I’ll find out soon.
As discussed above, selling the condenser lenses alone is impractical due to their low value. However, if you need standard condenser lenses just DM me your address. boxes.py has saved me a ton of time so I’m more than happy to send you a few as a gift.
I found them again! It was hard to find them for a while. Many sites popping up on AliExpress again.
Just found this amazing item on AliExpress. Check it out! $1.02 5％ Off | 10 15 18 20 23 25 28 29 30 32 35 38 PMMA Plano Convex Acrylic Transparent Condenser Lens for Zoom LED Flashlight Bike Head Lamp
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mKzTEiS
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oh, that’s a neat little loop of using each other’s projects - boxes.py was what I used to make the travel case for v6 (never really finished it, we only made 2). One of these days I’ll get round to making one that fits v7…